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Leica Q a $5K camera and auto focus sucks


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Bought this camera because it is "Autofocus" but that is one thing this camera does bad; auto focus.

Went on a ten thousand miles trip from Germany to Iran and by land from Iran, through Azerbaijan to Dagestan to Chechnya to Russia to Kazakhstan and ended up in Kyrgyzstan and five out of ten photos are out of focus.

Maybe I am doing something wrong, but, when time and "discretion" are needed to come out with a good shot, this camera sucks.

Tried all settings; face recognition, to single point to multiple points and the result ended up being the same. Got way better pics with my iPhone 7 Plus.

Most times I use the 28 mm set....

Anybody has any input on this, or the same problem?

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Bought this camera because it is "Autofocus" but that is one thing this camera does bad; auto focus.

Went on a ten thousand miles trip from Germany to Iran and by land from Iran, through Azerbaijan to Dagestan to Chechnya to Russia to Kazakhstan and ended up in Kyrgyzstan and five out of ten photos are out of focus.

Maybe I am doing something wrong, but, when time and "discretion" are needed to come out with a good shot, this camera sucks.

Tried all settings; face recognition, to single point to multiple points and the result ended up being the same. Got way better pics with my iPhone 7 Plus.

Most times I use the 28 mm set....

Anybody has any input on this, or the same problem?

Sorry to hear about your experience. I’ve had a very different experience with the Q which has been one of the best auto focus cameras I’ve used. Sounds like you must have a Q that needs repair. Just curious, does it give you sharp images when you manually focus?

 

 

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Bought this camera because it is "Autofocus" but that is one thing this camera does bad; auto focus.

Went on a ten thousand miles trip from Germany to Iran and by land from Iran, through Azerbaijan to Dagestan to Chechnya to Russia to Kazakhstan and ended up in Kyrgyzstan and five out of ten photos are out of focus.

Maybe I am doing something wrong, but, when time and "discretion" are needed to come out with a good shot, this camera sucks.

Tried all settings; face recognition, to single point to multiple points and the result ended up being the same. Got way better pics with my iPhone 7 Plus.

Most times I use the 28 mm set....

Anybody has any input on this, or the same problem?

 

 

My Q has been awesome in the autofocus department. Sorry to hear you have had issues.

 

Could you post a couple of your "out of focus" pics with EXIF so we can see what is going on?

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Sorry to hear about your experience. I’ve had a very different experience with the Q which has been one of the best auto focus cameras I’ve used. Sounds like you must have a Q that needs repair. Just curious, does it give you sharp images when you manually focus?

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I went to Dubai and captured people in “discreet mode” with Q half hidden with a scarf... In those situations I use the full auto mode in which this camera is really producing amazing results. You can have an idea looking some here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/isabel_lucena/albums/72157674397502733/with/31712752511/

 

I also use the P mode when someone ask me for photographing an event (thing I hate...) I just choose speed and let the Q do the job, ISO auto, multipoint, all pics come out with people focused.

 

I bought this cam 2 years ago for its weight, quality and discretion for everyday life, nothing to complain about it.

Give it a new try to check if there is a problem.

 

One clue: didn’t you by error turn the macro ring on? That happened to me at the beginning and I couldn’t understand why it wasn’t focusing, I had a sweaty moment till I discovered my mistake...

Edited by Lucena
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I've experienced that the AF of the Leica Q (and other cameras as well) can be out of focus, if you use a "wide open" aperture like 1,7 and the object is moving towards you or away from you or if you are moving towards the object or away from it, but I am pretty sure that that's quite normal when using 1,7 because the depth of field is very narrow then.

 

If you can rule out those circumstances for your pictures that are out of focus, then there might be a technical problem with your camera.

Edited by Macberg
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I agree that f1.7 can be tricky in some circumstances. Try aperture priority and see if the problem persists at f5.6 and use single point autofocus so you know exactly what you are focussing on. If the problem persists the camera has a technical issue.

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AF on mine is lightning fast (literally) and considering that is contrast detect I don't know how they do it. It is far quicker to lock on than my A7rII's and the Fuji XT2 (now sold) For street work I find that the camera almost reads my mind and in multi area with face detect on and continuous shooting it hardly ever misses even when 'shooting from the hip'. I can only think that there is something wrong with your camera or you need to get to know it more

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Well l wide open it can be funky with a small dept of field. I struggled intially a lot because I went out at night. I often focus manually for that reason to make sure whatever I want is in focus. I use Focus peaking. It would help,if you post some examples like requested earlier.

 

Other word of advise is never go onto the trip of your life with a new camera.

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If you had image stabilisation on, this can give you a similar effect to poor focus, i.e., blurry. However, it is movement not a focus issue.

 

Otherwise your camera is defective, or your technique (which seems unlikely).

 

Turn the IS off and see what you get.

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If you had image stabilisation on, this can give you a similar effect to poor focus, i.e., blurry. However, it is movement not a focus issue.

 

Otherwise your camera is defective, or your technique (which seems unlikely).

 

Turn the IS off and see what you get.

 

 

I use IS all the time and have never noticed any negative effect on sharpness. This is with hand-holding, of course, which is never perfectly still no matter how steady you may think you are. When a camera is mounted on a tripod, IS should be disabled.

Edited by robgo2
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My Q is remarkably good and the best autofocus I have experienced with any camera (not worse that Nikon's D2x, D2HS, D200, D300 and D700, by way of examples). I've never had an issue whatever the lighting conditions. I was fully expecting to be using manual focus alone when I purchased it, but it has been so reliable I've kept in on Autofocus. I have used mine on only one trip which was a month travelling through Nepal so it experienced hot dusty weather, high humidity, and freezing (-20C) tent life at just over 20,000ft climbing an unclimbed peak. No hiccups whatsoever, and I have a very low tolerance for gadgets as I still shoot mechanical film cameras mainly.

You're the second person I've heard say they're disappointed. There must be something wrong with your camera. I'm not going to update my Firmware in case that's the issue you're having.

Incidentally, my IS is off, and I have single focus point active. I'm sure the vast majority of my images were at f1.7, too.

I hope you get to the bottom of it. Your trip sound amazing. I'd love to travel through Iran and the East European countries you mention. It must be heart breaking to find your camera hasn't performed. I feel for you. Please post some of the images that did come out as well as some examples that didn't.

That macro ring line of enquiry is an interesting thought. Let's see your exif data.

Pete

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SO VERY sorry you are having such an experience.  I have had them all over the years...Canon, Nikon, Fuji, Sony...the Q's autofocus beats them all.  I am sure the other brands have improved, but, WOW...the Q is awesome.  Please so get it checked out.  That just shouldn't be happening!!

 

All the very best shooting!!

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That macro ring line of enquiry is an interesting thought. Let's see your exif data.

Pete

 

 

I do insist on that, it is so easy to check and it happened to me several times, but now I check after using macro mode...

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I use manual focus most of the time.  I've set up the camera set to use back-button focus for those times I want to use auto focus.  Once in a rare while I'll forget I've set things up for BBF and wonder why the results are blurred :)

 

As others have said, lets see some metadata.  You may have something mis-configured for your desired use.  Or you may have a faulty camera.

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I'm wondering whether this post was meant to provoke angst rather than being a serious critique. Of all the complaints I've heard about the Q (very few, really), autofocus issues have not come across my radar. Either something is wrong with the camera or user error (more likely) is to blame.

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