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Collaboration between device manufacturers and camera companies is no longer something new. The most obvious in my memory are Huawei and Leica with their first device Huawei P9. But because of the relatively high price at the time, I chose the Honor 9 device which has more or less the same camera which is a 1/2.9 ″ 12MP f/2.2 sensor.
Years later after many Huawei devices were tested, I also tried the Vivo device in collaboration with Zeiss and also Oppo with Hasselblad. Vivo is more focused on portrait mode which I use less, while Oppo is hard to tell what the collaboration offers with Hasselblad except on video recording. As such, this makes me look forward to testing out Xiaomi devices that work with Leica.
Xiaomi launched the Xiaomi 12S series, which is their first device in collaboration with Leica after Huawei. Xiaomi 12S Ultra is definitely their most premium device with Sony Leica IMX989 sensor measuring 1 ″ 50.3MP. But the Xiaomi 12S and 12S Pro devices despite not using the new camera and remaining the same as the Xiaomi 12 and 12 Pro, these two devices receive a Leica touch through software.
With me who was previously a hardcore user of Xiaomi devices and really fell in love with their device’s camera since they used a 108MP camera as well as their night mode was introduced. The Xiaomi Mi 11 is among the most of me and the Xiaomi 12 is starting to make me confident with their camera, although the global version of MIUI has a lot of bugs.
The device is only exclusive in China, but Xiaomi recently updated their camera app Xiaomi Camera 4.3 to allow some Leica features to be used. However, the development of this application does not seem to have a specific code so that it can be used on Xiaomi 12S devices only. Even after the APK file can be installed on MIUI devices, MIUI for Poco or even JoyUI devices.
To test the capabilities of this camera app, I took the Xiaomi 12 Pro at the our lab and installed this camera app to see what the uniqueness of this Leica feature is.
First of all, the camera app of this device looks just the same as before. There are a few differences on the typeface, but everything is still easy to handle. If a MIUI -based device readily supports watermarking - there will be an option to use a limited version of Leica for Photo mode or Portrait mode only. If the Photo watermark mode used is more unique and beautiful, while in Portrait mode it is a watermark of the device name with the name Leica.
In these two modes, the filter section will have four different Leica mode options, namely Leica VIV, Leica NAT, Leica BW NAT and Leica BW HC. Only these four filters will provide a special watermark with the Leica logo, device name, coordinates, as well as camera sensor details and camera settings.
Sample Image
Leica VIV
Leica VIV or real name is Leica Vivid, is a type of filter that focuses on brighter colors. Through this filter, it will further increase the color sharpness of the image. Not only that, the details are also better preserved by trying to maintain the texture on a surface, the texture of the fabric and also on the face.
By using this filter, HDR mode or AI mode don’t have to worry about whether it’s consistent or not. Because this filter ensures the use of color is the same throughout use. The Xiaomi 12 Pro also has a good focus system that ensures the subject in the picture has an even focus and doesn’t feel weird. In portrait mode, the blur effect is also neater and gives satisfactory results.
Leica NAT
The name of this filter seems like everyone can guess. NAT is for natural, which tries to give a more natural color and in my opinion it is what our eyes see. The image result for this filter looks a bit soft and the details are not very preserved as they are not sharp enough.
However, the result of this image in my own eyes is soothing. It gives a vibe vibe as if a soft sepia tone was used. This filter may not be popular, as it is more faded and looks a little dull. For me who is used to seeing bright and sharp image results, seeing such image results is quite interesting.
Leica BW NAT
During the early days of the Huawei and Leica collaboration, their devices included a mono black sensor as well as having a black and white mode on the camera app. Back then, it was among the unique ones because it was not a regular picture with black and white mode or a regular picture edited so that no more colors were visible. On the other hand, each color of gray, white and black is meaningful and has its own details.
That’s what happens with the Leica BW NAT mode, which is the Black White Natural mode on this Xiaomi 12 Pro. It gives a more vintage and classic image result.
Portrait mode also preserves details well and has a very neat and beautiful blur effect. The image result also has a noise effect that is not due to a camera problem, but the camera app settings to give a different result to the camera offerings of other devices.
Leica BW HC
The fourth and final filter is the Leoca BW HC for black and white in high contrast mode. This is my favorite black and white mode. This is because it not only produces the usual black and white images, it’s also not the filter with the most detail - but it gives a beautiful classic image effect to me.
The black color is darker and subdued, while the bright part has the effect of being exposed to excessive light giving the effect of a light white color. The portrait results are also neat, the shadows are clearly visible and most unique to me is the intentionally included noise effect giving another image vibe on an old Leica camera.
The resulting image is also softer, and has no indication that the system is trying to over -process. It is one of the best black modes without the need for a mono sensor on the device.
What's next?
This Xiaomi Camera 4.3 application is like Google Camera on Pixel which allows non -Pixel devices to also use the camera application to use the Night Sight or portrait feature. Only this Xiaomi version is for MIUI -based devices only and it is also uncertain, whether Xiaomi will keep this feature or change it back so that it is exclusive to Xiaomi devices with Leica cameras only.
With this pretty amazing result, it also makes me look forward to testing the Xiaomi 12S Ultra camera which uses a 1-inch sensor developed together with Sony and Leica which is the IMX989. If a regular sensor is already great, let alone a 1-inch one.
The collaboration between Xiaomi and Leica will also eventually make the public and competitors take a serious view of the Xiaomi brand which they are not kidding about and really want to compete in the industry while also remaining offering better and worthwhile prices compared to competitors.
The camera app also does not yet include Leica Authentic and Leica Vibrant profiles as if Photography Style on the iPhone 13. This will ensure that the sensor works with the software to provide even more beautiful and great images.
What do you say, is this the Xiaomi camera you want?