News tagged with "leica"

Leica has announced a function-enhancing firmware update for its X1 APS-C sensor-based compact camera. Available from March 29, the updated version brings a host of improvements and additional features to the manual focus function, enhances AF performance in low-light conditions and promises improved JPEG quality.

Leica has has announced firmware updates for its S system lenses and revisions to its Image Shuttle image editing software. The latest firmware for the 35mm, 70mm, 120mm and 180mm lenses, and the software update are available for immediate download to registered customers.

Leica's Oskar Barnack Award 2011 international photo competition will be open for entries from January 15 with a first prize worth €14,500 (~ $19,000). For this year's prize the winner will receive an M9 rangefinder and lens in addition to the €5000 cash prize offered last year. To enter, participants need to submit a series of ten to twelve images expressing 'the interaction between man and the environment.' There will also be a Newcomer award open to photographers under 25 years. Submissions are open until 15 March 2011.

Leica has released a function-enhancing firmware update for its S2 medium format DSLR. Version 1.0.0.24 adds lossless DNG compression, boosts burst rate to 1.5 frames per second and increases maximum exposure time to 125 seconds. The update also adds more options for AF/AE button, extends compatibility to 64GB UDMA cards and brings in improvements to the AF performance and preview histogram. Registered users can download the latest firmware via the Owner's Area on Leica's website.

A special edition of the Leica M9 rangefinder has been included in Dallas based luxury retailer Neiman Marcus' Christmas fantasy gifts list. The 50-piece ostrich-leather-covered limited edition costs $17,500 and sits alongside other specialist gifts including a life-size gingerbread playhouse, His & Hers houseboat and a $6000 Ukulele.

Photokina 2010: Leica has announced the D-Lux 5 premium compact camera. Successor to the D-Lux 4, it sports a feature list uncannily similar to the Panasonic LX5, incuding a 10Mp 1/1.63" inch sensor, 24-90mm equiv lens and 460K dot 3.0" LCD. Like the LX5 it can record 720p AVCHD Lite videos, offers multiple aspect ratio recording via a switch on the lens barrel, and allows fully manual control. Registered owners will be able to download a copy of Adobe Lightroom to process the camera's DNG raw files. Priced at £630, it will be available from October 2010.

Photokina 2010: Four years after the V-Lux 1, Leica has launched its second superzoom compact camera in the shape of the V-Lux 2. Bearing more than a passing resemblance to the Panasonic DMC-FZ100, it offers a similar feature set including a 24x zoom lens (25mm - 600mm equiv.), 14.1 MP CMOS sensor and 460K dot 3.0 inch tiltable LCD. Priced at £675, it also allows full 1080p AVCHD video recording, and offers continuous shooting speeds of 11 frames per second at full resolution.

Leica has announced a special edition of its M9 rangefinder in a titanium finish. Designed by automobile designer Walter De'Silva, it features an attached metal finger loop covered with leather for carrying and shooting purposes and a special lens hood with four slits to prevent obstruction of the viewfinder. The Titanium edition will be available at a suggested retail price of just £19,800.

Leica has announced its X1 compact camera will be available in black from October 2010, alongside the current steel gray option. It will come with the same price tag of £1,395, and offers a range of optional accessories. The camera features a 12.2 Mp CMOS sensor, 35mm-equivalent F2.8 semi-wideangle lens and and a 2.7 inch LCD.

Leica has released a firmware update for its M9 digital rangefinder. Version 1.138 improves auto white balance performance in certain lighting conditions and improves compatibility with SDHC memory cards. The latest firmware also fixes a few minor bugs. The firmware is available for immediate download from Leica's website.

Leica has posted a firmware update for its M8 and M8.2 digital rangefinders. Version 2.005 for the both cameras fixes the 'Shutter Fault' error that can occur when shooting multiple images. The firmware is available for immediate download from the company's website.

Leica has announced a revised version of the Summilux-M 35mm f1.4 ASPH lens for its M series of rangefinder cameras. It promises improved close distance performance through the use of a floating focus design, in which the lenses behind the aperture change position relative to the front group on focusing. The lens also comes with a compact rectangular screw-mount hood. It will be available in July 2010 at authorized Leica dealers for a recommended price of $4,995/£3,375.

Leica has announced the Summarit-S 35mm f/2.5 ASPH lens for its S2 professional DSLR. The first wide angle lens designed for its S system offers a 28mm equivalent field of view. It joins the existing 70mm f/2.5 ASPH and 180mm f/2.5 lenses. Leica says it will available from May 2010 at a suggested retail price of US $5295.

Leica has unveiled its first compact superzoom, the V-Lux 20 which also features built-in GPS tagging. A near-identical twin of the Panasonic ZS7/ TZ10, but with a more expensive price tag of US $699/£495 GBP, the camera includes almost all of the features including a 12.1MP sensor, 460k dot 3" LCD and 12x optical zoom (25-300mm equiv.). Like the ZS7 it also features 720p HD video recording, however it can only shoot it in a less sophisticated Motion JPEG format than the Panasonic's AVCHD Lite format.

Leica has released a function-enhancing firmware update for its S2 medium format DSLR. Version 1.0.0.16 adds a white balance preset for working with HMI (Hydrargyrum Medium-arc Iodide) lamps, provides additional viewfinder information and offers selectable OLED screen standby time. It also brings in a host of improvements including more options for customization of buttons. Registered users can download the latest firmware via the Owner's Area on Leica's website.

Leica has released a firmware update for its M9 digital rangefinder. Version 1.116 brings in a host of improvements including enchanced magenta color shift correction for listed wide-angle lenses and a new, ISO setting-related, vignetting correction. The firmware is available for immediate download from Leica's website.

Leica has announced its 31st Oskar Barnack Award for themed photo series, with a first prize of €5,000. The award is made for a series of ten to twelve images expressing 'the interaction between man and the environment.' For the second time, there is also a 'Newcomer' award open to photographers under 25 years, with the chance to win €2,500. Winners in both categories can also opt for their prize's value in Leica camera equipment. Submissions are open until 15 March 2010.

Just posted! Our in-depth review of the Leica X1. Back in September Leica surprised everyone with the announcement of its entirely home-grown large-sensor compact, which combines a fixed 35mm-equivalent lens with an APS-C sensor. Featuring a pared-down design with traditional analogue-style control dials on its top plate for shutter speed and aperture, the X1 certainly looks desirable on paper, but at an asking price around $2000, can it live up to the inevitable high expectations? We've had our hands on a production X1 for the past couple of months - click through to find out what we thought of it.

Just added: Our gallery of images from a pre-production Leica S2. Just recently Leica announced a delay in production of its new S2 autofocus medium format DSLR which will now be available from December. However, we already have our hands on a pre-production model and took it out into the gray London autumn for some snapshots. So here are a selection of images using both the APO-TELE-ELMAR-S 1:3.5/180 and the SUMMARIT-S 1:2.5/70 ASPH lenses. There is a mixture of camera JPEGs and RAW conversions.

Just Posted: Our preview samples gallery from the Leica X1. We've had a fully functional sample of Leica's high-end large-sensor compact for a few days now, just long enough to grab a few sample shots to give you an initial impression of the image quality attainable at a range of ISO settings and apertures.