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Who's dropped his Q ?


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Hello

 

So last night I dropped my Leica Q. I was helped a little by my dog. Anyway, from my lap to a stone floor, it landed on the lens hood (YES!!!). I switched on and got an error screen; switched off and on and it now seems OK. The hood has damage but I don't think it has changed shape.

See image (lovely Leica banding).

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Edited by biblios
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Guest jvansmit

Mine slipped off my shoulder onto concrete about 4-5 weeks ago. It's fine....though I can now confirm that the baseplate is made of aluminium !

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Mine left a table for the floor and landed also on the hood. Replacement hood available at Leica USA. Otherwise all good.  The stock strap I thought was too long from the beginning and was concerned that it was easy to get caught accidentally. I replaced with the adjustable M strap since. 

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Dropped mine only after a few days.  Landed on the concrete.  LCD screen is fractured on the inside.  Hood damaged.  Camera won't take any photos.  ELF working intermittently.  Unit sent to New Jersey and now is in Germany.  Been about 2 months so far.  I expect to get the dreaded "Beyond Economical Repair".  There is an ongoing repair pool with a group of people I know.  The range is from $750 - $2200.  One is saying "totaled".

Edited by SteveSFO
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Yep, dropped my Q in Singapore towards the end of my vacation.  Far wasn't too far... bent over to get a drink out of a vending machine, and the camera tumbled out of the holster since I didn't snap it shut.  The aluminum base is dented and the battery door takes effort to open.  Camera showed error on power on, but has been fine since.

 

Pissed at myself and dropped it off with Leica Soho NYC to get a new base and battery door.  We'll see how long that takes since there's a serial number etched in the base.  Guessing it's a $500+ stupidity tax for me.

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Despite the fact that all the above reports seem to relate to owners worldwide, don't  forget that UK owners are covered against the cost of  accidental damage repairs under the Leica  Passport Warranty scheme.  Also, some credit cards will reimburse cost of loss or damage in the period of 30 days from purchase with that card. 

Edited by lucerne
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Dropped mine only after a few days.  Landed on the concrete.  LCD screen is fractured on the inside.  Hood damaged.  Camera won't take any photos.  ELF working intermittently.  Unit sent to New Jersey and now is in Germany.  Been about 2 months so far.  I expect to get the dreaded "Beyond Economical Repair".  There is an ongoing repair pool with a group of people I know.  The range is from $750 - $2200.  One is saying "totaled".

Has the Q really been in circulation for two months?  Doesn't time fly when you are having fun!  

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Whenever my Q arrives I'm dedicating myself to not dropping it. From my clumsy experience that means grip+finger loop and strap when not actively shooting. I have 2 M8s out commission with broken shutters (incredibly delicate) after dropping them. The latter of the two after being pushed by the ghost of Marie Antoinette in the Petit Trianon. It tumbled down a flight of stairs on to the cold marble floor. I could feel everyone in the room wincing, but none more then me. My X1 has been dropped multiple times and looks like it's been through the Spanish Civil War. Luckily it's low mass means it never hit hard enough to stop working completely although the flash is stuck inside the body permanently. Having a grip on the Vario made it much more secure but even that took a two inch tumble immediately breaking the small grey battery latch and the spring of the door. That last bit is inherent in the entire X line, those two pieces snap off way too easily. Writing this makes me seem uncaring but the opposite is true as I regularly clean and inspect all my gear; but I do shoot aggressively and it has caused me to be absent minded a few times over the years. That's all it takes to break these tightly built machines. So my lesson for this last year has been to grip and strap and that seems to do the trick. Oh and always set the camera in the center of the table when eating.

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As a point of comparison, I dropped my Fuji X-T1 from my lap hopping out of an SUV.  It took a hard smack on the pavement and tumble.  No scratches, nothing broken, but the hood did fall off.  It snapped right back in.  It's about the angle of the fall, the distance of the fall, the weight of the camera and where the center of mass is on the camera.

 

I suspect a majority of camera manufacturers don't do any sort of meaningful drop/stress tests.  Phone manufacturers are probably way ahead of most consumer electronics industries in accepting that "stuff happens", and probably a good benchmark for where most electronics vendors need to end up.

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Assumption:  The Q is/will be dropped more often than other cameras

 

Hypotheses as to why:

 

1.  Camera balance while on base plate is not optimal.

2.  The long strap provides a way to accidentally catch it while the camera is next to someone and it can be harder to hold over one's shoulder safely (more movement at the camera end of the strap)

3.  The camera is used a lot in lots of circumstances where others aren't

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My hypothesis is the same as why kids invariably lose new clothes or new shoes (our kids tend not to wear shoes unless forced to - e.g. for sports); when something is new, you haven't built up the automatic reflexes.

 

For example, with my T, I didn't like the silica strap much, so I had Lance make me a braided wrist strap.  It was very nice, but for some reason when at the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo last year, I left it off.  I was not used to the weight of the camera hanging off my wrist, and I disliked not being about to use both hands for things.  Anyway, changing a lens, I just let go the camera.  It dropped onto the concrete, damaging the case (the flash didn't work at all afterward).  Not content with doing it once, I then did it again.

 

I'm always careful with new gear, as I haven't built up the habitual reflexes; but with the T, I had a senior moment - twice in about 10 minutes.  Thank God for insurance, and Leica repairs.

 

Cheers

John

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