- Leica has revealed a brand new MagSafe digital camera grip for iPhones
- The LUX Grip has bodily controls like a shutter button and settings dial
- It prices $329 / £260 (round AU$515) and comes with different limitations
As a photographer and TechRadar’s former cameras editor my major criticism of the best camera phones has at all times been their dealing with – they’re nonetheless simply no enjoyable to shoot with. Leica has now joined a rising variety of digital camera grip equipment that intention to repair that, however some unlucky drawbacks have dented the brand new LUX Grip’s enchantment.
At first look, the LUX Grip appears to be like like an important addition to any MagSafe iPhone (which incorporates any mannequin from the iPhone 12 onwards). It manages to look each fashionable and purposeful, with a tube-like design that may naturally be flipped to swimsuit each right- and left-handed shooters. It is so properly designed I may even forgive Leica calling it “the right symbiosis between Leica and iPhone”.
Just like the best mirrorless cameras, there is a mechanical two-stage shutter launch (virtually actually higher than the iPhone 16’s flawed Camera Control), amongst different controls. These embody a settings dial, plus two customizable operate buttons for individuals who prefer to shoot in handbook. As a lot as I like the concept of Apple‘s Digital camera Management button, bodily controls make far more sense on one thing just like the LUX Grip than an 8mm-thick glass slab.
However then come these irritating drawbacks. Firstly, and most annoyingly, the LUX Grip is simply suitable with Leica’s personal LUX app. That is proper, you’ll be able to’t use it with Apple’s personal Digital camera app (or any of the opposite best camera apps), not like alternate options just like the ShiftCam ProGrip or Fjorden Grip. Leica truly now owns Fjorden, so that you’d have thought it’d comply with swimsuit with its compatibility, however surprisingly, it didn’t.
That would not be so unhealthy, however the Leica LUX app solely provides primary options earlier than requiring a subscription. Okay, you get a one-year Professional subscription to the app while you purchase the LUX Grip, however past that, it wants a hefty month-to-month price to unlock the complete performance you’d want when shopping for a grip that’s this costly.
Lastly, there’s the value. Absolutely a cellphone accent that prices $329 / £260 (round AU$515) ought to unlock longer or limitless entry to an app that prices $6.99 / £6.99 / AU$9.99 a month? I get that that is Leica, and the app does have some fascinating options (like computationally recreating traditional Leica lenses). Nonetheless, these all really feel like pointless obstacles to what’s in any other case a compelling accent.
There may be nonetheless one thing right here
The Leica LUX Grip is perhaps blighted by irritating drawbacks, however I believe Leica is onto one thing right here – and there is a probability it might nonetheless open the model as much as an entire new viewers if it adjustments tack a little bit.
I have been fascinated by the concept of smartphones computationally replicating the look of traditional digital camera lenses since portrait modes began maturing to as we speak’s ranges. In fact, that is harmful territory for many digital camera giants, who nonetheless wish to promote us actual cameras and lenses, however Leica is definitely in the most effective place to experiment.
Like Ferrari, the German model operates in a world that is virtually totally indifferent from the market realities that others have to barter. Leica digital camera consumers are additionally in a unique Venn diagram from anybody who’d purchase the LUX Grip, which is why the substitute obstacles like restricted third-party app compatibility and dear app subscriptions really feel a bit pointless.
I am certain Leica might make a digital camera grip like this with a cheaper price tag and a multi-year app subscription that provides individuals who’d by no means purchase a Noctilux-M 50mm f/1.2 lens a style of its classic magic on their iPhone. Exclusivity is a part of the Leica model, and maybe I’ve underestimated the event prices of the LUX Grip and app, but when they might be nudged in a extra reasonably priced route, I might nonetheless see them in my iPhone’s future.
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