Leica Basically Put Adobe Upright Into Some of Their Cameras
Some of the Leica M Mount cameras will get the new perspective control.
If you’re the owner of certain Leica M cameras, you’re getting a surprise soon! Leica is basically putting Adobe Upright into these cameras. They’re calling it perspective control. That less distortion when you mount your 21mm f1.4 Summilux on the camera. Specifically, this is coming to the Leica M10R, Leica M10P, and Leica M10 Monochrom. Why these cameras specifically? It’s all in how it works.
In a meeting with the Phoblographer, Leica’s reps told us that it’s based on the horizon level. The new firmware update will take information from that and apply it to the photo. Lots of the other M cameras don’t have a horizon level. We asked if it will come to other cameras, and they’re not sure yet. But the cool thing about this is that it will apply to both JPEGs and DNG raws.
Here’s an important tidbit from Leica’s firmware notes:
“Perspective Control helps to achieve a generally straighter vertical line and straight horizon, which ensures a natural image effect, specifically in architectural images. The function “Perspective Control” calculates the image section and the required distortion correction based on the actual panning angles of the camera and the lens used. In effect, the camera orientation during recording (determined by internal camera sensors) is the decisive factor and not the lines visible in the image object. The function is therefore unlike automatic perspective control features used for post-editing, which are generally based on the image content.”
We saw a few examples and thought they were very apparent. This kind of stuff you’d only otherwise get in post-production. Leica also noted that it crops the image a bit, and you lose some resolution. But that’s the same as doing it in post-production. For that reason, it’s probably best to use Perspective Control with the Leica M10 Monochrom and Leica M10R.
Leica’s notes also state that the camera has to know the focal length. With that said, it’s going to work best if your lens has electronic contacts. But if you have another lens, you’ll enter the number manually.
Leica and Adobe have worked together for a while. And given their relationship, I’m sure there’s been some help from Adobe here. It’s a nice feature, and a further step than other companies take. What’s more, some cameras do things like add Capture One features inside of them. Of course, those are only for Phase One cameras. But I could see that happening more in the future. A few years ago, we got the addition of clarity to lots of cameras. And that was super exciting. To this day, I still use it with my Fujifilm X Pro 3. Whatever I can do to edit less helps a whole lot. And the perspective control feature will help photographers do just that. More importantly, it will mean you can just focus on shooting.
Considering who uses Leica cameras, I don’t think everyone will use this. If you’re a travel photographer or a photojournalist, you’ll use it. Ethically speaking, I don’t think that this is against the values of most wires. And if you’re just a passionate hobbyist, it won’t matter. But it’s another tool that you can use. If you own any of these cameras, go give it a shot. You’ll enjoy it.