New Leica M11-P With Content Authenticity Initiative Metadata Recording
New Leica M11-P
Leica has launched the Leica M11-P, the low-key version of its 60MP M11 rangefinder, nominally modified for photojournalism. As usual the ‘P’ version loses the red dot from the front, gains a sapphire glass rear screen cover and rather prominent Leica script across the top.
Significantly, the M11-P also becomes the first camera to reach the market that can digitally sign its files and add ‘Content Credentials’ metadata using the system developed by the Content Authenticity Initiative. This secure metadata is saved in parallel with the conventional EXIF data and can be used to confirm who created the image and whether edits and additions have been made, to provide a provable history for applications such as reportage, where provenance is critical.
Content Authenticity Initiative
The Content Authenticity Initiative is a collaborative attempt to include secure, trustworthy authorship and editing metadata into files, so that its provenance can be checked.
CAI was started by Adobe but has been developed by the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity, an industry group that includes Intel, the BBC, Microsoft and chip-designer Arm. Members of the coalition now include not just Leica but also Canon and Nikon on the hardware side, while media members include The Washington Post, New York Times and Wall Street Journal.
