Back in 2016, imaging titan Leica announced the pricey-but-capable Sofort instant camera ahead of a public showing at Photokina in Germany. Now the company is having another bash with a second-generation hybrid instant snapper.
The first Sofort (which means instant in German) very much rocked Instax Mini vibes, though its "unmistakable styling and look were developed especially for the camera by the Leica design team" and significantly added to the price tag. It came in orange, white or mint (and later red), and launched with three Leica-branded film pack options.
Leica says that the Sofort 2 "seamlessly combines fleeting digital moments with the enduring analogue world." The camera is built around a 1/5-inch-type CMOS image sensor with a RGB color filter for 4.9-MP photos through the Leica Summar 1:2/2.4 lens.
It comes with a selfie mode that has its own dedicated shutter button, a landscape mode "with a wide-angle character" and a close-up macro mode. Framing up is undertaken on the 3-inch rear monitor at 460,000 dots, and a bunch of lens and film effects have been cooked in to spruce up the shots. There's a built-in flash module too, and the manual lever to the top rear is used to initiate printing.
The instant camera now includes the option to save digital images and select the best for printing out the side on Instax Mini-format photo paper with either a white or gold frame. The internal memory should hold around 45 shots, but there's a microSD card slot for the potential to store many more.
Users will also be able to select images from a smartphone's photo library for printing, as well as any taken by other Leica cameras that are stored in the Leica Fotos app. Its menu structure and button layout is designed to "align with those of other digital Leica cameras." And the internal Li-ion battery is reckoned good for around a hundred instant photos per charge.
The Leica Sofort 2 goes on sale from November 9 in black, white or red for US$389. Accessories include wooden picture frames, wrist straps and carry bags.
Source: Leica