The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

Thoughts on Leica Q

jdphoto

Well-known member
I've had quite a bit of fun shooting with the Q and as much as I love the rangefinder experience, I think Leica found its groove in this concept. It has the fastest AF of any camera i've ever used. The best EVF i've used, and its blazing 10 fps is more than enough for my style. It's also the sexiest looking camera when dressed up in its Arte Dimano black half case. I think that if Leica made a weather resistant Q with a line of different FL's up to 90mm, or better yet an interchangeable lens camera and a line of Q lenses, this would be amazing and (Q)uite versatile . (there's my marketing slogan ©2017jld) There are many times when I needed a longer FL then 28mm too. There's those that will always want the rangefinder experience, so this would not compete with an M10. Leica found some magic with the Q, yes, it's expensive, but a better price point then the M or S series The bonding experience with a camera really motivates one's creativity and Leica, imo, has done that with the Q.
 

Malina DZ

Member
Q is close to a perfect 28mm / 75° FOV compact camera and shooting with it is a pleasure. Although, there have been a lot of improvements expected by users since July 2016 FW 2.0, and not a single one has been offered by Leica yet.

Noteworthy, the Q's lens has the fastest to date (?) leaf shutter speed of 1/2000s at f/1.7. Has anyone tried to measure how long it takes for Q's shutter to close?
 

atanabe

Member
I love the Q as well, my only gripe is the price of entry. Price aside, it is designed well, made for photography for photographers. Controls are straight forward, you can go from full auto to manual without an agonizing menu scroll. AF to manual focus? Just engage the lock and focus away and go back to AF just as easily. The macro feature is a brilliant design, incorporating an expanded focusing scale and I assume revised lens element configuration. It produces great macro shots, all in one small camera. Some people complained about the lens stopping down to f2.8 in macro mode but I have not found it intrusive.

I would welcome an addition to the family, Q 50 with a Summicron. Have an optional add on lens to convert to wide (35) and electronic crops 75, 90. Adding a Q 35 would be too close to the current offering and a Q 90 would be too specialized.
 

MCTuomey

New member
Also very happy with my Q. So enjoyable, great IQ. If I had that 50 Q mentioned by *atanabe* to pair up with the 28, I believe I'd be done for a long time. Please, Leica?
 

djonesii

Workshop Member
Q is my always out on the mantle daily shooter. 28 with the ability to crop is great. Smoking fast auto focus, and exceptional ergonomics. Sure there is a red dot tax, but it has replaced my Fuji system as the go-to camera of record. Studio, no, lacrosse, no. Pretty much every thing else yes.

YMMV

Dave
 

raist3d

Well-known member
This is the Leica that I have liked the most, and that has tempted me the most. Two things though:

- I wish they had a 40mm model or 35mm with crops to 50mm and 70mm
- The sensor has banding past ISO 6400 or pushing the shadows. I wish they switched to a Sony FF sensor. The new Leica TL2 ironically doesn't have this problem and in some ways, seems to perform better.
- General concerns on Leica quality - issues with sensors, issue with brand new TL2 EVF bricking it, etc. If Leica charged these prices but have a real long warranty, I wouldn't mind much.

- Ricardo
 
V

Vivek

Guest
Wouldn't that be 3 things or is the third one taken for granted nowadays?
 

jdphoto

Well-known member
I have seen minor banding in shadows at high ISO too. I've read about Leica's QC issues, but in the time I owned it, it was perfect. I'd really like an interchangeable lens model with weather resistance. Perhaps then, I would not need to switch cameras.
 
Could be wrong, but I recall the banding having been an issue with early firmwares and that it's been fixed in one of the updates.
 

Malina DZ

Member
Could be wrong, but I recall the banding having been an issue with early firmwares and that it's been fixed in one of the updates.
Lifting up blacks and shadows in low light scenes like the DPR sample above causes banding even at iso100 with the latest 2.0 FW installed. That's from my own Q shooting experience.

And I do enjoy shooting with a 75° FOV. DP1M covers all my moderate photography needs, particularly for environmental portraiture. Optical distortion is the first aberration I look into when I shop a lens or P&S camera. Unfortunately, Leica Q lens projects a huge barrel distortion into every shot which, upon import into LR, gets automatically profiled without your consent and ability to avoid correction. While straight lines mostly benefit from this built-in lens profile, 3D objects, e.g. people, suffer from this correction. I'd like to share several image samples in JPG converted with Lightroom and RawTherapee. These images illustrate my point quite well. Download 6 JPG files from here: Update your browser to use Google Drive - Google Drive Help
I can make Q work for some compositions where distortion will not be so obviously obtrusive, but they will be quite limited compared to basically any prime 28mm lens.
From what I read online, people don't raise concerns about this particular abberation, and the camera sells quite well. Leica, apparently, has no motivation to offer any further FW updates or consider implementing a cutting-edge optical aberration correction in future lens designs for fixed lens cameras, letting image processor do the trick. Which is expected from Panasonic, but not from a legendary optics manufacturer, IMHO.
One should definitely handle and shoot with Q to decide whether it's a worthy companion. Unfortunately, it is not for me, though I did hope it could substitute both DP1M and a DSLR with a 28mm prime.
 
Last edited:
I guess it's a personal thing wether these are a problem or not. You clearly have a more professional take on these, where I'm looking through a hobbyist viewfinder.

I can't remeber ever seeing the banding in my photos, so either my shooting hasn't warranted big enouh corrections for it to come visible or I just haven't noticed it. So you could be right..

On the distortions, after looking around your sample images, the adjustments are clearly visible. Again here I can't say it's ever bothered me. But it's probably because of two thing:

1) I've never done side-by-sides with my photos in LR and RT
2) my shooting is your average Joe family snaps

So I guess for Q it's a use case thing.

My main gripes with Q are the lack of fw updates, when there are clearly some things that most people want and those could be fairly easily added or fixed in the update. And second my power button is pretty stiff.. I'll have Leica fix it when I send it for cla some time.

Q seems to be little like the X series for Leica. You get one update and that's it..
 
Top