How I stopped worrying and learned to love the Leica Sofort 2
Leica Sofort 2 with example images.
Last year I ordered a Leica Sofort 2 from B & H and promptly forgot about it as it was on backorder. Imagine my momentary surprise when I received a package from B & H and instead of the film holder I had ordered a couple of days before it contained a camera. For a moment I was all “Woo! Free Camera!” which quickly turned to “No! 6 months on backorder camera!”
I spent the next 30 minutes trying to find the pack of film I purchased at the time to go with the camera and once I did, out for a stroll around the neighborhood I went. Before I went I set up a still-life scene and took a picture and immediately printed it. The print had a look that was something close to an old polaroid, but not quite there which I think is a function of the camera and the film. The camera should have a better lens, not all Polaroid camera had shit lenses and I was hoping for a better lens from this camera. It did cost $389.00, plus $20 for a pack of 10 pictures. The film seems to, similarly, be trying to emulate the crap pictures that are found in picture books from back in the day. When both pieces of the puzzle best effort is shit, then the results are not going to be that great.
Image scan of a still like of vermouth glasses and a decanter.
Not one to be deterred by initial results, I headed out for my stroll. My neighborhood is interesting, it is a mixture of businesses being run out of what were once houses, houses, and multi-family residences peppered in the mix are a proper Honky Tony bar and an old-fashioned Country Market. A highlight is what I call the Most Interesting Parking Space in Nashville. Over the winter it has been home to a pace car for the upcoming Indy Car race this fall, but normally a different exotic car is parked in the spot every day.
All of the images, with the exception of the first, in this post are scans of prints from the Sofort camera. I scanned them with my Epson Perfection v750 Pro scanner and made crop and orientation adjustments in Photoshop. For a nostalgic feel these images deliver the goods. The deficiencies of the camera and the film deliver a final image that has a certain authenticity. The images look like they were taken in the last century and not in the last week. I’m starting to warm up to this combo.
My next task was to print images from my phone. One of this camera’s party tricks is the ability, via the Leica FOTOS app, to print pictures from your phone on the camera’s printer. Being able to print pictures not taken by the camera has possibilities. These next images were all in my phones photo library, some were taken using the phone’s camera and others were taken with various other cameras.
I look forward to using the printer aspect as a way to make prints from things that are not necessarily photographs. I have taken it out for a second walk and this time I found myself being drawn to textures and patterns. Not sure why, but my guess is that the cameras form factor lends itself to that kind of picture.
There you have it; mu initial thoughts on this quirky expensive camera. If you want the same results without the price try the still too expensive Fujifilm Instax Mini EVO for half the price.
