Leica has released its first smartphone, the Leitz Phone 1, into the Japanese market, where it will be available exclusively through SoftBank, a leading distributor.
Three views of the new Leitz Phone 1 smartphone. (Source: Leica.)
Designed in Germany and produced in collaboration with Sharp Corporation, the Leitz name commemorates Ernst Leitz, who revolutionised the world of photography in 1924 with the invention of modern 35mm photography. The new Leitz Phone 1 runs on Android 11 and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G chip. It has a fast 19mm equivalent, f/1.9 lens with up to 6x digital zoom and is 5G capable. Users can capture images in RAW and JPEG formats using the 1-inch image sensor with 20.2 megapixel effective resolution. Leitz Engine processing software claims to deliver state-of-the-art computational bokeh, colour correction, edge refinement and realistic noise reduction and offers optional ‘Leitz Looks’ for producing black-and-white images with a typical Leica camera look-and-feel, based on the visual language of the flagship Leica M Monochrom.
A pre-installed ‘LFI.Widget’ presents constantly the best photos from the Leica Fotografie International Gallery – the curated platform for Leica photographers worldwide. Depending on personal taste and interest, the selection of categories as well as the frequency of the refresh of new images can be configured individually. So far, the Leitz Phone 1 is only available in Japan. Click here for more information.
