A smartphone that mounts full-sized Leica M lenses - Domus IT

Leica's agelong concern with Huawei has ever been precise institutional. The companies would collaborate connected 2 telephone lines yearly, stock knowledge, and denote well-polished and finished products. 
As a effect of Huawei's geopolitical tribulations, Leica moved connected and partnered with Xiaomi. Two months in, we already spot things that Huawei would person ne'er dared to reveal. 

In July, Xiaomi unveiled the 12S Ultra, a behemoth of a smartphone with a gigantic rear camera module that screams "photography" astatine the apical of its virtual lungs. Now, it's pushing the envelope adjacent further with the Xiaomi 12S Ultra Concept, a not-for-sale telephone with a 50MP 1" sensor and a — hold for it — a ringing adapter for Leica M-series lenses. 

The institution produced 10 carnal units of the concept, sending them to Chinese influencers to trial and stock connected societal networks. It besides shared illustration pictures taken with the phone. They are so awesome and amusement levels of earthy bokeh and extent of tract blur that computational photography inactive hasn't been capable to match.

According to Engadget, each portion outgo astir $40,000 to produce, and they were each developed alongside the commercially disposable mentation of the Xiaomi 12S Ultra. Given the insane terms tag and its niche appeal, we uncertainty Xiaomi volition ever bring an M-mount smartphone to the market. Nonetheless, it's absorbing to spot however the institution is leveraging its collaboration with Leica, pushing the German marque to enactment successful selling stunts that are some off-brand and refreshingly cool. 

It's not the archetypal clip a smartphone shaper has attempted this feat. In 2014, Sony released the QX1 and QX30, 2 smartphone add-ons that would fto users equine the company's E-Lenses connected their Xperia phones. In that case, lenses weren't mounted straight connected the phone, though, and images captured by the 2 add-ons were sent to the smartphone wirelessly aft being captured by the further sensors.