- Leica has revealed a new Magsafe camera grip for iPhones
- Lux Grip has physical controls such as a shutter and configuration button.
- It costs $ 329 / £ 260 (around Au $ 515) and comes with other limitations
As a photographer and former Techradar cameras editor, my main criticism of the best camera phones has always been their handling, they are not yet fun to shoot. Leica has now joined an increasing number of chamber grip accessories that aim to solve that, but some unfortunate inconveniences have abolished the new appeal of Lux Grip.
At first glance, Lux Grip seems like a great addition to any iPhone Magsafe (which includes any iPhone 12 model onwards). He fixes them to look elegant and functional, with a design similar to the tube that can naturally turn to adapt to right -wing and left -handed shooters. He is so well designed that I can even forgive Leica to call him “the perfect symbiosis between Leica and iPhone.”
Like the best mirror cameras, there is a mechanical two -stage shutter (almost surely better than the defective camera control of the iPhone 16), among other controls. Those include a configuration dial, plus two customizable function buttons for those who like to shoot in manual. As much as I like the idea of the Apple camera control button, physical controls make much more sense in something like lux grip than a glass slab of 8 mm thick.
But then those frustrating inconveniences come. First, and the most annoying, the Lux Grip is only compatible with the Lux de Leica application. That’s right, you cannot use it with the Apple Chamber application (or any of the other best camera applications), unlike alternatives such as the Shiftcam or Fjorden Grip programmer. Leica actually has fjorden, so you would have thought that he would follow his example with his compatibility, but strangely, he did not.
That would not be so bad, but the Leica Lux application only offers basic characteristics before requiring a subscription. Okay, you get a professional subscription of one year to the application when you buy Lux Grip, but beyond that, you need a considerable monthly rate to unlock the complete functionality you would need when buying a grip that is so expensive.
Finally, there is the price. Surely a telephone accessory that costs $ 329 / £ 260 (around AU $ 515) should unlock a longer or more unlimited access to an application that costs $ 6.99 / £ 6.99 / au $ 9.99 per month? I understand that this is Leica, and the application has some fascinating characteristics (such as computationally recreating classical lenses Leica). Even so, all these feel unnecessary barriers for what is otherwise a convincing accessory.
There is still something here
The Leica Lux grip could be ruined by frustrating inconveniences, but I think Leica is here, and there is the possibility that the brand can still open to a completely new audience if it changes a bit.
I have been fascinated by the idea that smartphones complicately replicate the appearance of classic camera lenses since portraits began to mature at today’s levels. Of course, this is a dangerous territory for most camera giants, who still want to sell us cameras and real lenses, but Leica is easily in the best position to experiment.
Like Ferrari, the German brand operates in a world that is almost completely separated from market realities that others have to negotiate. Leica camera buyers are also in a different Venn diagram of anyone who would buy Lux Grip, so artificial barriers such as limited compatibility of third -party application and expensive applications subscriptions feel a bit unnecessary.
I am sure that Leica could make a chamber of the camera like this with a lower price and a subscription of several-year applications that it gives people who would never buy a noctilux-m 50 mm f/1.2 lens a taste of their vintage magic on your iPhone. Exclusivity is part of the Leica brand, and perhaps I have underestimated the development costs of the Lux Grip and app, but if they could be pushed in a more affordable direction, I could still see them in the future of my iPhone.
