This summer, Panasonic will
begin selling the CM1 smart phone in the US.
It caused a small sensation at the Photokina last fall when it was first
shown. Equipped with a Leica DC Elmarit
f/2.8 lens, this phone puts a far greater emphasis on image quality than any
other smart phone currently available.
Also referred to as a smart
camera, the CM1 combines the photographic quality and operation of a premium
compact camera with those of current smartphones and Android OS.
The CM1 comes with a 1 inch
MOS sensor with 20 megapixels. This is times
larger than the sensors commonly used in smartphones. The Leica DC Elmarit f/2.8 lens has a fiull
frame equivalent focal length of 28mm.
The Venus Engine processor provides signal processing especially adapted
to for photography. It goes far beyond
the normal standard in smartphones.
The camera/smartphone also offers
many manual settings. By rotating the
lens ring, it offers direct access to shutter speeds, aperture, ISO settings,
white balance, exposure as well as manual and auto focus. Pictures are taken in JPEG as well as RAW
format.
Considering the close
relationship between Panasonic and Leica, could it be possible to see a Leica camera
smartphone in the future?
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This reminds me of an article on this blog where Ernst Leitz participated in the demonstration of a working telephone several years before Alexander Graham Bell. The question was if there might have been a Leitel (Leitz Telephone). The introduction of this Panasonic phone and the close relationship between Panasonic and Leica seems to have brought us a lot closer to that possibility.
ReplyDeleteThe Panasonic phone definitely brings up the question of a possible Leica version. However, wouldn't a further development of a camera like the Leica T to include smartphone capabilities make more sense? The camera has a touch screen already, as well as a microphone and speaker. The addition of smartphone electronics and software would in no way lessen the superior performance of the camera, including interchangeable lenses, but would also offer smartphone capabilities without the need of carrying a separate device.
DeleteAren't we getting too much into developing devices that can do it all? What's next?
ReplyDeleteThere is also the issue of size. Initially, manufacturers strived to make cell phones ever smaller, and they were very handy because of it. Now they are going into the opposite direction because of the overabundance of multitasking capabilities.
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