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Leica Q Guide Books etc


Snowman

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I think the good thing about the Q is, that you don't really need a guide book. When you know the basics of camera operation (and as you have ordered a Q, I assume you are not a beginner), you just set the scene mode to "PASM" and start playing around with the speed and aperture wheels. I leave ISO on "Auto", but that just depends on what you are shooting. The menus are well laid out, just open them up and the displayed options are pretty self explanatory. For the diffcult questions, you have to come here anyway :) .

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I think the good thing about the Q is, that you don't really need a guide book. When you know the basics of camera operation (and as you have ordered a Q, I assume you are not a beginner), you just set the scene mode to "PASM" and start playing around with the speed and aperture wheels. I leave ISO on "Auto", but that just depends on what you are shooting. The menus are well laid out, just open them up and the displayed options are pretty self explanatory. For the diffcult questions, you have to come here anyway :) .

Yes, we do IMO. Again, I feel we could be helped with a well written collection of all this crowd sourced wisdom, presented in an organized searchable way. The fact that there are pages and pages of discussion here with questions and confusing points raised proves to me that the guide is needed. I agree with all you said - it is such a blessedly well designed camera and interface that a person can do very well as you said. But that being said, there is so much more potential baked into the camera -that is not always obvious or clear - than simply using it in point and shot PASM mode.

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  • 9 months later...

There is a new "Leica Q" ebook on Amazon but in French:

"Maîtrisez votre Leica Q : techniques et applications pratiques"https://www.amazon.fr/Maîtrisez-votre-Leica-Techniques-applications-ebook/dp/B01LYHMHFW

I took a look at one of the reviews of this Ebook. From the Google translation of the review, which I've included below, it appears that the book also contains general, practical advice on workflow etc. Here's the translation. Author is anonymous, but all credit to him/her for taking the trouble to write the review on Amazon France.

 

"This book is the reference guide that covers everything on the Leica Q. The areas of shadow of the manual are now finally lifted (eg the configuration of the remote control housing using a smartphone .. .). I appreciated that the labels of the various menu items are bilingual French-English, unlike the manual that has chosen only English and who forced me to make return trips in the "Language" menu Q . While explaining why one could move towards other choice, the fact that the author deciphers the various settings according to personal experience brings a bonus (the technical quality of my street photography is also much better thanks to its specific settings and tips).

 

The peculiarity of this book is that it is also a true manual of digital photography. For xample, the author teaches the management of sunlight to the dark hours of the day, exposure, focus, depth of field, color harmony, HDR, panoramic photography, post-production Lightroom, make up your model, and even strobisme (deported flashes) is explained in detail! Unlike many other books, it develops subjects rather than just fly over. I am convinced that more advanced users will also learn a lot there.

 

The text is nice, clearly written and enriched with various images and illustrations so that we can have a visual overview; no need to have an engineering degree to understand what the author wrote.

 

I also enjoyed the practiced different theories and in particular the hyperfocal.

 

The step-by-step tutorials on the working method of the author in Lightroom are yet another of the many treasures that this book contains (I recommend also to linger on the file naming convention it advocates ). And I am not talking of the many extremely useful tips that mark this ebook, and it starts from the first chapter!

 

The end of the book tables containing the author's own settings are very convenient because each element contains a link that refers the reader to the paragraph dealing with the relevant function. Perfect to quickly find the meaning of an option!

 

One downside, however, although the book's layout is perfect, some illustrations have not been optimized for display in black and white on my Kindle. For example, the author should not have to choose the color red for his arrows in his illustrations, as it does not show well in black and white. I advise you to see at least once in color. This might have to lose a star in the book, but it is recovered through the price to below 10 euros, which is very rare for this kind of book.

 

In conclusion, whether or not owner of a Leica Q, reading this book will be time well spent!"

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The Q is a pretty stupid simple camera to operate, with about 5% of features "hidden" until you read the manual it comes with.

 

95% of it is just basic digital camera 101, or photography 101 for that matter, which is part of what makes it such a great camera design. The other 5%, such as that you can touch and hold the AF point on the LCD in spot focus mode and move it around with your finger is less intuitive, but its in the manual.

 

I don't really see how anyone could write a "guide" book that is going to tell people something the manual doesn't already.  

 

The menu screens are what, 4 total pages ?    My Sony A7rII had about 50+ menu pages full of options in comparison.

 

 

If you've any experience with a camera, you can pick up the Q and figure it out.  If there are any specific questions, or maybe something new to you, such as having auto ISO settings, simply ask on this forum.  Folks here are friendly, helpful, and know the camera very well. 

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I have to agree that you probably do not need a guide book for the Q. It is VERY straightforward even for a noob like me. For example I also have a Nikon D810 for landscape and macro and for that i definately NEED a guidebook, its so damn complicated.

Personally what I would find useful would be a more of a Leica Q, tips for taking better photos kinda thing haha 

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