New Leica Q Owner - Questions

[designdog]

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Just received my new Q yesterday, and already have questions.

 

First, there seems to be a mixed opinion on the use of a lens filter -  for protection. I keep B+W UV/haze filters on my Nikon lenses, but the Q, with its lens cap and smallish lens seems not as vulnerable. Plus there seems to be a controversy on whether they degrade the image on this camera. What is your view?

 

Second is sharpening. My normal sharpening techniques, which feature either SmartSharpen, FocusMagic, or Franzis - all in ACR -  seem to be too harsh for this lens. Any reccomendations?

 

Finally, my one criticism (except for the EVF, which is quite good, but, well, I hate EVFs) and that is the use of .dng files. There is no group of camera profiles to select from. There are only two camera calibration options: embedded and Adobe Standard, there are no lens correction options, etc. To someone with a lifetime of experience processing Nikon raw files (I only shoot raw) mostly in ACR/Photoshop, one feels terribly hogtied. This feels like a "consumer" camera, but the image quality (and the price) belies that feeling. I have 30 days to get over this feeling, but I have to say that - right now - it is a deal breaker for me. We will see.

 

Thanks for any help.

Edited March 24, 2018 by designdog

[Bart van Hofwegen]

For what it's worth, some answers. All these issues are very subjective of course, there is no right or wrong. Many will disagree with what I have to say.

 

Filters: I never use them for protection, only for effects. I always use the hood for this, on all my lenses, in every situation. This serves as protection but also gets you better contrast. It is big misunderstanding to think that hoods are only useful when you have the sun (or other light source) in front of you. That's were they are the most beneficial of course, but in other situations they often lead to better results and protect at the same time. I have not damaged a front element for more than 20 years, and the last one was actually fit with a filter. The shards of the damaged filter badly scratched the front element. Of course, without the filter the lens had also needed repair but now I also lost a filter. If you have many lenses (with hoods!), the savings of not using filters could at some point even make up for one repair. Please note that this is my way of working, and that I do not accept any responsibility for damages to lenses when following my procedure. Being careful is probably the best advice. If you know that your way of working is risk-prone, by all means add more protection.

 

Sharpening: if you use ACR, cut back or completely switch off the sharpening in the Adobe RAW converter, that might help. But indeed, the Q files do not need that much sharpening, the lens is already very good. There are many opinions (that sometimes may come across as religions) on sharpening. I find that what many call "capture sharpening" is hardly ever really useful. Maybe only for cameras with an anti-aliasing filter, but please note that that ACR already compensates for that, even if you dial down the sharpening completely, ACR will still perform some behind your back, somewhat stronger for camera's with AA. I only apply edge sharpening at the last stage, when I have scaled the image to its final size (and have saved a copy just before that!) and use sharpening that targets the intended size and medium (screen or print).

 

Profiles: I also use Nikon and know what you mean, I also was very disappointed. My advice is: start making your own! Buy a ColorChecker target and do some experimenting. It may take some time to get the hang of it and come up with good profiles (even lighting of the target is essential), but is worth the effort in the end. I found the profile for the Q in ACR (the other is embedded in the DNG so strictly speaking not made by Adobe) to be pretty bad indeed, way too red in many cases. I made my own for the summer sun that performs better in the reds but not so in the blues. I do this for all my camera's and sometimes even for one shoot in a particular type of light. A quicker method is to use the HSL tool in ACR to tweak the color balance, but beware to only use small shifts there, the tool is notorious for artifacts when overdone, mostly banding. Camera calibration is another useful tab, albeit less so. I could send you my profile for free if you drop me a mail at bartvanhofwegen@gmail.com, and if you search the net you will find others offering profiles, mostly commercially. But the Q is not sold in huge volumes of course, which makes the availability low and maybe that is also the reason that Adobe did not really make an effort here. If you stick with the Q, you will have to invest some time in this field, but it will pay off. I make my own profiles for a lot of camera's nowadays.

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[HighlandK]

Whether it feels like a “consumer” camera or not is entirely subjective but my view is the one thing it does not feel like is a consumer camera. I never used the Nikon profiles and always much preferred to develop my own presets. A lens profile is, I believe, built in to the DNG and thus no other is needed in ACR. On sharpening I very quickly learnt to dial back my practice with Fuji and Nikon. The lens sensor combination is bitingly sharp and can easily be over sharpened in post. I use no more than minimal sharpening in ACR and sometimes none. I do have a Leica clear filter and find no difference with or without but appreciate the extra protection of the lenshood. So its just a precautionary approach but I am sure I could survive without it!

[microview]

I keep a filter on my Q as I disliked the provided lens cap. Although I mostly unscrew it for photography I cannot say I can see any differences with/without. It's B&W UV+haze F-PRO type BTW.

[marchyman]

Regarding lens correction... the needed image corrections are part of the lens design and are built in to the DNG.  Adobe applies the built in profile.  If you want to see the uncorrected raw bits you'll have to use a different program for raw conversion.

 

I've had filters affect image quality on other cameras.   Since then I only use a filter for a needed effect (usually a CP) or if I'[m going to be using the camera in very dusty or wet conditions.

 

Bart van Hofwegen advise to use a color checker and make your own profiles is spot on, IMHO.