My thoughts on the Q2 after a few days of shooting.

[BXL Gotham]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I'll try to be succinct. But I will fail. 

1) I largely shoot a variety of urban landscape work in NYC these days, and 99% of my work is nocturnal. This tends to be storefront windows, neighborhood sidewalks and views of buildings that strongly characterize a waning area of the city, street art or murals/graffiti, and occasionally (more lately, but not formalized yet) human subjects.

2) I come to the Leica Q2 by way of recently experimenting with the SONY RX1 Rii, and the Ricoh GRii/iii. Prior to this I have (and still do) use the Fuji GFX 50S for a lot of the storefront work.

3) The move to these lighter cameras has been out of a desire to move quicker and approach more nimble shooting over the tripod mounted GFX, though that camera holds a special place in my heart, and will not be leaving the arsenal of tools.

4) I have two approaches to the work. Black and white, with limited post processing, and color, in which case I go deep on hand graded color work. Lately I've been spending more time on the black and white efforts, again to allow me to shoot more, and process less.

With that all said here are my thoughts, and some early results:

A) I have not been able to do much with RAW files because the only app that I have that supports the lens profile is Lightroom. I am not a Lightroom user nor a fan, and tend to work in Alien Skin Exposure, Luminar, and DXO PhotoLab2. Therefore I've only lightly touched up the JPEGs, which I've been shooting as contrast B&W.

B) The handling on the camera is very good IMO, at least so far. There are a few areas I question the moves on. For starters, not allowing a setting to toggle AEL is very disappointing. As a result, it reminds me of the Minolta CLE. I have given up using aperture priority, and instead am manually exposing. This is not so bad, and actually the handling for this I have been impressed by (shutter speed dial, ISO button/dial, and of course aperture ring on the lens). This works very smoothly. If you aren't using manual focus, it's not a problem. If you had to also manually focus, I think it could become too many things if you weren't zone/hyperfocal/pre focusing.

I'm not sure I like that the focus ring isn't automatically set or can't be left at infinity when reverting to auto focus. Check that, I don't like it at all and it makes little sense. Nor does infinity not being a hard stop, since well, you need to hard stop into AF lock. I find the little catch release to get out of and into AF to be not so easy to work with. Sure you can get the hang of it, but I wouldn't call it perfect, and I've seen better approaches to this on lenses (haven't we all?).

I can really do without the menu animation when changing ISO values. When I go up a stop in ISO, I really don't want anything but *immediate* change so I can return to the work, which may be passing me by. The lag is not really a lag, like the SONY ISO digital dial, which is really bad, but it's forced for effect, and I think that's a really big mistake by Leica and whomever did it thinking it looked cool probably is not a photographer.

Let's talk about this camera's hidden superpower. The optical IS. It is a joy to use. I shoot at night as I said, I tend to prefer deeper DOF, thus it's down to the shutter being open longer to prevent the noise from higher ISO. With good technique, even a few drinks in me, I can steadily hold this camera at 1/8 and not suffer an ounce of camera shake. This may be the thing that simply draws me back away from the SONY at the end of the day. It's quite powerful.

Lastly, this camera is too heavy and imbalanced in its weight. I am 6'1, 200lbs, tip top shape, and a few days of this around my neck and I have a sore neck. This camera must be held in the palm of your hand everywhere you go so that you keep the weight off your shoulders/neck and shift it to your arm and core strength. I would honestly rather toss a tripod mounted GFX 50S over my head, at least I can set it down, and offset its weight so that it falls on my core/feet, not my poor neck. 

It's a hard camera to fault beyond that. I will learn more about IQ when I get at the RAW files, but the JPEGs are certainly stunning. I am a believer in resolution. More resolving power assuming the lens supports it, is the photographic and optical equivalent to supersampling done in video game rendering. I can tell the difference even after its resized to 1080, I have no idea why people argue that it's not there, perhaps it depends on the scene, but it matters to me and this camera delivers it.

I do however find the RX1 Rii is still calling me back. It's lighter, less noticed due to its smaller footprint, I enjoy its 35mm (more likely 33mm) focal length and the slightly more intimate POV it gives, and what it gives up in its limited but still effective electronic image stabilization it seems to make up for with its sensor.

If Leica made a 47mp version of the M I could see myself going further, but have to stop here with the Q2 for now. Some pics, perhaps to your taste or not, but I give the camera a strong nod, pray Leica improves the firmware soon, and strongly suggest you keep your chiropractor on speed dial, your neck is going to need it.

Oops, I'm not allowed to upload more than half a meg as a new user. Not sure who runs this forum but you might want to reconsider that limitation.

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[Alain88]

You are very picky in my opinion.

I really like what they've done with the focusing ring. It's easy and seams to me like an evidence.

Menu animation are not too intrusive and I don't spend much time using ISO dials anyway.

The camera is light! Not RX1 light, ok, but it's lighter than lots of lenses alone, better balanced than Sony a6500 + lens. I shoot film with minolta XD7 and this camera is as light and not front heavy at all. I also have a canon 5DmkIII with a Sigma 24-70 f/2,8: Oh boy that's heavy! And I also always hold my camera in palm because I hate swinging things on my Buckle (I'm not 6'1).

However, the Q2 could be improved for sure.

[BXL Gotham]

I admit I’m picky. Spending $5k plus tax doesn’t help either. I’m not disappointed. But seems like the higher you go and the bigger the hype the easier it is to criticize. 

I wouldn’t compare it to larger DSLRs etc. it wants to be a single lens camera it sort of needs to be on the lighter more balanced side. Especially as the lens is deliberately chosen to be optically flaws (requiring so much correction) it makes even less sense why it’s so big. 

[BXL Gotham]

Reality is I am carrying it everywhere. 

[Jared]

I expect there will be a firmware update for the exposure lock toggle.  It’s just a pain to hold a button in while recomposing and shooting.  Like you, I don’t even use it as a result.

I actually like the AF lock/MF implementation, but to each his own.  I do wish the hard stop corresponded with infinity focus since that would save using an external light when doing nightscapes and/or worrying about whether I bumped focus during night photography.  I also wish the Fotos app would allow manual focus.  It doesn’t, and that makes it useless for nightscapes.  Too bad because that would be really nice for composition.

I’m surprised that the camera is any worse around the neck than any other camera of similar weight.  I wouldn’t expect there to be much variation unless the lens gets long.  Perhaps the included strap does a poor job of distributing the weight?  You might want to try a different strap to see if that changes anything.  I carry cameras over the shoulder or across the body rather than around the neck so I can’t give a particular recommendation.

[fredus]

I just spent a full day in San Francisco with the Q2 and a peak design leash strap. I carry my cameras across the body and the leash strap is perfect and adjust perfectly for any length. I thought it was a very light setup. Not as light as my Fuji X100F but lighter than my M10 and a 50 Lux   

[BXL Gotham]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I will live with the weight. I'd hardly call it a small footprint considering it's in the category of a high end luxury point and shoot or not far from it, but I'm over that. The images I am getting out of the camera are pretty remarkable and I have access to just about any camera.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[Alain88]

To me the heavy software corrections applied is not an issue at all. The images looks great, it's the only thing i'm interested by. Wheather flaws are corrected by the soft or the lens doesn't matter (but don't over interpret this).

About the size of the lens: it's a 28mm, under 40 and upper 85 the construction become more complicated (it's less true with mirrorless, the limits are lower but not much). It's also a f/1.7 and if you compare it with the not so sharp EF 28 f/1.8 nor so small NIKKOR 28 f/1.8 nor so bright Sony FE 28mm f/2 you should agree that it's a very good lens overall.

Moreover the only thing a software cannot correct properly is the sharpness, so in my opinion there design is brilliant.

Personnaly I find the Sonys too tiny, and I don't have big hands. I want a camera that fit in my hands and I can carry around the whole day. I don't care if it's pocketable.

For sure I understand your point, if you like a very tiny lightweight 35mm that the RX1 offers, you may not like the 2000$ overcost of the Q2 and reconsider your invests. But to me the Q2 deliver way more pleasure to use. It's not just a machine (ok now I sound leica fan... I disgust myself ^^).

BTW, you do great pictures.

[tom0511]

I cant understand why you find it heavy.

I have carried on several hikes in the mountains - it is not a 1 inch light camera, but for full frame it is quite light IMO.

[jaapv]

I get a sore neck from ANY camera around my neck. IMO it is the worst way to carry one. It pulls your neck muscles, bounces around when walking and will slam into anything in front of you.

Longer strap and carry it diagonally on your hip, bandolier style.

[codocee]

Beware of Levi rivets on your hip.

Just a heads up!

[BXL Gotham]

Couple of updated thoughts and replies to above comments.

1) I agree, I do not intend to really bash this camera due to its weight/size. Look I think they did the right thing for what this brand is, and the point about it being a fast lens is fair. That said it's a fixed lens camera, and it has to be considered whether such a thing should be slightly more "portable". I don't think they failed here, but will say it's a matter of taste. I love small things, and I have huge hands and can palm a basketball easily. I just love how light the SONY RX1 Rii is on my neck, it doesn't bother me at all.

2) The lens cap. Brilliant and stupid at once. Brilliant in that I can just grab it off and stick it back on so easily without fidgeting. Stupid in that the tight tolerance has worn out already and it easily can be knocked off and lost while moving around NYC. Too bad. I prefer it to the RX1 cap which is so close to the lens glass that it's like playing the game Operation every time you replace it to the lens.

Look the camera is certainly brilliant and I would say it could become one of the absolute main stays in my arsenal. I see it as a complement to the Ricoh GRiii. I think the lenses on both are to my eye equivalently sharp, however the Ricoh I like for shooting "dirtier" work, just a grungier look, whereas the Leica produces something that is on the order of clarity and beauty of my GFX 50S (which I will say remains a separate unique fascination for me).

The RX1 is going nowhere due to it's focal length and excellent low light performance, and I have the GRii and RX1 Ri both for their flashes as well, as I occasionally like to use for night street work.

In the end, I am impressed with this camera.

Here's a color variant of an earlier shot that I shared

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

 

Edited August 28, 2019 by BXL Gotham

[davidginNYC]

Gotham, I like the photos you shared.  I also agree that it’s a “dense” camera, and the weight can be a bit of a minor annoyance sometimes.  With my Q, I dealt with this by adding the grip and the finger loop.  It’s actually very comfortable to carry that way, loosely suspended from my fingers.  When I tire of that, I either drop it into a shoulder back or clip a Peak Design strap back onto it.  I just got the grip for my Q2, so I imagine I’ll do the same.

Also, I used to hate the mechanism for moving from auto focus to manual focus, but after a few weeks with my Q it became second nature.  I don’t think it’s a bad solution, but it’s not as intuitive as the sliding “clutch” approach that some Olympus primes use, for example.

Just out of curiosity, are you shooting around the East Village? Those scenes look vaguely familiar.

[Mr.Q]

Yeah it's heavier compared to the RX1 and Q1. It's one of the reasons why I decided to sell mine.

[bags27]

Weight is such a funny thing. I could never buy the SL because I thought it was too heavy. And I couldn't imagine carrying the Q(2) and CL + long zoom together, as Jono said he was doing. And then I did that very thing, and it was entirely comfortable. So now, I'm eagerly awaiting the announcement of the SL2. Rather than judge weight independently, I think you just have to get used to a kit and accept its weight as part of the overall package. Weight, on its own may be a negative, but if a heavy camera produces worthwhile photos, then it's all good. After all, Ansel Adams dragged a massive large frame and a wood tripod all over Yosemite. 

Edited August 29, 2019 by bags27

[paul.bridges.3388]

Holster (and grip) is so comfortable and fast when street walking.

[Mr.Q]

4 hours ago, bags27 said:

Weight is such a funny thing. I could never buy the SL because I thought it was too heavy. And I couldn't imagine carrying the Q(2) and CL + long zoom together, as Jono said he was doing. And then I did that very thing, and it was entirely comfortable. So now, I'm eagerly awaiting the announcement of the SL2. Rather than judge weight independently, I think you just have to get used to a kit and accept its weight as part of the overall package. Weight, on its own may be a negative, but if a heavy camera produces worthwhile photos, then it's all good. After all, Ansel Adams dragged a massive large frame and a wood tripod all over Yosemite. 

I think it depends on use case.  I currently shoot with the following setup.

Minimal: Huawei Mate 20 Pro --- self-explanatory

Lightweight: Q-P --- Often gets carried around my neck or crossbody. A 100g difference is quite noticable bouncing against my body, especially when travelling with my family all day, carrying shopping bags, and often having to shoot one-handed.

Middleweight: X-T3 + lens --- Carried in a peak design 5L sling. I use a wrist strap for this camera, and weight is a non-issue with how I use this camera. (usually very short distances)

Heavyweight: X1D/SL + lenses + tripod --- Stowed in a backpack, carried from location to location. Weight and strain is bearable when photography is the sole purpose.

[BXL Gotham]

9 hours ago, davidginNYC said:

Gotham, I like the photos you shared.  I also agree that it’s a “dense” camera, and the weight can be a bit of a minor annoyance sometimes.  With my Q, I dealt with this by adding the grip and the finger loop.  It’s actually very comfortable to carry that way, loosely suspended from my fingers.  When I tire of that, I either drop it into a shoulder back or clip a Peak Design strap back onto it.  I just got the grip for my Q2, so I imagine I’ll do the same.

Also, I used to hate the mechanism for moving from auto focus to manual focus, but after a few weeks with my Q it became second nature.  I don’t think it’s a bad solution, but it’s not as intuitive as the sliding “clutch” approach that some Olympus primes use, for example.

Just out of curiosity, are you shooting around the East Village? Those scenes look vaguely familiar.

Yes dense is maybe the right term. I'm sorry that part of my review is overshadowing the overall discussion. We should be talking about the exemplary optical image stabilization and how it effectively nullifies the concerns of pixel peeing noise complaints IMO. At least in the applications that I use it for.

The shots I've posted on this forum from the Q2 I believe are mostly or entirely in SoHo area, but I bleed over through the neighborhoods at night and lose track of where I was and am. I certainly have shot a lot in the East Village lately, my old haunt (many neighborhoods are my old haunt).

If you go on my website you'll see a long running black and white feed that combines images made with Ricoh GRii/iii, SONY RX1 Rii, GFX 50S, and Leica Q2, plus a few taken with the Ricoh GR1v.

Do you shoot around the city much? I've been bumping into a lot of Leica shooters lately, one Q fellow, and many film M fellows, and one M9 gentleman.

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Leica Q

[davidginNYC]

2 hours ago, BXL Gotham said:

Do you shoot around the city much? I've been bumping into a lot of Leica shooters lately, one Q fellow, and many film M fellows, and one M9 gentlema

 

I live near Union Square, so I do a lot of shooting and strolling around the city, especially Soho and the EV at night.  Maybe I’ll run into you.

[BXL Gotham]

54 minutes ago, davidginNYC said:

 

I live near Union Square, so I do a lot of shooting and strolling around the city, especially Soho and the EV at night.  Maybe I’ll run into you.

Ah cool, I'm in Midtown East and I am in SoHo and LES/EV a lot, but typically in the wee hours of the AM.