Leica has been on smartphones for a few years now through its previous partnership with Huawei and its current one with Xiaomi. But now it is also bringing its famous colour profiles to the iPhone through a new freemium app called Leica Lux.
The app is free to download and offers free users limited features that include five colour profiles (or “Looks”) and an aperture mode that lets you mimic the bokeh of its expensive lenses through software. Paid users get an additional six Looks as well as a total of five lens emulations including the Summilux-M 28 mm f/1.4 ASPH and the Noctilux-M 50 mm f/1.2 ASPH.
The free mode also gives you 2 customisable function buttons on the two left corners as well as zoom capabilities up to 48mm. If you want more tools such as a histogram or even manual focus, you’ll have to cough up for the Pro subscription. File formats are limited to JPEG, HEIF, and ProRAW, while the RAW format is paywalled.
Lux Pro costs RM29.90/month or RM299.90/year, with an offer for a free two-week trial. It’s undoubtedly mighty expensive for an app but it could be worth it if you’re eager to try out Leica photography for a short while but don’t want to shell out a fortune for its pricy premium shooters.
For reference, the Xiaomi 14 with a Leica-engineered camera module starts from RM3,499 while the most affordable Leica camera is the Sofort 2 instant film camera with a price tag of RM1,915. Of course, there’s also the newly-announced D-Lux 8 point-and-shoot, which is expected to be available later this year with a retail price within the RM8K range.
