Leica Sofort 2: Strong Leica taste, but the image quality is not satisfactory

Yes, I spent more than 3,000 yuan to buy a real Leica camera. This is not a joint brand of Xiaomi and Sharp. It is a real Leica camera. It can even be found in the official Leica APP. It’s the Sofort 2, a brand new product launched by Leica just last month.

(Photo source: Photographed by Lei Technology)

In the previous Last month, I wrote an article commenting on Leica’s new machine, which is like cutting leeks. For more than 3,000 yuan, it must be too much money to spend on such a product with extremely backward configuration in the polaroid market. , pure "big injustice". But adhering to the philosophy that if I don’t go to hell, who else will, I still placed an order for the Leica Sofort 2 on the night it went on sale and became a “real” Leica user.

Appearance: An exquisite toy?

The Leica Sofort 2 does not look like a real camera, nor is it the same as instant cameras such as Fujifilm, Kodak, and Polaroid. It is somewhat similar to those so-called children's cameras on the market. In other words, somewhat "cheap".

(Photo source: Photographed by Lei Technology)

But in fact Later, I changed my mind slightly. I originally thought that its casing was made of a particularly cheap and non-scratchable plastic, but Leica was actually willing to use a glass casing for it, and it still feels warm and moist to the touch. However, this will also make the Leica Sofort 2 a little heavier, at least a lot heavier than it looks.

The button layout of the Leica Sofort 2 may be a little difficult for users who have not come into contact with old cameras. The power button is set in the lower left corner of the front of the fuselage, which is "MF/AF" of ordinary cameras. From left to right on the top of the front are the Lecia logo, a small convex mirror for selfies, a selfie shutter button, a power indicator light and a flash.

(Photo source: Photographed by Lei Technology)

By the way , the lens cover of the Leica Sofort 2 has a magnetic design, and this lens, which seems to be extremely thin, can actually be twisted. When you rotate the "aperture ring" part of the lens, you can adjust it in ten different Switch between the filter style modes, but I personally feel that it is not very practical, just take a picture and have fun.

The side is used to output photo paper. After selecting the photos you want to print, gently pull the lever on the back of the fuselage to print out a complete photo. . But everyone must think twice before printing photos. After all, the photo paper of Leica Sofort 2 costs up to 12 yuan/sheet, which is still very painful to use.

(Photo source: Photographed by Lei Technology)

Leica Sofort 2 The button arrangement on the back is particularly "Leica", with only four buttons: PLAY, FN, MENU and D-pad. However, its functionality and professionalism are still far from those of the real Leica Q, SL and M series. It is basically just Able to easily adjust some simple functions. However, it is understandable that most users who buy this type of instant camera do not understand the various parameters of the camera and hope to directly press the shutter button to take the picture.

(Photo source: Photographed by Lei Technology)

With traditional photography The difference is that after taking a photo, the Leica Sofort 2 will not immediately convert the photo into a physical photo, but store it as a digital version inside the camera (up to 50 photos can be stored, and a TF card can be inserted ), users can select one they like from the built-in photo album and print it out. I personally prefer this method of producing films compared to Polaroids. The reason why I have never played with Polaroids or film cameras before is that one more piece of waste film will cost more.

(Photo source: Photographed by Lei Technology)

What’s interesting is , Leica Sofort 2 can not only print out photos taken by the camera, but can also print out photos from mobile phones after connecting to the official Leica APP. In other words, it is a combination of a digital camera and a printer. Of course, you can also export photos from the camera to your phone through the APP, but with this picture quality, it’s really hard to convince yourself that you actually spent more than 3,000 yuan to buy such a “top-of-the-line camera.”

As for the parameters of Leica Sofort 2, it can be described as "bleak". First of all, it has a built-in 1/5-inch digital sensor, which is equivalent to a full-frame 28mm angle lens, and has only 500,000 pixels. The quality is very worrying. Not to mention compared with cameras, even mobile phones costing several hundred yuan can crush it in terms of picture quality.

(Photo source: Photographed by Lei Technology)

So, what’s it like to use a Leica camera with a crotchless configuration, a poor grip, and a low-quality screen?

Photography: The picture quality is very poor but I can’t put it down

It just happened that this camera was used when I was preparing to travel to Dalian It arrived the day before, so it naturally became one of the shooting tools. To be honest, I didn’t have much expectations for it. After all, in my opinion, this is a pure IQ product. Apart from the appearance and the bright Leica logo, it has no value. But the actual photos printed by the Leica Sofort 2 actually made me think, "This thing seems to work really well."

(Photo source: Photographed by Lei Technology)

with the market Different from those instant cameras, the Leica Sofort 2 basically does not need to adjust any parameters before shooting, and the official does not want you to look at it from the perspective of a professional camera, so in this shooting, I used the default format almost the entire time. , focusing on an authentic flavor.

(Photo source: Photographed by Lei Technology)

Because of Leica Sofort 2 uses three-inch vertical format photo paper, so we should use vertical composition as much as possible when shooting to avoid excessive cropping of the picture or directly cropping the subject when printing the photo. Its focal length is equivalent to full-frame 28mm, and its aperture is between F2-F16, so it still tests the user's composition ability when shooting.

(Photo source: Photographed by Lei Technology)

With camera, The photos taken with mobile phones are different. When the paper photos are freshly held in your hands, you will feel a different kind of satisfaction. Hanging them on the wall to form your own photo wall is also a meaningful thing.

##Oh yes, the photo paper of Leica Sofort 2 is also very interesting. Its outer packaging has a strong Leica style. Xiao Lei once thought that the photo paper was actually Leica. A special production line was opened to make it. But when I tore open the outer packaging, something ridiculous happened - the words "FUJIFILM instax mini" were printed on the photo paper, which is the photo paper produced by Fujifilm.

(Photo source: Photographed by Lei Technology)

I will follow up as well I bought the official photo paper of Fujifilm instax mini 9. The two are completely interchangeable, and the image quality and color are the same. The only difference is that there is no "LEICA SOFORT" on the back of the photo paper. But Fuji's photo paper is more than half the price of Leica's. I shouldn't need to tell you where to buy new photo paper.

(Photo source: Photographed by Lei Technology)

Although the Leica Sofort The only operations of 2 are to select the composition and press the shutter, but the quality of its built-in screen is really not flattering. Not only is the overall color cast but also very grainy, and the quality may not be as good as that of some copycat phones. Such a screen will inevitably affect my composition, because in places with high brightness it is almost impossible to see the screen, and I don’t even know where the focus is or whether it is in focus. The main focus is a stream of consciousness composition.

(Photo source: Photographed by Lei Technology)

For sure Yes, the performance of the Leica Sofort 2 with extremely small optical components will be very poor in dark light environments. Without the help of computational photography, the imaging effect is basically "depending on the sky". Simply put, it is a pure sunlight camera. machine.

(Photo source: Photographed by Lei Technology)

So we can see from the photos that the photos output by the Leica Sofort 2 under good light conditions are pretty good. The Dalian Cross-sea Bridge and the shadows caused by the sun are also clearly revealed, which was not very noticeable at the time. The strong lighting environment also gives the whole photo a touch of texture.

(Photo source: Photographed by Lei Technology, the top is the printed photo, the bottom is Original image on camera)

But when I point the camera at an environment with high light intensity, the Leica Sofort 2 will have overexposed images and the overall color will be saturated. The speed will also deviate, and what's even more intolerable is that there will be obvious color gaps in the sky, and the picture will be basically enveloped in lavender, making it a complete waste of a picture.

(Picture source: Lei Technology Drawing)

But we are ahead Didn't I mention that Leica Sofort 2 can quickly print out photos from mobile phones? I also tried to print one. From the picture, you can see that the color, image quality and three-dimensionality of the printed photos are better than those of Leica Sofort 2. The photos taken by the Leica Sofort 2 are stronger. It can only be said that the real-time imaging capabilities of the Leica Sofort 2 are really not worthy of its pretty good printing capabilities.

So in my opinion, the Leica Sofort 2 is not a real camera, not even a polaroid camera, although Leica tries its best to Let it become a camera that consumers like, but it is obviously just a toy with imaging and printing functions.

An excellent big toy

Advantages:

1. The Leica logo is very conspicuous ;

2. The grip and texture are very good, much better than all plastic Polaroids;

3. The operation is simple and easy to use, just know how to press the shutter button;

Disadvantages:

1. The picture quality is too low, and the colors are not very suitable;

2. The screen quality is extremely poor, and it is difficult to rely on the screen. Complete the composition;

3. Official photo paper is expensive.

After using it for more than a week, my impression of the Leica Sofort 2 is just two words: "toy". It has a fairly excellent appearance design, good texture and quite The eye-catching Leica logo really adds a lot of charm to it, and the almost point-and-shoot operation is also suitable for those novices who don’t know anything about cameras before. Because of this, they may keep taking it out to take pictures instead of using a professional camera. A series of complex parameters were confused.

(Photo source: Photographed by Lei Technology)

Leica's top An instant camera dates back seven years, but the previous generation product was a true 4433 medium format product, and it still used film design. It was better than the Leica Sofort 2 in terms of image quality and retro feel. , even its current price on a certain second-hand platform is only a little over two thousand yuan.

So, is the Leica Sofort 2 worth buying? I personally still don’t think it’s worth it. If it’s priced below 2,000 yuan, it’s really possible to break the monopoly of Polaroid and Fujifilm in the field of instant cameras, but the price of a single camera is more than 3,000 yuan and the price of photo paper is 12 yuan. , it is really difficult to attract ordinary users like me to pay for it. More importantly, it has no advantages in terms of image quality and imaging. Of course, if you are a Leica user and are particularly fond of Leica’s charming colors, then Leica Sofort 2 may be a good toy to try.

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