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Real world experiences vary and are not necessarily applicable to oneself.

Try taking out a camera - any camera- with only a 28 mm lens on it for a couple of weeks. Then you will know whether it fits your style of shooting.

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I do.

 

I sold a full bag of Fujifilm camera and lenses in order to move to the Q only.

Note that I didn't sell them to get the funds for the Q, I chose to have only one camera and one lens.

 

It was a bit of stress because I thought it would maybe be a mistake and I'd miss the versatility of my previous gear. Time proven me I was very wrong. To be honest I have never been happier in my photography since this move. Now I don't have to deal anymore with gear selection and I can only concentrate on capturing images. I'm out with the camera alone, not even a bag. I feel light.

 

What surprises me the most is I can do a ton of photos with the 28 alone. I never felt frustrated to not being able to get a shot because of this lens. Of course my photography is not sport or animals, I do mostly landscape and street.

 

This is a great experience and if you ask about it, it means you are ready for it.

 

Its two years now that I made this move and I don't regret it at all.

 

Hope it helps!

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It is a really easy decision. Check your portfolio if you have made pictures you like with a focal length which is not 28mm and try to remember if it would be possible with with it. I would miss for example the wide angel a lot because I shot a lot of landscape photos with 16-18mm which I could still do possibly with 20mm but therefore I need to keep one camera with a (ultra) wide angel lense. Furthermore if you plan a trip to Africa for Safari soon I would also recommend to not stick to the Q  alone  :D

 

If you do street and architecture you can probably stick only to the Q.

Edited by fizzy
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Sold all my Canon and Fuji equipment and I only have the Q and it's being fine for me. If i wanted to do professional work i can do it as well but i gotta work withing its limits, for that reason i would get the SL and the 24-90 but it would be for work use only since the camera is with that set up is big and heavy and wouldn't let me take just regular photos. You want a camera that doesn't get in the way of taking photos and the Q is it.  Everyday use is king! Size is good, weight is fine, Is honestly the perfect camera. If anything only thing wrong with it is that is not water proof since you will be taking out a lot with you (depending in your life style). Don't let others confuse you with "I'll wait for the Q2" or "wish the Q was a 35mm or 50mm", If you want it you get it, enjoy it, if not happy sell it and move on to the next. If you have a friend or a rental place try it out. 

 

Can check out my instagram 98% of the photos are from just the Q IG: https://www.instagram.com/dimanatti/

and below is my flicker for larger images 

 

38368469135_1314fc4bfe_k.jpgUntitled by dimanatti, on Flickr

Edited by Hazesus
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Love my Q and take the most photos with it, BUT I could not part with my Canon DSLR and a full range of lenses. I use it with a 11-24 lens for photographing inside cathedrals and capitol rotundas. While I like the macro capability always being available on the Q, the 100mm macro lens on my Canon 5D3 works better and I can get better images. I use a 70-200mm lens for portraits and general landscapes and wildlife. I use a 600mm f/4 for birds, wildlife and amazingly some Astrophotography. I also have a Sony RX100 that is great for hiking and banging around in the woods where I’d prefer to not take the Q for fear of damaging it. It’s a bit embarrassing to reference all this gear, but I’m doing so to convey there’s a wide range of photography interests that I regularly pursue. My favorite travel camera by far is the Q.

Edited by Infiniumguy
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Thanks all. I’ve not checked EXIF files but my guess is most shots are in the 24-35mm range (equivalent FF on my DL 109). I gave up on sports photography long ago as I just wasn’t good at it even with practice. Mostly it’s street, architecture and landscape shots.

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I have no idea why it is big or special deal...

Taking pictures with nothing else but mobile phone is the norm now. And mobile phone is 29mm lens for 35mm sensor size equivalent. 

Where are folks happily using Ricoh GRII and nothing else. And Leica just made mistake with naming of this camera. It has to be GW, or just W instead of Q :).

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The Q is with me at all times.  Often inside the center console of my vehicles.  If I'm walking, it is with me.  

In these two years I have become accustomed to 28mm perspective and use it to my advantage.  

The Q is a photographer's camera -- lends itself to manual adjustments PLUS I can preview my decisions on the fabulous EVF (impossible on DSLR)

The iPhone is likewise always with me but rarely used for images unless I need the special effects or to use the "telephoto" lens (iPhone 8+)

But the DSLR kit goes with me when going on a serious shoot.  100mm macro so much easier to use than the Q in macro mode.  The 17~35 (20+ years old) is still the choice for interiors and vast vistas.  But my beloved 35mm f1.4 is rarely used when the Q does everything just as well.  But FF 35mm has better resolution than cropped 28mm.

But if I really need "standard" perspective, I'll use the DSLR with 50mm f2.8 (Canon's least expensive lens) rather than severely crop a Q image.

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While I think the 'Q' is a fantastic camera, there is NO WAY I could make do with it as my only camera.  A single focal length with moderately accurate AF (on moving subjects) just won't meet all my needs.  It's a great choice for street or travel, but it won't do:

 

- Landscape (where I often want a wider focal length and certainly don't want to do much cropping)

- Action and wildlife (where I have found the focus tracking on the 'Q' to be, frankly, poor)

- Portrait work aside from environmental portraits since the perspective is not what I want

- Astrophotography (virtually no Leica cameras are particularly good for this purpose, though I have used the M10 with some success for Milky Way shots)

 

If I really only took pictures at 28mm and 35mm, I could see myself limiting things to just the 'Q', but that's simply not my situation.  Many of my best photographs are at wider angles than 28mm or longer focal lengths than 50mm.  For image quality, I could see myself being happy with the 'Q' for a very long time, but no one camera can or does meet all my needs.  Horses for courses and all that.

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It's simply horses for courses. The Q is a truly great camera but it does not cover all bases. It is my immediate 'go to' and travel camera but for serious landscape, portrait and macro work it doesn't match my D850 and prime lenses - of course that is IMHO!

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Isn't this the point Annie Liebovitz makes in the advert that's everywhere on the internet? Just work with one lens? Of course it's  how most of us started out in the film era - usually a 50mm of some description. In my case it was on a Zenit - all I could afford. At the art school I went to they used to loan Pentax Spotmatics, which was heaven.

 

I don't know if AL is right. I remember how pleased I was to get a 35mm lens too. Nowadays I have SL and M9 and am thinking of a Q because of the low light/higher iso capability. The SL with 24-90 just isn't a walkaround camera. But I think I can honestly say I won't be getting rid of the M9, nor my 35 Summarit, 50 Summicron, 90 Elmarit. :)

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I took several trips last year and was completely happy with only the Q.  I do have, in addition, both a Nikon and Lumix M4/3 system with several primes and have considered taking the Lumix camera and my 45mm (90mm equivalent) on my next river cruise to Europe for the sole purpose of having a little more reach in capturing hill side castles as we pass.  I have seen other members of this forum doing the same thing. I guess it will be a game time decision, but at this point, the Q has never fallen short of getting me an acceptable image of what I want.  The Nikon these days is relegated to just local use, its just too big and cumbersome, or when I need a long telephoto (rare).

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My Q is not my only camera, but if it was, I could use it for most of the types of photography that I like to do.  The only exception is that the Q cannot serve for short telephoto images, obviously.  The Q's macro setting is superb and lets me shoot macro close-ups of flowers as though the Q had a 50mm normal/macro lens.  The button selections to choose either the 35mm or 50mm perspectives and composition frame lines, at a lower 16 to 12 megapixel resolution, essentially gives you built-in 35mm and 50mm lens options.  Therefore, the Q covers the standard 28mm wide angle, macro, and the 35mm and 50mm (reduced megapixel) lens perspective options.

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  • 2 weeks later...

A complete noobie here. just working up the courage to click "buy" for my Q. I enjoy my Fuji x100 and intended to get a Sony a7riii with Zeiss Loxia, but just didn't like the aesthetics and complexity of the camera, and, when I played with a Q in a Leica store, I was completely hooked. 

 

Meanwhile, I'm also using Moment glass (2nd, much improved version) for my iphone, and, while the images don't hold up to much cropping, they are satisfying: fisheye, wide, macro, and telephoto;. A very, very light and easy way to supplement a Q perhaps. OTOH, I'm really worried that the Q will become my gateway drug to the M10!

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