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The real news about the Leica Sofort! [merged thread]


jaapv

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This only works for peel-apart instant film, like the recently discontinued Fuji FP-100C.  It will not work for integral-type instant film, like Instax or Impossible Project films.

 

Jim B.

Thanks for the clarification, Jim. I think you are right. If the film is not a peel apart type, no negative can be extracted
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Some of us may scoff at the idea of a Leica badged Fuji instant camera, but it's interesting that Leica and Fuji are in partnership again (the very first Leica digital cameras were rebadged Fuji's).

 

I wonder what other current Leica products have elements of Fuji within them, and what new products are they potentially working on together?

 

And don't forget The famous Hassleblad XPan is just a rebadged Fuji so collaboration is not new. Thinking about it, wouldn't a digital Xpan be cool? 

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If there isn't something substantively Leica in the build then they done just as much damage to the brand as Porsche would rebranding a Toyota Yaris

 

Already been done.

 

Aston Martin sold a rebadged and slightly bodyshopped Toyota iQ a few years ago, just to get their average emissions levels down to European standards. Which just goes to show how insane some of those regulations are.

 

I don't think Aston Martin's brand has suffered in any way, though. £33k for a ten grand car saw to that.

 

http://www.carbuyer.co.uk/reviews/aston-martin/cygnet/hatchback/review

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Already been done.

 

Aston Martin sold a rebadged and slightly bodyshopped Toyota iQ a few years ago, just to get their average emissions levels down to European standards. Which just goes to show how insane some of those regulations are.

 

I don't think Aston Martin's brand has suffered in any way, though. £33k for a ten grand car saw to that.

 

http://www.carbuyer.co.uk/reviews/aston-martin/cygnet/hatchback/review

Different reasons and not promoted or sold in any numbers I suspect. I don't expect it did them any good either ! Edited by IWC Doppel
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Just don't beat about the bush and face the reality. Business decicions are made today not by innovative product development, but more likely by marketing and sales departments. IF something doesn't sell, we don't produce it. Let's produce what sells best. And i think the Leica Sofort is a clever move. All the young instax users are stripped down to the basic photography enthusiasts. And as we all know the average leica's user age is getting older, why not try to get the attention from the young generation through products like a smartphone and instax camera?! I predict, that if you are an instax fan analog photography is not far away. And if you bought yourself the first used analog Leica M, sooner or later you want a digital M. And than marketing worked.

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I think this makes sense, for those markets that see a Leica as a status symbol.

they get a camera with the red dot, that produces the same little prints as their friends Instax.

 

personally i would love to see a fully manual instant camera - with a PC socket.

 

 

as a confirmed Titanium junkie, i do like the look of that new M-P  just can't afford it (or really justify it)

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No wonder Leica are incapable of meeting customer demand for the Q. Their efforts and resources are wasted on this stuff.

 

You never know though. It might end up being a rare and hard to find camera one day :p

 

Then again people who blow upwards of £5k on a Leica will probably get one just for the fun of it. If its not for them or they have enought of playing with the new toy they'll end up on ebay. Expect these to sell for around £100 by around mid next year.

Edited by likealot
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What are the differences ?

 

 

For the instax cameras? (not the cars) The spec sheet shows that they are technically identical ... so the Fuji neo 90 looks like a Leica camera and the Leica camera comes in "cool" colors, otherwise they are coming out of the same factory.

 

Its only interesting, what Leica thinks their brand is worth ... clearly they are taking it as far as they can. But the Fuji looks cooler IMO. Hopefully Leica has something else to announce in the next days ...

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But the Fuji looks cooler IMO. Hopefully Leica has something else to announce in the next days ...

Be that as it may, there could be an interesting announcement from Fuji (not related to Leica) on Monday. Also Olympus appears to have a surprise up their sleeve.

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It is a rebadged Fuji Instax 90 with, apparently, a different lens. So, fine... there is some hope we might get dome value out of three timed the price.

 

Honestly, the Sofort looks like some plastic toy while the Fuji looks quite nice actually. I thought they were done with poppy colors after the "tremendous" success with the T accesory items (some of which now sell for 10 bucks unopened box over here).

 

Whether or not the world needs another instant camera? I might get one for my kid once she figures out that the wooden Leica is indeed just a toy. However, it's going to be the Hello Kitty branded Fuji - certainly not the Leica.

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 And i think the Leica Sofort is a clever move. All the young instax users are stripped down to the basic photography enthusiasts. And as we all know the average leica's user age is getting older, why not try to get the attention from the young generation through products like a smartphone and instax camera?! I predict, that if you are an instax fan analog photography is not far away. And if you bought yourself the first used analog Leica M, sooner or later you want a digital M. And than marketing worked.

The great thing about Instax is their immediate  (in both senses of the word) social nature. You hand them to the person you just took the pic of, and it gets passed around. For hundreds of millions of people around the world their first experience of photography now comes from the smartphone, with its culture of instant, lo-fi and instantly shared pictures.  Instax pics fulfill the first two expectations, but for the social media and sharing generation here is a medium whose social is really face to face and whose sharing means the exchange or gift of an unrepeatable physical thing.  I got an Instax mini a few years ago with the idea that for travel and street photography, it is a way to give something back when taking pictures of people. For all the ubiquity of digital pictures, a physical snapshot (of whatever quality) is a rarer and rarer thing.

 

There are good reasons why Instax has been a hit, and for anyone who cares about analog photography, any reversal in its decline is great news. I can see the point in Leica marketing getting the brand into the smartphone and now and instant film camera segments.  Leica does need to reach out to survive. There is after all brand extension. Whether or not it’s also brand dilution and destruction depends on whether it’s more than a re-badge and cosmetics.

After all the commentary and brickbats about Leica’s actual input had died down,  and after people, including myself, had actually used that camera, the Leica designation on the Huawei P9’s is borne out by its performance. It is, in user interface, technology and picture quality something that satisfies our brand expectations of Leica in that category of product. Notice the ‘brand dividend’  wasn’t delivered by the laziest way to do it, a mere price dividend. The Huawei handset retails for less than its Samsung and iPhone peers.  If we apply the same performance test to the Sofort, I hope, for Leica’s sake, that it takes a better instant picture than the Fuji.

 

The advertising copy on the listings for pre-order screams, don’t expect it.

 

Adorama:

The perfect combination of style and functionality in the small and compact Leica Sofort makes it the ideal companion for fashion-conscious people who love photography. It comes in a choice of cool and contemporary colours – orange, mint and white. What’s your colour? 

 

Leica Miami:

The Sofort brings a mature, thoughtful quality to the fun instant film photography world.  Available in three colors - mint, white and orange. 

 

Enough said.

 

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It is a rebadged Fuji Instax 90 with, apparently, a different lens. So, fine... there is some hope we might get dome value out of three timed the price.

 

 

Are you sure it is a different lens? The specifications are the same, 60 mm f12.7 . Even so, Fuji knows how to build lenses, it will be hard to improve on it on that small image format.

 

I do get the concept, but I think it is best served by a Mini Instax 8. I just don't think it is Leica territory.

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