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Purchasing my first Leica


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Greetings everyone,

 

I am considering purchasing my first Leica, and I’m pretty much set on the Q. This will be my first modern camera purchase as the last digital camera I bought was back in 2012. I’ve been doing a lot of research and watching a lot of videos reviewing the Q, but I’d like to hear opinions from longtime owners. Any advice on purchasing a preowned (things I should look out for, etc.)? I will most likely get a new one, but also just thinking about buying a preowned and maybe throwing the rest of the budget into a nice trip to give me an excuse to play around with the Q.

 

Thanks for all of your help in advance!

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Qs hold their price well, hence not abundant on the used market. That reflects a high degree of user satisfaction. It is a joy to use and use in cropped mode when alternative focal lengths are needed.

 

Welcome to the forum and Leica ownership.

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Welcome. You say you have done the research and are pretty much set on the Q. So it is safe to assume you are happy with a fixed 28mm lens and recocognise the camera’s many outstanding qualities. If it is within budget I would go new to get the guarantee. Some of the earlier Qs were reported to have dust problems and with a used camera you are unlikely to fully know its background of use and whether there were minor issues with it. I am perhaps over cautious but with cameras I prefer to err on the side of security! Why save part of the budget for an exotic holiday with the Q? There is so much around you that the Q will demonstrate its worth to you!

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I am not an owner of the Q. Yes you would like to have opinions about the Q from Q owners, as you write in your post. Still here my thought about the Q:

 

- It is rumoured that a Model 2 will be announced sometimes. This is a probable rumor as the actual Q is quite "old". 

- With the Q you have a product that has body and lens combined in a fixed way. As we all know, the bodies get old much faster than the lens. But you can not separate the 2. I personally would prefer to buy an excellent lens that I can use for a long period of time and exchange the body from times to times.

- Did you read about the CL in this forum? The users (who own one) claim that the image quality is (almost?) equal to the M10 image quality. I would seriously evaluate the CL depending on what you shoot. In your post you speak about travelling. You can probably expect quite good light most of the time so that an APS-C might be a better solution. And in low light we saw pictures taken at ISO 6400 that look very good.

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The Leica Q is outstanding. If you are okay with a fixed focal length of 28mm, there are not many better options for size and price and performance. Plus you get AF or Manual, and a macro option all in one. It will also allow for 35mm and 50mm captures if you are okay with fewer megapixels and apsc performance in those lengths.  

 

The IQ and low light performance outperforms the CL.  As for the price of the Q, it includes a terrific 28mm 1.7 lens, which would likely be more expensive than an equivalent stand alone lens. (Of course, when the Q ultimately dies nothing is salvageable, but it should have a long life. Same with the CL, when it ultimately fails it is done.  So, the proper price evaluation should be the difference between the Q and the CL body. On the other hand the CL "kit" will cost more to put together if you want to add 28,35 and 50mm lenses).

 

The CL is more versatile, will allow a whole variety of manual and auto lenses and if that is what you are after it should be your choice, but as an APSC it will not give you the same look as full frame, nor will you likely find a better lens combination with the CL to the 28mm on the Q. 

 

If I was making the choice as to one or the other, I'd opt for a pre-owned, mint condition Q from a reputable seller for somewhere in the $3200-3500 range. If you change your mind you can sell without much, if any, loss. And, there are more pre-owned Q options than CL options at this time.

 

Rob

Edited by ropo54
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I feel the Q is effectively a 28mm and 35mm fixed lens camera. The optics are so good that viewed on a full-size screen you would see no difference between the cropped image and that from, say, an M10. And of course with the camera set to DNG/35mm in Lightroom you can reframe within the overall 28mm fov.

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Although the Q is a fixed lens camera, dust can get onto the sensor. If it's under warranty Leica will take it apart and clean it free of charge, otherwise you have to pay (no idea what they charge but it won't be cheap!).

 

So, if you do look at a used Q take some photos with it of a plain wall or sky at all apertures and examine them carefully on a monitor for signs of dust.

 

Good luck.

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I bought a Q in April as my first Leica camera and there's so much more about it than simply taking photographs, it changes the way you consider your photography. I purposely bought the Q rather than the CL as I didn't want to be tempted to buy additional lenses which I couldn't afford anyway but also to make me think more about composition etc. given the fixed lens, it's a bit of a cliche but you have to use your legs to zoom! I still have and use an Olympus E-M1 with a few lenses and get excellent results but taking out the Q is just a different experience, it's a bit like my neighbour taking his vintage sports car out for a spin rather than his everyday Ford saloon, it's still a car but the increase in pleasure is immense.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi All,

 

My maiden post in this forum.

I’m from sunny Singapore.

Will be getting my Q within this few days..

Bought a used Nov’2017 set at USD 3400+..

Was contemplating for quite some time but after much thought.. just bloody do it..

Come to think of it , the lens itself already cost a bomb and with the body at this price.. it’s a no brainer..

Hope to learn the finer touch of Leica from experts here..

Hope to post some pics here soon.

Ciao....

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  • 1 month later...

As you can probably guess from my online name, I really enjoy the Q. There is something primal about the camera that defies description. Starting with film in the 60's using everything from an Olympus Pen F to a Hasselblad 500C, I have always enjoyed being able to control the process of capturing an image. The Q offers the same control. If you are in a hurry, there is always the "auto-everything" mode.  Excellent optics. Unique Leica image color. Compact. German-built, like a Mercedes/Porsche.

I also debated the new/pre-owned route to purchase, and opted for new because of the warranty.

As one "Newbie" to another, welcome to the Forum.

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