Leica Q2 - High ISO

[Chippy_boy]

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On 5/30/2020 at 10:41 PM, mikegml said:

I don't choose to shoot the Q2 at 6400? The decision is made for me. ln low light situations, tripods not permitted, and no more apertures to play with you find you're pushed in that direction.  6400 is actually pretty good these day even on a Q2.

I have to say I agree. I find the Q2's noise performance at anything above 1600 to be downright ugly. To the extent I have actually wondered if my camera may be defective... although I am sure it isn't.  It's horrible at high ISO's in my experience. The only way I would consider 3200 or 6400 would be for an arty, grainy b&w shot.  But for anything in colour?  Absolutely not.

[Leica Guy]

I’ve found its highly dependent on the exposure. When exposed brighter while not blowing out highlights, I’ve gotten useful photos at 6400. I too would prefer less noise, but I was working in a dark auditorium and was glad to get anything. The photos ended up being published in a magazine and looked quite good in the end. 

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[leicameech]

On 6/5/2020 at 4:09 PM, Leica Guy said:

I’ve found its highly dependent on the exposure. When exposed brighter while not blowing out highlights, I’ve gotten useful photos at 6400. I too would prefer less noise, but I was working in a dark auditorium and was glad to get anything. The photos ended up being published in a magazine and looked quite good in the end. 

Now that I've read this, it occurred to me that I never thought of it this way. I usually shoot with exposure compensation in the negative direction, 1/3-2/3 of a stop, and therefore my photos always come out underexposed (hmmm, imagine that!). But when shooting at high ISO on my Q2, I'm going to try and overexpose by 1/3-2/3. Makes sense that the less of the shadows I'd need to bring up in post, the less extra noise (in addition to the noise I already have) I will have in my images after an edit. Thanks for this post!

[Leica Guy]

2 hours ago, leicameech said:

Now that I've read this, it occurred to me that I never thought of it this way. I usually shoot with exposure compensation in the negative direction, 1/3-2/3 of a stop, and therefore my photos always come out underexposed (hmmm, imagine that!). But when shooting at high ISO on my Q2, I'm going to try and overexpose by 1/3-2/3. Makes sense that the less of the shadows I'd need to bring up in post, the less extra noise (in addition to the noise I already have) I will have in my images after an edit. Thanks for this post!

I look forward to hearing and seeing your results. 

[w44neg]

Noise is very exposure-dependent. So many people shoot under exposed by mistake, then push in lightroom and wonder why they’ve got so much noise, before blaming the camera. 
 

tbh the Q2 isn’t great. I’ve tried many other cameras and they’ve been far better at 6400. Even my olympus m43 is probably showing less grain. 
 

but it’s not apples for apples, as if you compress the image down to 24MP etc, you see far less noise on your monitor, and print is even more different as others have mentioned. 
 

it’s a wonderful camera. It’s just not an A7S3

[Anakronox]

On 6/7/2020 at 2:24 PM, w44neg said:

Noise is very exposure-dependent. So many people shoot under exposed by mistake, then push in lightroom and wonder why they’ve got so much noise, before blaming the camera.  

Agree.  I do most of my shooting at night or in low light as I really can’t hit the streets and work my day job!  With the Q2 I try to expose accounting for highlights, which often means under exposing.  I’d rather have noise than unrecoverable, completely blown highlights.  But all things being equal aside from sensors, I can do the same with my M10, M10M, or GFX 50R and keep shadow detail without the noise.  So, the Q2 gets left behind 99%of the time.  I like it and want to love it, but it doesn’t click for me. It’s still produced some wonderful shots when the light cooperates.  

[Chippy_boy]

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On 6/7/2020 at 1:34 AM, leicameech said:

Now that I've read this, it occurred to me that I never thought of it this way. I usually shoot with exposure compensation in the negative direction, 1/3-2/3 of a stop, and therefore my photos always come out underexposed (hmmm, imagine that!). But when shooting at high ISO on my Q2, I'm going to try and overexpose by 1/3-2/3. Makes sense that the less of the shadows I'd need to bring up in post, the less extra noise (in addition to the noise I already have) I will have in my images after an edit. Thanks for this post!

Just make sure you overexpose by actually giving the sensor more light, i.e. using a longer shutter speed or higher aperture. Overexposing with a higher ISO won't achieve anything. What matters is how many photons each pixel receives.

[leicameech]

23 hours ago, Chippy_boy said:

Just make sure you overexpose by actually giving the sensor more light, i.e. using a longer shutter speed or higher aperture. Overexposing with a higher ISO won't achieve anything. What matters is how many photons each pixel receives.

Thanks, yes I understand. Will do! 

[nicci78]

I hate Q2 noise pattern. I avoid 6400 and over at all cost. So ugly. I have to apply noise reduction. Something that I never do with Q, CL or M10. And I am happy to use them until 12800. Even 25000 is quite ok.

The more you crop, the more distracting the noise pattern will be.

 

 

 

 

 

[Qster]

On 6/7/2020 at 9:24 PM, w44neg said:

it’s a wonderful camera. It’s just not an A7S3

Yeah because the Q2 actually exists 😜

[Chippy_boy]

On 6/9/2020 at 11:55 PM, Chippy_boy said:

Just make sure you overexpose by actually giving the sensor more light, i.e. using a longer shutter speed or higher aperture. Overexposing with a higher ISO won't achieve anything. What matters is how many photons each pixel receives.

EDIT: Of course I meant "wider aperture". Not sure how I ended up typing "higher"??? Anyway, i am sure you knew what I meant.

[Chris_Q2]

For social Media Iso 12500 works Fine for me 

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[JTLeica]

On 7/4/2020 at 5:19 PM, Chris_Q2 said:

For social Media Iso 12500 works Fine for me 

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Extremely unattractive noise at full res but you could do a lot with that in Post. 

[Chris_Q2]

You Can, Absolut!

here Its jpg resized and More Compressed than the original For uploading, nothing for judging to much in Detail ...

but for Social Media with 1200x800 Or so as I wrote this is Not the Point.

Edited July 12, 2020 by Chris_Q2

[Viv]

I intend to  buy a Q2 tomorrow.

Just sayin'.

[Chris_Q2]

Enjoy!

SW HC Modus  
ISO6400 
„50mm“ jpg ooc 
 

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[nicci78]

We shouldn’t worry too much about this.

28mm focal length + f/1.7 + OIS ensure that we won’t use higher than 6400 ISO. 
 

Even better, Q2 leaf shutter makes it a dream to use with flash. 

[Chris_Q2]

Thats right, in reallife I never needed more than iso3200 during my first few weeks- but I always want to know the Limits.

iso6400 looks quite usable  for me, too. And with raw and no Crop its Even Better.

Edited July 13, 2020 by Chris_Q2