From the moment the company was formed, Leica has been a beacon of innovation and engineering. Over the last 150 years, Leica revolutionised the photographic industry more than once with the creation of its pioneering optical precision tools. This year, we saw the legendary brand release more than 12 new product offerings. These are some of our favourite Leica gear releases of 2023.
Summicron-SL 35 f/2 ASPH and the Summicron-SL 50 f/2 ASPH
Leica expanded its SL-System with two new compact lenses, namely the Leica SL2-S: the Summicron-SL 35 f/2 ASPH and the Summicron-SL 50 f/2 ASPH.
The Summicron-SL 35 f/2 ASPH is a wide-angle prime lens with a fixed 35mm focal length, and the Summicron-SL 50 f/2 ASPH is a wide-angle prime lens with a fixed 50mm focal length. Both lenses have a consistent F/2 maximum aperture, enabling photographers to work in different lighting conditions. The lenses feature fast and accurate focus speeds, which is favourable for videographers requiring quiet focusing. Thanks to the lenses’ three aspherical elements, photographers will enjoy the reduction in chromatic and spherical aberrations, resulting in sharper and clearer images. Compact and lightweight, both lenses are perfect for various photographic genres, including landscape, street, reportage, travel, and event photography.
Leica Vario-Elmar-SL 100-400mm f/5-6.3 telephoto zoom lens and the new Leica Extender L 1.4x
The Leica Vario-Elmar-SL 100-400mm f/5-6.3 telephoto zoom lens is the widest telephoto zoom lens in the Leica SL System. An exceptional lens for those interested in wildlife, sports, and nature photography, the lens provides exceptional sharpness across all f-stops and focal distances. With a built-in 4-stop optical image stabilisation and precise autofocus system, you’re guaranteed high-quality, blur-free images.
The Leica Extender L 1.4x
The Leica Extender L 1.4x extends the focal length range of their Leica Vario-Elmar-SL 100-400 f/5-6.3 telephoto zoom lens further to a range of 140-560mm. The compact extender weighs less than 200g and fits comfortably in your camera bag, allowing you to whip it out whenever you need a 1.4x boost to your focal length range.
Leica M11 Monochrom
In 2012, Leica made the decision to be the only manufacturer to launch a camera with a dedicated black-and-white sensor: the Leica M Monochrom. In 2023, 11 years on, Leica introduced the fourth generation of the Leica M Monochrom: the new Leica M11 Monochrom. The Leica M11 Monochrom features a 60MP Full-Frame CMOS sensor with a back-illuminated design that offers photographers significant noise reduction and fast readout speeds. The M11 Monochrom is a photo-only black-and-white camera suited to detail-orientated genres like landscape and architecture.
The M11 Monochrom’s Triple Resolution Technology, a first for M cameras, involves a unique pixel binning process that allows photographers to select a 60MP, 36MP, or 18MP output. The pixel-binning process improves the dynamic range and reduces the noise levels when shooting in lower resolutions. The camera has an ISO 64-50 000 range, which delivers improved detail, quality, and natural colour rendering. While the camera prioritizes manual operation, it does feature an electronic shutter function with shooting speeds up to 1/16,000 sec.
Leica M11-P
In years past, photographers would add a watermark to their digital images to assign ownership. However, this method of marking a photograph fell out of favour due to watermarks distracting from their overall appearance as well as it being relatively easy to crop a watermark out of an image. With the onset of AI, photographs are becoming easier to manipulate, forge, and artificially generate. While these technological advancements have their advantages, they have led to consumers not trusting digital content and struggling to prove the authenticity and ownership of their images. To combat these ever-increasing issues, Leica released the M11-P, the world’s first camera to store metadata by attaching Content Credentials at the point of capture. These Content Credentials include the photographer’s name, the date the image was captured, any changes or edits made to the image, and more. The authenticity of any image captured on the M11-P can be verified at any time by visiting the verification platform, found here. The Leica M11-P is at the forefront of addressing modern digital challenges, safeguarding the interests of content creators while ensuring the reliability of content for audiences.
Summilux-M 50 f/1.4 ASPH
The Leica Summilux-M 50 f/1.4 ASPH lens is a full-frame lens designed for the brand’s legendary M cameras. The lens features a standard focal length of 50mm, a minimum focusing distance of 45cm, and a new 11-blade diaphragm for smoother bokeh. The 50mm is suited to photographers of all genres and offers photographers high-speed and excellent low-light performance. Its sleek and lightweight design makes it excellent for photographers to take with them on all their shooting expeditions, and thanks to its built-in retractable lens hood, all images are protected from lens flares and glares.
Leica Q3
This year, Leica introduced the 3rd generation of the highly successful Q series, the Leica Q3. The Leica Q3 features the same fixed focal length full-frame design that we’ve seen in previous Q generations, however, it does come with some pretty impressive additions. The camera features a 60MP BSI CMOS Sensor, offering fast readout speeds and impressive noise performance. The high-resolution camera is perfect for photographers meticulous about capturing the finer details of their subjects, making it great for landscape and architectural photography. The Q3’s sensor features Triple Resolution Technology, which allows photographers to shoot in 60MP, 36MP, or 18MP output. Each resolution uses the entire sensor area, and shooting with the lower resolutions allows for faster camera operation and smaller file sizes. The camera features the Summilux 28mm f/1.7 wide-angle prime lens, which we’ve seen in previous Leica Q cameras. The wide-angle prime lens offers a wide field of view, fast performance, optical image stabilization, and sharp images with low distortion, making it an excellent camera system for various photographic environments. For those interested in video, the Leica Q3 features 8K30P and ProRes 422 HQ recording capabilities. Its Micro-HDMI and USB-C ports allow you to connect external recorders, gimbals, and power banks to further improve your video recording experience.
Leica Summicron-M 28 f/2 ASPH
M-series lenses are renowned for their excellent glass quality, exceptional precision, and performance. The Leica Summicron-M 28mm f/2 ASPH is a state-of-the-art wide-angle lens suited to photographers in the reportage and environmental photography genres. Featuring a bright f/2 maximum aperture and a minimum focusing distance of 40cm, the lens provides photographers with the versatility to capture stunning images in various lighting conditions and environments.
The Leica Summicron-M 28mm f/2 ASPH’s compact and lightweight design makes it ideal for on-the-go shooting, allowing photographers to document the world around them with ease. Its precise manual focus ring offers intuitive control, enabling photographers to fine-tune their compositions. It also features an integrated lens hood which can be accessed or removed with a slight flick of the wrist.
