B&H Photo News Roundup: Week of October 22, 2023

Leica has been laying on the announcements for two consecutive weeks! Last week the brand introduced a pair of SL lenses; this week, Leica revisits the classic rangefinder with the launch of the M11-P. This more discreet and slightly upgraded version of the M11 has a potentially game-changing innovation: the ability to encrypt metadata and copyright info using technology from the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI). But that’s not all for Leica—the company also released an updated Summicron-M 28mm f/2 ASPH. Lens with a modern design and closer focusing.

DJI is getting into the action this week with a next-gen Osmo Pocket 3. A bigger sensor, better image quality, and a way to shoot vertical video natively (remember the Mini 3 Pro drone?) are big upgrades for this pocketable camera.

Leica M11-P: the world’s first camera with Content Authenticity Initiative technology

AI technology is now at our fingertips. Open Photoshop and you can use the generative AI function just by typing in a prompt. Combine this with a surge of disinformation and manipulated content online and you end up in a world where you must question everything. The Leica M11-P is hoping to change that by using Content Credentials, backed by technology from the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI), to provide encryption at the point of capture so anyone can verify the provenance of an image.

The M11-P, much like past “P” models, features a more discreet exterior that removes the Leica red dot and makes subtle improvements to the rest of the camera. These changes include Sapphire glass on the rear display and an internal storage increase to 256GB.

The M11-P is also a mid-cycle “P” upgrade and comes with a few other changes:

Removal of the red dot Leica logo on the front of the camera
Engraved Leica script on the top cover
Dark chrome viewfinder
Sapphire glass on rear display
256GB internal storage

Small stuff, but nice. The rest of the camera, such as the 60MP full-frame BSI CMOS with Triple Resolution Technology, hasn’t changed. The real emphasis of this camera is on the CAI tech.

Leica has added a secure chip to the M11-P that handles the encryption of the metadata at capture and allows it to be signed. This means that you can tell if the image data has been manipulated because the credentials will no longer work. Once embedded in the image, it’ll be trackable as the image is published around the Web. Users can even use independent tools to verify an image and check its history.

Leica Content Credentials are created at the time of capture and this metadata will be independently verifiable so you can track the provenance of an image.

If you were to take an image and edit it in Photoshop with Content Credentials activated, all the edits would then be tracked and viewable using the verification tools. This promises to be quite helpful and is at least one smart solution to this growing problem.

There’s a lot to unpack with the M11-P and the Content Authenticity Initiative. Go read our full announcement if you want to take a deeper look at the technology. Now, let’s take a look at the Summicron-M 28mm f/2 ASPH. Lens.

The next-gen Summicron-M 28mm f/2 ASPH. Lens offers closer focusing, down to 15.7"; an integrated, extendable lens hood; and a lighter, more streamlined exterior.

Leica has been on a roll with M lens updates that take classic optics and give them some useful updates. The Summicron-M 28mm is no exception. The optics, which were already great, remain basically untouched, while the form and functionality are improved. The most notable update is the trend to provide closer focusing—down to 15.7". The lens barrel is also a little sleeker and it now has an integrated swivel lens hood. Leica even managed to shave a little bit of weight off the lens.

DJI Osmo Pocket 3 adds vertical shooting and 1" sensor to compact gimbal camera

DJI can’t make a camera without a gimbal. Be it the brand’s drones or even a high-end 8K cinema camera, DJI crams that tech in there. The Osmo Pocket series has been unique in that it takes the idea of a compact gimbal camera and makes it an easy-to-carry everyday tool. The Osmo Pocket 3 takes things a step further with a serious upgrade to image quality, thanks to a larger 1" sensor and the ability to shoot natively in a vertical format.

Every generation of this gimbal camera is making it more and more a camera and less of a, for lack of a better word, toy. The Pocket 3 has capabilities matching DJI’s more pro-oriented drone options and design that looks much more functional.

The biggest change to the Osmo Pocket 3 is the larger 2" touchscreen. This makes it easier to view what you are shooting, and the coolest part is that it can rotate alongside the camera for native vertical shooting. If you are a content creator looking to upgrade your video capabilities, it is hard to beat the Pocket 3 as a tool. It’s purpose-built for this use.

The DJI Osmo Pocket 3 takes a major step up in image quality, thanks to the large 1" sensor, while a vertical shooting mode should make it a valuable tool for content creators.

That sensor will allow for 4K video at up to 120 fps and should perform much better in low-light conditions. It also has 10-bit D-Log M and HLG options for professional color-grading and editing workflows.

And, lest we forget, the whole thing is on a very capable 3-axis gimbal that does a wonderful job of keeping your footage stable. It even supports ActiveTrack 6.0 with Face Auto-Detect and Dynamic Framing so you can let the camera do the hard work for you.

There are more details we could get into here, but this may be the ideal everyday camera for content creators.

In other news…

Apple announced a “Scary Fast” event for Monday, October 30, 2023, at 8:00 P.M. EDT. We aren’t sure what to expect, but a nighttime event the day before Halloween seems like it could be very interesting.
Find out more about Tamron’s 17-50mm f/4 lens in this hands-on review.

That’s all for now, check in next week for some potentially spooky updates!