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Leica Q reassurance needed!


jaxon

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Hi all..

I'm new to Leica and and so this forum as well. I'm hoping to be a regular poster on this forum, but I have one mental hurdle I need your help with, and I assume I'm at the right place.

I've shot with many many systems over the years, notably Fuji X for the past 5 years. But I've always longed for Leica - not for any brand snobbery but for the tactile feel, the colours, the 'look'. Fuji I always felt was 70% of the way there. I own a Fuji X-T3 and collection of lenses, and after renting a Q a few months back have decided to buy one. 

Now this was my heart ruling my head (which happens more often that I'd care to admit), it's a 4 year old camera and fixed 28mm focal length  - something I've always loved having owned sony RX1R's and Fuji X100's in the past.. that ease of grab and go use without worrying about lens selection was a big draw. But I always decide at some point that I want something wider or something longer and end up investing back into a system, though I tend to generally stick with my tried and tested 35mm focal lengths in any case. I take pictures of everything.. my little boy, the family, trips out, street, landscape.

The Q has amazed me.. it's everything I thought it would be, 28mm can be limiting it would be naive to see it can't be.. but I can crop and I can move, and if I just can't get the shot, oh well I can't. But really I can't justify keeping the Q and my Fuji kit right now (second child on route) so here I am asking myself.. should I sell my Fuji kit and lenses and be content with just the Q?? At least for a while. My thinking ultimately is this camera makes me want to shoot more than ever, it makes me smile when I use it, I get excited about getting home and drooling over the files in LR. While the Fuji gave me joy, it always felt like something still was missing, the Q never feels like that even with a very unfamiliar 28mm lens to me. Yes all of my images will look the same in terms of FL.. but is that a bad thing?

So I guess I just want your thoughts, those that own Q along with a system and those that have made it their primary tool. Note I don't do any professional work, this is all fun.

thanks for taking the time to read my rambles.

-John

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Welcome to the forum John. Do read all recent threads in the Q forum where similar issues have been discussed.

It is quite a big step, trading a working system for a fixed lens camera fitted with a wide angle lens. The Q will not replicate the scope of your existing gear. But, it will surpass in quality and operational ease what could be done with your current kit if limited to focal lengths no longer than 50mm. For practical domestic picture-making, that would be possible. More considered portraiture would require at least one longer lens. Is it possible for you to retain that element of your Fuji system until you discover the desireability of adopting a Leica CL, for example?

Only go for it if you can convince yourself that you will  be entirely happy with focal lengths 28mm to 50mm or thereabouts.

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Hi David,

thanks for the reply - I'm trawling through all recent threads currently. There's a lot of great info here.

most of my shooting is casual snapshot type stuff, currently about 80% at 35mm 10% at 24mm and 85mm respectively each. I do find a rarely take my portrait or WA lenses out with me on day trips family events which is where I do most of my shooting truth be told (taking time for more considered photography outings is becoming increasingly difficult). But it is always nice to have for variation fi and when I need it.

I may well the Fuji as you say, issue I have is the Q files are that good I'm not sure if I could ever by 100% satisfied by the Fuji gear now as great as it is, so would inivitably leave the Fuji gathering dust more often than I would like even if it means there are shots I just can't get. Seems slightly crazy and maybe I should give it more time with the Q first.

with 28mm it does give more flexibility than I originally feared which is good.. and man.. those colours.. wow

-John

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Jason:  I used to have a Fuji X100 T, as well as as Canon 6D and several Canon L lenses.  I sold them all and bought the Leica Q, after renting the camera for a weekend.  I’ve never looked back.  I only use the Q to shoot street, and some street portraits.  Check out my blog at: www.framesofreference.org

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A Q works for portrait once you get used to standing close enough, will work for landscape and street shooting. It's light and will carry in a simple holster. It's difficult to criticise apart from the tyranny of 'there may be something newer along soon.' What's not to like?

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Thanks for the comments. 

I do have reservations about using 28mm all of the time, but the quality of images and feel of using this camera just keep me thinking I could. Or should I say I could make do. 

I may keep the Fuji knocking around with a couple of lenses (23 / 56) for a couple of months.. see how I feel then. No rush I guess though the cash is of course always welcome.

-John

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Hi John,

In September of last year I purchased a used Leica Q after spending about 4 years using the Fuji X system. I started that with a X100s, then on to several different bodies and a large assortment of Fujifilm primes. I sold my X100s last summer and thought about replacing it with an X100f. Fujifilm seems to be going down the road that most of the Japanese camera companies go down - more feature creep along with more complicated menus.

I first became interested in the X100s because of its simplicity and ease of use after using film cameras for decades. I became interested in the Q after reading remarks about it on the Fuji X Forum. I investigated and then made the purchase.

The Q was and is amazing. It is simple to use and produces beautiful files, some stunningly beautiful when everything is right when clicking the shutter. When using Fuji only, I had started exploring the xf18mm lens so moving to the Q point of view wasn’t so difficult.

As much as I like what the Q can produce, the 28mm is limiting at times. I had a chance to sell off almost all of my Nikon film cameras and lenses and put together enough money to buy a used M240 and a Summilux 50mm f/1.4 ASPH. Now I mainly explore this set up and use the Q as my wide angle approach. Maybe I will try another Leica M lens or two in the future. But I want to become more proficient at using what I have in front of me - the 240 and the Summilux and the Q.

In the meantime, the Fuji X system sits waiting for warmer weather to be used again or sold off.

Greg

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I currently am using exclusively the Q, and yes, it is fantastic. I feel that even after a year I don't fully appreciate all it can do or what I can do with it. I should use it another year or two exclusively before feeling I have mastered it as far as whatever skills I have can take me. However, I am getting a bit antsy to get back to telephoto as well, and am thinking about another camera with interchangeable focal lengths (CL, SL2 (whenever!), Lumix S1R or Nikon Z7). 

But if you're concerned specifically about portraiture, the Q2 is said to being coming out at the end of this year (which means "really, sometime before the next century" in Leica speak) with a larger (rumor: 47 mps) sensor. Given how sharp the lens is, that would comfortably crop to portraiture. But, I'm guessing it will be around $6k initially.

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I've gotten fine portraits with the Q by backing up just a bit, and then cropping, but the Q is not my only camera.  For travel and for hiking where wildlife will be I also bring a Leica V-Lux 114, but every day since I got my Q 14 months ago I've carried it with me.

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The Q is simply the best photographic investment I have ever made.  It's quick and easy to use - gets out of the way and allows me to capture a moment and get right back to being in the moment.  I have two boys of my own and the environmental portraits the 28mm allows is ideal in showing them and their experiences.  No regrets.  

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/kismetsky/albums/72157667856314930

Edited by kismetsky
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The Q is a great camera. However, my thought is that if you are used changing lenses and do so, and more importantly if you have to ASK the question you are asking, sooner or later you will miss that ability.

Edited by jay968
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at some point I hope you come to the conclusion that having just one lens is actually liberating. As you said, we have the ability to crop and move, and for me as a subscriber to the "make it work" with one lens philosophy, the Q fits me to a T.

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10 hours ago, stuny said:

I've gotten fine portraits with the Q by backing up just a bit, and then cropping, but the Q is not my only camera.  For travel and for hiking where wildlife will be I also bring a Leica V-Lux 114, but every day since I got my Q 14 months ago I've carried it with me.

Last September I went on a hiking trip to Scotland and the Q is all I took. It's liberating to make do with just that spectacular 28mm lens, and I didn't ever feel I needed longer or shorter lenses.

https://brick.smugmug.com/Travel/2018-9-London-Scotland/

 

Edited by brickftl
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You've alluded to the need with the Q to accept the 28mm field of view exclusively, and I'd agree to the idea of keeping your Fuji option available. I have found 28mm useful for environmental portraits for example and other times when context is important. As many smart-phone users have discovered, the 28mm field of view is easy to live with. Before getting the Q I found myself gravitating more to this region (21mm on M8, 31mm on Pentax K-1, 35mm on Leica S2, 28mm on Leica M240) but I also like the 60-80mm range as well. So these other rigs can fill in on those longer focal lengths I'm not ready to give up!

So before the Q I explained to myself there are adequate 28mm options available to me already and I don't need the Q. But it was always interesting... The auto-focus, the anti-shake / image stability, the compact size, and the fixed lens meant relief from a dusty sensor. Well, I've been very happy with it and hope you will be too.

Doug

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When I read posts like this, I'm glad I began my photographic journey as a thirteen-year-old. I got one camera and one lens, a 35mm 2.8 -- make it work, son. Over the years and through school, I acquired lenses, but even in art school it was always a useful exercise to limit myself to one lens for months at a time, even though I had others to choose from. Zooms were pretty exotic back then, and of generally poor quality, so foot zooming was the preferred method, and one that works tolerably well today.

That said, I have lots of equipment today, and use it accordingly, but when i go out or travel, I usually take only one lens; two at the most. I've seen guys with bags of equipment, wrestling the bags and putting lenses on and taking lenses off, while life just passes them by. Photography is about seeing, and if you're preoccupied with gear, you won't see shit. I have a lot of Canon glass, from 11mm to 400mm, and a 5DIV, which is a great camera, and an Otus 55 which is my favorite lens. But the Q is my desert island camera, because I do a lot of street and the Q is the street camera ne plus ultra. And frankly, I think a lot of lenses can be a crutch; you don't think about ways to capture something, to express what you are seeing and feeling, instead you let the lens do the thinking for you. 

I know from my early experience that I could get along fine with just one lens -- as I came into this world so shall I leave it. I have a list of my gear in the order it is to be sold. Everything moves around a bit on the list, depending on mood, but the Q is always at the bottom of that list.

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10 hours ago, brickftl said:

Last September I went on a hiking trip to Scotland and the Q is all I took. It's liberating to make do with just that spectacular 28mm lens, and I didn't ever feel I needed longer or shorter lenses.https://brick.smugmug.com/Travel/2018-9-London-Scotland/

 

 

Truly lovely landscapes from Scotland under typical lighting, soft and revealing. The portraits from Scotland show how well the Q does with contextual pictures of people.

David

Edited by wda
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The Q is a fantastic camera, but, IMHO, I do not think it is an ONLY camera, in that it has it's limitations, obviously with a fixed WA lens. I took mine to Scotland and was not disappointed with the results however, I found myself yearning for a bit of reach at times and also for more width.. I sold my Q and have now bought into the CL system. I miss the Q a lot and if I were a rich man (q music) I would own both and consider it to be the perfect set up for my personal needs.

If I had to have a single camera then it would be (and IS) the CL system. small, light, with excellent IQ and a decent selection of lenses that cover all my needs and fit into a tight bag that I can carry comfortably all day.

I guess, for you with the Q already purchased you have the same dilemma that I had, maybe you could add a CL with 23mm to give you back your 35mm eq kit or even a Leica T now they are the same price as a used Fuji XT.

Either way you go, have fun and enjoy taking photos.  

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the Q is great for travel and urban shooting

its not so great for landscapes (I prefer 50mm or higher) or portraits

Can you survive with it on its own ? I can certainly say yes, in fact I take it on its own for a holiday

When it comes to single lens I can survive with 28mm or 35mm. No other FL for me for general use as I find others are too minority for my shooting

The other thing you can think of is partnering the Q with something like a D-Lux 7 or Panasonic LX100 ii. They have great handling and in good light produce superb results for portraits and landscapes

Just my 2 cents

 

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