- Leica has revealed a new Magsafe -Camera Matching to iPhones
- Lux -grip has physical controls such as a shutter button and setting disc
- It costs $ 329 / £ 260 (around AU $ 515) and comes with other restrictions
As a photographer and Techradar’s former camera editor, my most important criticism of the best camera phones has always been their handling – they are still just not fun to shoot with. Leica has now joined a growing number of camera grips accessories aimed at solving it, but some unfortunate disadvantages have bulbed the new Lux Grip’s appeal.
At first glance, the lux grip looks like a good addition to any Magsafe iPhone (which includes any model from iPhone 12 onwards). It manages to look both stylish and functional with a stirring-like design that can naturally be turned to fit both right and left-handed shooting games. It’s so nicely designed that I can even forgive Leica who calls it “the perfect symbiosis between Leica and iPhone”.
Like the best mirror -free cameras, there is a mechanical release of two steps closing (almost certainly better than the iPhone 16’s defective camera control), including controls. These include a setting disc, plus two customized function buttons for those who like to record in manual. As much as I like the idea of Apple’s camera control button, physical controls make much more sense on something like the lux grip than an 8 mm thick glass plate.
But then comes the frustrating disadvantages. Firstly and most annoying, the Lux grip is only compatible with Leica’s own Lux app. That’s right, you can’t use it with Apple’s own camera app (or any of the other best camera apps), as opposed to alternatives such as Shiftcam ProGrip or the fjord grip. In fact, Leica now owns the fjord, so you would have thought it would follow with its compatibility, but strangely enough it did not.
It wouldn’t be that bad, but the Leica Lux app only offers basic features before it requires a subscription. Okay, you get a one-year pro subscription to the app when you buy the Lux grip, but beyond that it needs a fierce monthly fee to lock the full functionality you need when buying a grip that is this expensive.
Eventually there is the price. Surely a phone accessory that costs $ 329 / £ 260 (around AU $ 515) should lock longer or unlimited access to an app that costs $ 6.99 / £ 6.99 / AU $ 9.99 a month? I get out of the fact that this is Leica and the app has some fascinating features (which calculated to recreate classic Leica lenses). Still, these feel like unnecessary barriers to what is otherwise a compelling accessory.
There is still something here
Leica Lux grip can be destroyed by frustrating disadvantages, but I think Leica is on something here – and there is a chance that it can still open the brand up to a whole new audience if it changes a bit.
I have been fascinated by the idea of smartphone’s calculation replication of the appearance of classic camera lenses since portrait states began to mature to today’s levels. Of course, this is dangerous territory for most camera giants who still want to sell us real cameras and lenses, but Leica is easy in the best position to experiment.
Like Ferrari, the German brand operates in a world that is almost exclusively detached from the market’s realities that others need to negotiate. Leica camera buyers are also in another friend diagram from anyone who would buy the lux grip, which is why the artificial barriers as a limited third-party app compatibility and expensive apparencies feel a little unnecessary.
I am sure that Leica could get a camera load like this with a lower price tag and a multi-year application that gives people who would never buy a noctilux-m 50mm f/1.2 lens a taste of its vintage magic on their iPhone. Exclusivity is part of the Leica brand, and maybe I have underestimated the development costs of the lux grip and the app, but if they could be pushed in a more affordable direction, I could still see them in my iPhone’s future.
