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Fun with the Leica Q
- Thread starter jonoslack
- Start date
Thanks to all for their impressions and shared images in this thread.
Admired by a compact and light-weight combination of a fast 28mm lens with a leaf shutter and 36x24mm sensor, enhanced with the best EVF among other compacts, and absence of alternatives offering aforementioned ingredients in one body, I decided to try the camera out in person.
What I like/impressed with:
Browsing through a gallery of shots I took in various environments under natural and artificial light at f/1.7, I notice that even in RawTherapee amount of axial and transverse CA is very low. There is no fringing. Vignetting is extreme in the very corners, but it does not extend beyond that small triangle area. That is a very impressive result compared to other 28mm (75° FOV) lenses. Equally impressive is Summilux 28/1.7 ASPH MTF graph: http://goo.gl/d7Z5fd
Its contrast and microcontrast are pretty high across the frame compared to the performance of either Summilux 28/1.4 or Otus 28/1.4 @ f/1.4. I suspect that CA and vignetting corrections are baked into RAW files. Lightroom applies a built-in profile that does image cropping and stretching, and cleans up any remaining traces of CA. Whatever the case with all aberration corrections is, it is the final image that matters, isn't it?
I'm still perplexed with bokeh rendition produced by Q. My expectation of a drawing style of a 28mm (75° FOV) and f/1.7 aperture is not quite met with a Leica Q. A wider than 75° FOV (even after distortion correction), cropping and stretching do take their toll. As a result, background blur one can achieve with a Q is not any stronger compared to Distagon 2/28, when both are shot wide open at the same distance to a subject.
Improvements I'd like to be offered:
1. Option to disable DNG embeded distortion correction either in LR or in camera.
2. User configurable EVF overlays for custom aspect ratio, e.g. 1x1 or 2.4x1
3. Extra option for customization of FN or “Zoom/Lock” button to enable switching between EVF/LCD Live View
4. Camera should be able to remember last menu option position after power OFF/ON.
Hope, this comment and remarks are of any use to those considering Q.
As for myself, I'll keep on watching for future FW upgrades.
Admired by a compact and light-weight combination of a fast 28mm lens with a leaf shutter and 36x24mm sensor, enhanced with the best EVF among other compacts, and absence of alternatives offering aforementioned ingredients in one body, I decided to try the camera out in person.
What I like/impressed with:
- Body dimensions, light weight & comfortable ergonomics.
- Fast and moderately accurate AF in low light and indoor mixed lights at f/1.7.
- Images shot at f/1.7 are of a high contrast and acutance.
- Omission of EVF/LCD switch button
- Magnification area in MF mode can't be moved with a navi pad and is always set to a frame center regardless of AF point position.
- Power ON/OFF switch is difficult to set to S (single shot) mode on a fly, as it tends to move further to C (continuous) mode. A very careful, deliberate action is required to avoid starting the camera up in continuous mode.
- Last image shot is displayed in the EVF upon start-up when image review option is turned off.
- No EVF eye cup options
Browsing through a gallery of shots I took in various environments under natural and artificial light at f/1.7, I notice that even in RawTherapee amount of axial and transverse CA is very low. There is no fringing. Vignetting is extreme in the very corners, but it does not extend beyond that small triangle area. That is a very impressive result compared to other 28mm (75° FOV) lenses. Equally impressive is Summilux 28/1.7 ASPH MTF graph: http://goo.gl/d7Z5fd
Its contrast and microcontrast are pretty high across the frame compared to the performance of either Summilux 28/1.4 or Otus 28/1.4 @ f/1.4. I suspect that CA and vignetting corrections are baked into RAW files. Lightroom applies a built-in profile that does image cropping and stretching, and cleans up any remaining traces of CA. Whatever the case with all aberration corrections is, it is the final image that matters, isn't it?
I'm still perplexed with bokeh rendition produced by Q. My expectation of a drawing style of a 28mm (75° FOV) and f/1.7 aperture is not quite met with a Leica Q. A wider than 75° FOV (even after distortion correction), cropping and stretching do take their toll. As a result, background blur one can achieve with a Q is not any stronger compared to Distagon 2/28, when both are shot wide open at the same distance to a subject.
Improvements I'd like to be offered:
1. Option to disable DNG embeded distortion correction either in LR or in camera.
2. User configurable EVF overlays for custom aspect ratio, e.g. 1x1 or 2.4x1
3. Extra option for customization of FN or “Zoom/Lock” button to enable switching between EVF/LCD Live View
4. Camera should be able to remember last menu option position after power OFF/ON.
Hope, this comment and remarks are of any use to those considering Q.
As for myself, I'll keep on watching for future FW upgrades.
