The Leica M10 Leaks Online; Reported to Come Later this Year

Leica has been reported to be working on a new M camera for some time now, and if these recent leaks (which seem to be pretty cut and dry) are legit, then it appears that upcoming M will be called the M10. This will be a pretty big change overall in Leica’s history as they’ve never had an M camera with two numbers in the name overall.

So far the rumors are not specific about that the internals will be, other than that they expect it to carry the same 24MP sensor as the Leica SL. That would also mean a similar ISO range of up to 50,000 ISO. Considering its predecessor’s (The Leica M) design, it’s also bound to have video upgrades and weather sealing of some sort.

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The Huawei Mate 9 Smartphone Has Dual Leica Cameras

It seems that dual cameras is the new ‘it’ feature for high end smartphones as Chinese manufacturer Huawei has unveiled its new Mate 9, which features dual rear facing Leica cameras.

This is not Huawei’s first smartphone with dual Leica cameras, nor is it even one of the first dual camera phones around. But it is clear that smartphone makers are starting to place priority on setting their highend phones apart from the lower budget offerings, and one way they have been doing that is by adding these multiple cameras.

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Leica To Auction Herbert List’s M3 And Others For WestLicht Anniversary Celebration

Image by _bunn_ on Flickr. Used under a Creative Commons License. 

Leica is gearing up to celebrate the 15th anniversary of WestLicht by auctioning off several prized historic cameras. Highlighting the cameras available is the 1958 Leica M3 owned by Magnum Photographer Herbert List (1903-1975). Leica expects the List camera to sell for somewhere in the range of $45,000-$55,000. Continue reading…

First Impressions: Leica Summaron-M 28mm f5.6 (Leica M Mount)

The Leica 28cm f5.6 lens (or the Leica Summaron-M 28mm f5.6) was recently re-released by the company–touting a classic look that it can deliver in addition to an incredibly small size overall. The lens was,and still is, a favorite amongst many street photographers who shoot during the daytime. With a 5.6 aperture, it’s very tough to miss any sort of moments passing you by. As the old saying goes, “F8 and be there.” The lens is very close to being a truly pancake offering, and includes a few cool features that many photographers are bound to like.

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Leica Announces Return of the Summaron-M 28mm f5.6, Titanium Leica Q

Today Leica announced two new product offerings, the arguably more exciting of the two is the return of the Leica Summaron-M 28mm f/5.6 wide-angle lens. Additionally, there is an all-new Titanium color for the Lecia Q. The Summaron-M 28mm f/5.6 expands the collection of lenses available for the Leica M rangefinder system and introduces a modern rendition of a classic Leica lens. While the new Titanium Gray finish available for the Leica Q offers an alternative color option for users wanting a camera that reflects their individual style. Continue reading…

The Leica Collection by ONA is Your New High End Camera Bag Lineup

ONA are known for their stylish, functional, and high quality bags for photographers, and Leica is, well, Leica. It was announced today that the two will be teaming up again, but this time on a line of exclusive bags that will be sold in Leica stores and boutiques internationally.

Previously the Leica and ONA had collaborated on bags such as the Berlin and Berlin II, as well as the Bowery, for Leica. This new collection of bags, which will be called, “The Leica Collection by ONA”, will feature several of ONA’s messenger style bags as well as one of their photography backpack-style bags. Each of the bags will feature detailing with that classic Leica Red as well as the special hand crafting of premium materials that Leica is known for.

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Leica Announces Special Edition Leica M-P “Grip” Set by Rolf Sachs

Today Leica announced a new product in collaboration with artist and Leica photographer Rolf Sachs, the Leica M-P(Typ 240) “Grip” Set. The exclusive set consists of a Lecia M-P (Typ 240) camera and fast classic lens Leica Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH. The combination of unexpected materials in an eye-catching choice of color and classic design lends the camera a unique look, making the set a true collector’s item. Continue reading…

A Photographer’s Predicament – Creating Value in a Low Barrier to Entry Environment

This is a syndicated blog post from Street Silhouettes. It and the images here are being used with exclusive permission from Horatio Tan.

Doesn’t it bother you that there are so many photographic images out there? If it doesn’t, it should. It is not like the more pictures the merrier. With an abundance of photographs floating around the internet, there is essentially what economists call an oversupply.

The consequence of oversupply is diminished value. This is the basic premise of economic supply and demand. The more we have of something, the less we value it. To put it in layman’s term, we take for granted the things that we have in abundance – like water and air – hence our polluted environment.

To make matter even worse, photographic images are posted online for free – essentially rendering its value to zero. As a result, there is an expectation in the eyes of the public that photographic content should be free, despite the effort taken by photographers to capture the image.

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LEICA Unveils the SOFORT Instant Camera

Leica proudly announced today, the newest member of its family, the Leica SOFORT instant camera. The SOFORT boasts a unique Leica design with special features, offering quick and easy access to photography that will have users seeing and sharing real photographs within seconds. With the SOFORT, Leica brings its photographic expertise, commitment to creativity, and ease of use to the world of Instax instant photography.

In automatic mode, the SOFORT utilizes available light as much as possible before triggering the flash, creating pictures with a more authentic, natural look that are one-of-a-kind. In addition there are preset modes including Automatic, Party & People, Sports & Action, Macro and even multiple exposure and time exposure modes.

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The Leica M-P Titanium Will Shoot the Most Expensive Selfies Ever

Leica has put out Titanium edition cameras before, and the latest set will include the Leica M-P (Typ 240) digital camera, Leica Summicron-M 28 mm f/2 ASPH. Lens and the Leica APO-Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 ASPH. Lens. Only 333 of the sets will be sold worldwide; and so you’re probably not going to be able to afford one.

You can stop reading here if you want. But for the rest of us that like to drool over stuff that we clearly can’t afford, you can head past the jump for their press release.

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Leica Magazine Leaks an Instant Film Camera Coming at Photokina

Information about a new Leica instant camera is reportedly leaked in the latest issue of LFI magazine, according to some news that Steve Huff Photo received from a reader. The name of the rumored Leica instant camera is “Sofort” which translates to instant in German. The Sofort bears strong similarities to the current Fuji Instax Mini 90 model, and is also compatible with Fuji Instax Films.

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Has Digital Technology Ruined Black and White Photography?

This is a syndicated blog post from Street Silhouettes. All images and text from Horatio Tan. Used with permission.

There was a time when all photographers shot black and white film. For the most part, the decision to shoot in black and white had very little to do with choice or preference for black and white photographs. In most cases, it was because black and white film was more convenient to develop, when compared to color film. And in case you’ve forgotten what develop means, it’s not when you drop off your film at the local photo-mat. It means going to the darkroom and developing it yourself.

It was in developing film and printing images that separated real photographers from those who just took photographs. Whereas the latter group had no control in optimizing the look of the images (after it was developed and printed at a photo-mat), the former had complete control limited only by the scope of his ability in the darkroom.

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Awesome Comparison: Bokeh Shootout between Leica, Canon, and Nikon 50-58mm Primes

This is a syndicated post originally published over at Street Silhouettes. Prepared by Anthony Thurston. Originally by Horatio Tan.

In retrospect, I really should have conducted this comparison on another day, given that I had been awake that day since 3:00AM Hong Kong Standard Time, and was conducting this shootout after work from 7:00PM-9:00PM. Something was going to give, and in this case, it was a Nikon 50mm f/1.2 that I had I accidentally replaced with a Nikon 58mm f/1.2 Noct-Nikkor – essentially repeating the result of the Noct-Nikkor lens. Hey, you can’t blame me. Those AIs Nikon lenses all look the same, especially when you’re sleep deprived. Needless to say, I will do a second day of shooting.

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Five Camera Bags for the Discerning Film Photographer

If you’re a film photographer, then chances are that you’re very particular about your camera bags. You probably don’t need to tote along a laptop with you but you need film, a camera or two, lenses, filters, flashes, light meters, etc. You surely do need different things and often in a smaller package.

So after going through our archives, we found a few bags that you’re bound to really like.

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Bonus Crazy Comparisons: Bokeh between Fast Leica Primes, Current and Vintage

This is a syndicated blog post from Street Silhouettes. All images by Horatio Tan. Used with permission.

In order to give something back to my readers, I intend to post these crazy comparisons that may not otherwise be published on other sites, given the availability of the equipment, or the availability of some of my intended combinations. These comparison will not likely be useful for many, but all the same, entertaining, especially if you are a photographer… well… I suppose you’ve got to be a photographer, to some extent, to even visit my site… ha ha!

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How to Become a Legitimate, World Renowned Street Photographer

Street photography is pretty much as simple as going out and shooting photos of people in public–but there are the street photographers that do it better than everyone else and then there are those who do a lot of marketing. Indeed, there are terrible photographers with lots of gigs and sales and conversely there are photographers with great work and no gigs or sales. But the world of the Street photographer is different.

It gets even tougher when it comes to street photography for the reasons that your income will mostly rely on licensing and print sales from galleries. So how do you ensure you’ve got the work that counts? Here’s how!

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The Best Point and Shoot Cameras of 2016 for Street Photography

Fact: you probably shouldn’t be carrying around an interchangeable lens camera to shoot street photography. Truthfully, you don’t really need to. What street photographers need to capture candid slices of life are small, inconspicuous cameras. Surely, a photographer can use a big camera and not be caught–but it’s tough to argue that smaller and more low profile cameras don’t naturally get away with more. Further, you don’t often need more than a single lens.

Want to get out there and document the human condition? Check out these fan favorite cameras.

Editor’s Note: when talking about street photography, we’re also including the genre of urban geometry.

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This Leica M7 Titanium Edition Kit Will Cost You Almost $200,000

As if the rare Leica we reported on yesterday wasn’t enough, there’s currently an even more expensive deal going on right now for a rare Leica M7 Titanium edition three lens kit with the box. The price: so far it’s at $199,500.

Yes, you can have this very rare set rendered in titanium and introduced in 2004. In fact, according to the post, only 50 pieces were ever created. Not only are you getting the M7 though, you’re also scoring a 28mm f2, 50mm f1.4 and 90mm f2 lens. All of these are very highly regarded amongst the Leica community–and though you may probably not want to or care about using them at this price point, the set is pretty pricy.

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For $45,000 This Unopened Box With a Rare Leica Camera is Yours

You’ve all known that Leica cameras are pretty expensive, but according to the seller of this rare leica found by Boing Boing, you don’t know how expensive. This story’s lead image is of an unopened box and an X-ray of the Leica camera inside it. This camera isn’t just any Leica though, it’s of a rare Leica KE-7A which is kind of like a super toughened Leica M4 designed for use by the US Military.

There are no details as to who owned this camera or how the seller even got a hold of it, but it’s quite a fascinating story to be able to know that something like this still exists and that you (if you’ve got the dough) can be the first one to open it.

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My Three Lenses

This is a syndicated blog post from La Noir Image. Editorial by Josh S. Rose. Be sure to also check him out on Instagram. Images and text used with permission

Out of habit (and lust), I read a lot of online reviews of photography equipment. Truth is, I’ve spent too many hours delving into the craftsmanship part of the medium. But it’s a side note to my greater passion, which is shooting. This is why I’m sharing the contents of my camera kit — because in my journeys, I’ve found most reviews of equipment to be written from an expert’s point of view but it’s harder to find a cohesive opinion about a complete camera kit from the point of view of artists. I wish there were more conceptual photographers who shared their set-ups because we could look at their work and make decisions based more on the creative side of photography, rather than the technical.

I offer up a look into my own camera bag because it works so well for me. It’s been chiseled down (over three decades) to be what I consider a perfect “fine art” camera kit. It gets me professional grade shots for everything I love to shoot, which is real life, but even more, it is a set-up specifically designed around photography as a form of self-expression.

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