Sofort, so good
Leica announced the Sofort 2 about a month ago and I knew I wanted one immediately. I love instant film and the combination of digital and analogue is a really cool idea. I was in the US last week for work when the new camera was released and the Leica store in LA were kind enough to reserve one for a complete random who happened to email them - thanks to Matt and Cherrnor, it made my trip!
I have the original Sofort and it’s a delightful analogue film camera that makes really lovely images using the Instax Mini film, for my money the most reliable instant film stock around. I love Polaroid but Instax is my go-to when recommending instant film cameras to folks who want to enjoy an instant camera but not think too much about exposure, temperature all the stuff that fills the heads of photographers constantly.
The Sofort 2 is a delicious combination of analogue and digital. I’ve not had it long but here’s what I think so far.
Pros
Feels wonderful, love the materials used for the body, the magnetic lens cover and the included strap. Nice clicky buttons too.
The dials on the back and front to change modes are great fun, very tactile.
2 shutter buttons as well as the quick reset button make using the camera very easy and I like that it remembers the settings you were using in between uses.
The film advance lever to print is a nice retro touch - although I wonder if this is confusing for younger users who’ve never used film cameras :)
Digital files are very digicam retro and can be retrieved from the SD card whenever you want them without printing them.
You don’t have to print every image and you don’t lose the image if you give the print away!
USB-C for power!! This is great, one cable for my phone, laptop and camera - almost makes me want to update to an M11 to complete the set :)
I like the colours in the images, it sounds silly but they feel like Leica images.
Printing images shot with another camera like my M is great fun and makes really nice quality printed images. It’s small enough you could carry it with you anywhere.
Cons
Without an SD card the images stored on the camera can’t be transferred off it, they can only be printed which then makes them appear in the photos app. Including an SD card or updating the firmware to make the internal storage fully usable would be great.
On the accessories front, a dedicated case like the one for the original Sofort would have been welcome.
There’s not a lot of detail in the manual or online in videos helping you to find all the features of the camera. A Quickstart guide or video would be good. I’d overexposed a bunch of images before I found those settings.
Digicam quality can be a hard sell at this price - although with the price of some retro cameras this might be a steal as it comes with a free printer :D
A user replaceable battery would have been good too, likely to be a legal requirement in the coming years for certain types of electronics. The original Sofort had this and it’ll keep it in use for a long time.
I’m loving using it so far and will no doubt post more in future. Here are some sample images, be kind and remember it’s only 5MP :D
Images from my M10 printed using the Sofort 2