April 1, 2015
Cameras used to be totally
manual and required a fair amount of knowledge to be operated properly. Subsequently photography was mainly done by
professionals. Camera manufacturers
realized early on that simpler operation would make photography more accessible
to nonprofessionals.
Rangefinder focusing was the
first step in this direction. As a
matter of fact, Leica referred to their early rangefinder cameras as autofocus
cameras. But more of a problem was to
determine the correct exposure. This
problem was initially solved by handheld light meters. But that required for photographers to carry
an additional piece of equipment. The
real breakthrough came with built-in light meters and soon after automatic
exposure control where the built-in light meter was used to automatically take
care of the actual exposure settings of the camera.
Focusing was still to be a
manual operation until Leica developed the Correfot, the first successful
autofocus system ever. Today autofocus
is commonplace, and many photographers no longer give it much thought.
Now we are presented with
what has to be considered one of the greatest breakthroughs in automatic camera
operation. Today Leica introduced an additional, new model to their lineup of
rangefinder cameras, the Leica M-AS. The
AS designation stands for Auto Style.
The camera is basically very much like the Leica M-AF, a prototype which was introduced exactly one year ago.
However, the camera does have a Wi-Fi connection, a touch screen and
advanced software. The main feature is
that with the Wi-Fi connection, users have the possibility to tie into a large
network of names of famous photographers of their choice. Their names will be displayed on the screen
of the camera. By simply touching any of
the names, the camera will then automatically take any photograph in the style
of the chosen photographer. The camera
can store nine such names which can be changed any time via the Wi-Fi connection
with Leica’s vast library of famous photographers’ styles. It is thought that this feature will greatly
improve the quality of the photographs taken.
Finally, the tenth choice, labelled “manual”, allows the photographer to
take photographs in his or her own style if so desired.
This is the first time that
such a degree of automation has ever been offered. It is much to the credit of Leica to have
undergone the effort to make this available to the photographic market. It is thought that this new feature will
further expand Leica’s leading position among camera manufacturers. It has also been announced that Leica has a
very strong patent on the idea and execution of this feature which will prevent
any other camera manufacturer from offering a similar system any time soon.
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Lionel Buratti wrote elsewhere: What an improvement! M-ASs let you take selfie with HCB or Annie Lebowitz like no other....
ReplyDeletePeter Hall wrote elsewhere: Before noon ?
ReplyDeleteWhy not? One half of every day happens before noon.
DeletePeter Hall answered: No ~ the point is that April Fools 'jokes' are supposed to be before noon
ReplyDeleteI did not know that. But no worry, it's noon somewhere, and 4:30 pm already where I am from.
DeleteThaddeus B Kubis wrote elsewhere: Why is my name not included on the style menu????
ReplyDeleteThaddeus, you need to check with Leica to see if your name is in their library of photographers.
DeleteThaddeus answered: I just spoke to Mr. L Eica and he said, Ya, Sie konnen aufgelisted und wir warden Sie in Der Firmware update enthalten, bitte baby!
DeleteLOL Good answer. Now you have two ways to obtain your own style with the New Leica M-AS, download your name to the camera and push your name on the display, or use it in manual.
DeleteThaddeus answered: All I need is the Leica M-AS.
DeleteThat might take Leitzyears
DeleteNorbert Voskens commented elsewhere: Set the camera in the "Henri Cartier Bresson" style and it will choose "the desisive moment" all by itself.Just point it!
ReplyDelete