Q2 Pre-purchase questions

[Alain88]

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Hi all,

I have some question about the Q2. I have tested one at a leica store for 45min and found some questionning points. I read the documentation extencively but didn't found my answers or it wasn't clear, so I'm asking to you here:

- The back button can be used for auto-focus but this does not disable the trigger button of focusing?! This behavior is weird...

- When I use P-A-S for exposure, the aperture stay wide open during focusing (I was manual focusing), in P-A-S-M the aperture was closed (about f/8)... I don't understand how it work and the documentation seams unclear. I want to focus manualy wide open all the time (I was in aperture priority). Can this be done in every modes?

- The minimal speed can be set depending on the selected focal length to avoid blur. But what is the stabilization activation speed? Is it changeable? Tipicaly I would like to have it ON under 1/150s.

- Using the focus peacking, I can change the colours but not the precision. Is there a way to have a little bit less precision? eg: in portrait I want the eye in focus but it almost never highlight it (or a very few points), instead I had a lot of highlight in the hairs, but what if my model is bold?! I don't want to use the zoom function, or only in some case, can it be activated on demand in manual focus? (I want to see the framing all the time)

- I have not tried the manual mode with auto iso. Does the exposure compensation work in this mode?

- I have not tried the camera in dark situation but are your happy of the viewfinder and are you able to focus manualy?

- The images in the viewfinder and the screen where very contrasty and desaturated, was it the picture profile (that I didn't checked because I don't shoot jpg)? If I change the picture profile, will it affect the viewfinder? (If so, could more clarity give me more focus peacking dots?)

More than all of these question I would like to have your feedbacks about this camera: is it a pleasant experience (more than the quality of the raw or the colours, I assume pictures are good...). I will use it mainly in manual focus, aperture priority or manual exposure with auto iso... I do lot of film photography and I am familiar with the leica phylosophy (Otherwise I would not concider buying one). 

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[bullmoon]

The Zoom/Lock button can be set for back button focus  - AFL - it is only active while being held down and I do not think the shutter release button will affect focus in this case.  If you have access to the instruction manual, look at that feature.

OIS cannot be set to anything other than ON, OFF, AUTO - you cannot set the thresholds for it being activated in AUTO.  I see OIS kick in at 1/50th and below which makes sense for a 28mm lens.  This can be observed when playing back images.

P-A-S-M is a "Scene Mode" where you have full control of the camera, whereas other scene modes can override the camera settings.  What P-A-S-M  means is that you can have either of Auto (by setting ISO, Shutter, Aperture to A), or you can have Aperture priority (leave the others on A and set the Aperture manually), or Shutter Priority (leave the others on A and set the Shutter manually), or set the Shutter and Aperture to whatever you want.  What you see in the EVF when you half-press the shutter is what the actual exposure will look like (it is not stopping down!).  What you see in the EVF before you half-press the shutter is what a correct exposure would look like even though your Aperture and Shutter settings may not produce a correct exposure.  This is helpful when manual focusing on a dark scene.

Exposure compensation is available when the Aperture is set manually and the Shutter is in Auto, hence compensation for the what auto sets the shutter to.  ISO can be Auto or fixed - doesn't matter.  If both S and A are set to Auto, the exposure compensation wheel acts like a program shift (similar to what I remember on my R8).  Again, see the manual for that feature description.

Focusing in the dark works about as well as you can see - there's a focus assist light that can be activated if needed. I never use that though.

I don't notice any desaturation or contrasty effects on the EVF or screen.

If you have used a M or R film camera in the past, you'll find this camera reminiscent of them - I do.  The Q2 is not without it's quirks - some may be updated in firmware, but I'm not counting on anything particular - best not to get hung up on future features.  The images are great, the camera is light and portable, people are often excited to be photographed with a Leica (who knew? I never thought of that as a benefit).  I use is almost exclusively now for personal photography while my 5DMKIV and loads of glass are pretty much commercial work only. 

My recommendation is to set the camera up like you would a film M.  Go for a simple setup and it will be a pleasure to use.  When I got my Q, I turned on the grid, the level, all the "stuff" and ugh!  Not like a Leica to me.  So I turned all the junk off and used it as simply as I could and I loved it.  Same with Q2.

Best of luck.

 

Edited August 12, 2019 by bullmoon

[Alain88]

Thank you for you answer.

This make the back button useless for AFL imo, but I'm sure it'll be updated as it's not the way it work on the Q. For now it's not a no go for me, even if I realy like to use this back button for AFL.

I know what P-A-S-M means but in page 80 they talk about P-A-S/P-A-S-M for exposition simulation. If I want to manual focus wide open to have the better pression, should I half press the trigger? I would like to manual focus wide open all the time like with an old film camera.

For the exposure compensation it's more when both aperture and speed are set manualy but iso is auto, will the exposure compensation work by compensating on iso? I ask the question because it's not the case on my Canon 5DIII...

Thank you for your feedback, it's realy interesting. I don't want to throw 5k on a camera I wouldn't enjoy to use.

[Alain88]

Well, my camera arrived friday at the shop, so I could test it a bit more and answer my own questions:

- The back button in not meant to be set as focus button in the phylosophy of the camera. It's sad, but I find using it as a framing tool is great and I learned to use focus on trigger.

- The camera focus always wide open and this is a good point!

- In manual mode the exposure wheel fine tune the speed around the set value but in "auto ISO" no exposure bracketing is allowed (like with my Canon 5DmkIII).

- The focus peacking seamed to be more or less sensitive depending on the clarity of the user profil I use.

- On the camera I tried the first time, the colour on the viewfinder where desaturated and very contrasty. I thought nobody would buy a camera like that, but it was also the user profil... Colours and contrast in EVF are great!

- In dark situation the images remains good, but the viewfinder may become laggy, to very laggy on shutter half pressed.

This camera is very pleasant to use! Could it be better? YES! Is it worth the price? YES! -> I came back home with it.

Edited August 25, 2019 by Alain88
spelling mistake

[Jared]

On 8/13/2019 at 2:25 AM, Alain88 said:

 

I know what P-A-S-M means but in page 80 they talk about P-A-S/P-A-S-M for exposition simulation. If I want to manual focus wide open to have the better pression, should I half press the trigger? I would like to manual focus wide open all the time like with an old film camera.

For the exposure compensation it's more when both aperture and speed are set manualy but iso is auto, will the exposure compensation work by compensating on iso? I ask the question because it's not the case on my Canon 5DIII...

Thank you for your feedback, it's realy interesting. I don't want to throw 5k on a camera I wouldn't enjoy to use.

The intent of the PASM vs PAS exposure simulation is for when you are using manual flash.  If, for example, you set the camera to an exposure and ISO where an off camera flash is the main light, you don’t want the Q2 to darken the viewfinder just because it doesn’t know you have an off camera flash (or on camera non-TTL flash).  So, you set it to PAS rather than PASM and in manual mode (which you would generally want for off camera flash), the camera will still show a bright viewfinder even though it thinks you are under exposing.  If it stops down prior to the actual exposure, I’m surprised.  Obviously, for manual focus you would generally want the lens wide open or depth of field could make precise focus difficult. If it’s stopping down, I would consider that a bug.

If you set aperture and and shutter manually, but leave the camera on auto ISO then exposure compensation will adjust ISO accordingly.  Obviously, the range is limited.  It won’t drop below ISO 100 or above whatever value you set as your max auto ISO.