Prototype: Xiaomi 12S Ultra with bayonet for Leica M lenses

Xiaomi has been working with Leica since spring 2022. The 12S Ultra was the first fruit of this cooperation. The Chinese manufacturer has now modified this model. The smartphone has been given a bayonet for Leica M lenses.

Leica M lenses on smartphone

In the concept smartphone unveiled in a video and with photos on Twitter, Xiaomi has the lens above the sensor. A glass cover protects its area, which is very large for a phone camera, from dust when no lens is mounted. Xiaomi has reinforced the large camera ring and fitted it with a bayonet that accepts M lenses from Leica.

Smartphone cameras have come a long way in recent years. However, the best they can do to compensate for the limitations of physics in their small housings is to use software. With the large interchangeable lenses, according to Xiaomi, the smartphone should also become a "tool for photo professionals" on a physical level and offer an "authentic depth of field". How big the advantage actually is remains open. What is certain is that the mobile phone thus loses its advantage in terms of handiness.

Xiaomi is not the first manufacturer to think along these lines. Hasselblad's MotoMod for the Motorola Moto Z or the Sony QX100 and QX10 were similar attempts. The demand seemed to have been too small for successor models.