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Q2 35mm Crop Mode vs. 35 Summicron M


bail

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Hey everybody,

I recently tried a Leica M10 with the Summicron 35mm and absolutely love the images it produces, especially wide open. But I really miss having an EVF and sometimes autofocus comes in handy for capturing fast kids. So I was thinking about getting a Q2 and use it in 35mm crop mode. As I understand, this will basically produce an equivalent DOF as the 35mm Summicron in a 30MP image.

Basically, I would use the Q2 exclusively in the 35mm crop mode, so I wonder if it's worth the investment. 35mm is pretty much all I need and I prefer the look of full-frame, so a CL or Fuji X100 is no option (and I'm not interested in the Sony RX1). 

Has anybody tried both? I'm curious how they compare. Will the feel of the image be the same or do you lose some of the full-frame look by cropping in? Unfortunately I can't find any comparisons online.

Thanks!

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4 hours ago, bail said:

I prefer the look of full-frame, so a CL or Fuji X100 is no option (and I'm not interested in the Sony RX1). 

Will the feel of the image be the same or do you lose some of the full-frame look by cropping in?

What do you mean by "full-frame look"? What is wrong with crop sensor and medium format?

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You won't get the DOF of a 35mm lens, only the field of view (crop). Regardless though, a Q2 still produces very nice results at 35mm. Another option to consider would be an SL (not SL2) with a 35mm M lens, which could be had for around the same cost as a Q2, depending on exact lens choice (and how good a price you get on a used SL). Obviously a bigger and heavier package overall though.

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vor 46 Minuten schrieb sfphoto:

What do you mean by "full-frame look"? What is wrong with crop sensor and medium format?

There's of course nothing wrong with crop sensor and medium format ;)
I guess I just really like the files coming out of the M10 + Summicron 35mm after shooting APS-C for many years now. Never tried medium format because I prefer small cameras. I was just hoping I can maybe get a similar image but with an EVF and autofocus by using the crop mode of the Q2.

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vor 38 Minuten schrieb AndyGarton:

You won't get the DOF of a 35mm lens, only the field of view (crop). Regardless though, a Q2 still produces very nice results at 35mm. Another option to consider would be an SL (not SL2) with a 35mm M lens, which could be had for around the same cost as a Q2, depending on exact lens choice (and how good a price you get on a used SL). Obviously a bigger and heavier package overall though.

Shouldn't the DOF of the 1.7 Summilux be relatively similar to the Summicron 35 after cropping? 

And thanks for your suggestion! Unfortunately the SL is too big for my taste to carry it around everyday.

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vor 3 Minuten schrieb AndyGarton:

Yes, I don't know the exact maths, but a 28mm F1.7 lens cropped to 35mm will be relatively similar to a "native" f2 35mm lens.

Nice. Sorry to ask further - and I don't really know how to put it - but when the crop mode will be relatively similar to a 35mm f2 lens, does the image "feel" like a 35mm shot? Or can you still see that it's a cropped 28mm shot by certain characteristics (distortion etc.) of the image when shooting at the same distance as I would when using a native 35mm lens?

When the crop mode of the Q2 is basically indistinguishable from a 35mm f2 lens, then it could be my absolute dream camera.

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I would wait for an expert to confirm, but to my eyes it looks like a cropped 28mm shot, not a native 35mm. There is very little in it, and it might be partly placebo (i.e. because I know it is a cropped 28mm image). This is especially true for relatively close subjects, due to wide angle distortion.

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The files from the Q2 are fantastic and should have the "full-frame" look you are hoping for, which is mostly because of the fantastic lens at f/1.7. When you crop to 35mm you have the equivalent DOF of a 35mm f/2.1 with exactly the same perspective as a 35mm lens.

I would say the Q2 would be an excellent choice for you at 35mm and you always have the 28mm field of view as a backup if you need it.

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1 hour ago, AndyGarton said:

This is especially true for relatively close subjects, due to wide angle distortion.

Exactly, the wide-angle "distortion" comes from the close distance. With the 35mm crop you are automatically taking a step back to frame the subject, which gives you less of a wide-angle perspective, e.g. for portraits.

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The greatest wide angle distortion is mostly at the edges, so at "35" it should not be too big a deal if at all, depending on how you shoot.  Perhaps you can try a Q2 at a dealer - Bring your own SD card to use and take home to process.  Of course this will require your waiting until the COVID-19 threat is over.

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I don’t have the 35mm Summicron but do have the Summilux, which I use on M10 as well as Q2.  Both are excellent, but if you choose only to go with Q2 then you will not be disappointed.

I generally don’t crop Q2 in camera, but often do in Lightroom in post processing.  The results are excellent - a combination of a truly amazing lens and a high mp sensor.

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You won’t see a difference between proper 24x36 sensor and 1.25x crop one. 
Depth of field equivalent in 35mm crop is f/2.1 So it is equivalent to a typical Summicron-M 35mm f/2 with an M10. With the added bonus of 30MP and absolutely perfect image across the plane from center to corner. Thanks to the crop ! 
Another bonus : out of field view à la rangefinder style. And the ability to reframe afterwards. Neat features when photographing kids. 
 

So enjoy your Q2 in 35mm crop. 
 

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Of course do not hesitate to use it at 28mm with all its glory 😌

50mm crop is still for emergency though. 
75mm crop is a gimmick. Really. The frame lines are so small. Almost impossible to really what you are doing. 

I really wish that we can deactivate 75mm. Because it get in the way to toggle between every crop mode. Only 3 is more than enough. 

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I agree it would be nice if it was an option to set which framelines you want, but I actually use 75mm quite a bit (admittedly only for casual snapshot type scenarios, e.g. candid portraits at parties).

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For those of us shooting RAW, the cropping is done in post processing anyway, so the exact position of those lines does not matter that much. The central crop to 35mm or 50mm is also easy to imagine while you are taking the photo.

What I would actually enjoy is having crop lines for a panoramic format like the XPan's 65:24 format. The Fujifilm GFX line offers this on their large sensor. I think it would also make sense on the Q2 given its high pixel count. It would end up being a nice 26 Megapixel panorama. And the crop lines would certainly help framing such an exotic format.

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