Leica announces Sofort 2 instant camera and printer
Leica has finally brought out its second generation instant camera, aptly named Sofort 2 (sofort means immediately in German). This is a sequel seven years in the making, but it is seemingly worth it.
It's a Leica from the outside - well-made for its market segment and recognizable. It comes in three colors - Black, Red, and White.
The most significant improvement over the first Sofort is that this is no longer just an instant camera. It's now a hybrid digital camera with a 1/5" CMOS sensor that captures 4.9MP photos to a microSD. You then choose which photos you want printed.
The Leica Sofort 2 is also a photo printer - you can send images you've taken on your phone (or your Leica) to the Sofort 2 and print them. It takes Sofort color film mini, which is 86 × 54 mm in size.
On the back, the Sofort 2 has a 3-inch LCD and a menu similar to the one on Leica cameras.
There's a 28mm equivalent Leica Summar f/2 lens on the front - the same focal length as the popular Leica Q series fixed-lens cameras. The lens has a 10cm minimum focusing distance. There's also a flash on the front - a staple of the instant camera.
The Leica Sofort 2 will ship on November 9 for €389/$389 - more than the popular Instax Evo from Fujifilm, but this is a Leica.
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Reader comments
- Kriegsherr
- 06 Oct 2023
- 3SJ
I would really like to have a nice small photo printer which can provide a quality close to color labs. Would be useful to print photos from my phone.
- utz
- 06 Oct 2023
- ndi
Who is the target customer of this product? Nowadays everyone has a smartphone to take pictures, so a mobile printer without the camera does that same. I doubt this takes better pictures than a modern smartphone.
- Anonymous
- 05 Oct 2023
- 58Z
Didn't HP do something similar a few years back, a mini portable printer called Sprocket to get mini photos? No matter how cute and fun it seemed when it launched, it was a total market failure. While HP bet it could sell more ink an...