Leica Q (used) In Mid 2020?

[pixeljohn22]

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Hi. I'm a Fuji XT shooter and will stay that way for now. However, I am interested in a used Q (Q2 is beyond my budget) and was wondering if you Q owners are still pleased. I would be doing some street and some landscape as well as some family photos. Also looking at Fuji X100V. Thanks in advance.

[Chris O]

I bought my Q at the end of 2017, and am still very happy with it. The 28mm was hard for me to get used to, but I find it very versatile now. I do a lot of ocean landscape shots, city scapes, some portraits. If I had just one camera to carry around with me, the Q would be it.

I will say, there are some things I don't love about the Q. First, the JPG output is pretty bad, particularly the colors, IMO. The JPGs don't bother me though, I just leave them to be shot in black and white, and keep the raw files. Second, I find the low light performance pretty lack luster compared to cameras I've had in the past. 

The Q is the camera I have owned the longest, it is my only digital camera right now and I have no intention of replacing it until the next generation of M comes out (and I am not talking a 40+ megapixel m10, but a full overhaul with some worthwhile design choices).

I hope this helps.

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[JTLeica]

I'd say go for it. Cameras do not get worse over time neither to the photos they take. Plus, if you buy a Q at this point at a good price you will not lose much, there will always be market for a 24mp Full Frame with a Summilux attached.

Then again the X100V is a great camera. But there is nothing quite like using a Leica.

[Viv]

The Q is excellent. If your specimen is in good nick, go for it.

 

[LexS]

I have a Q now for som years. It is now my only camera. I needed some time to get used to the 28mm.

I agree completely with: "The Q is excellent",

Chris said  "the JPG output is pretty bad, particularly the colors", in the menu you can choose a setting to make that better.

 

[love_leeloo]

before having a Q, I had Fuji XE-3 and XF18-55 + 23f2 (and also test Fuji X-PRO2)

I sold everything to buy the Q

Never go back to Fuji

the Q is excellent, the SOOC jpeg are beautiful. I luv it

 

 

[Guest]

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The Q is my all-time favorite camera!! 

My camera journey in the digital era has been Nikon D750 -> Leica Q -> Leica M262 -> Leica M246 -> Leica Q-P + Q Silver (as back-up)

I recently switched back to Q-P/Q (here in 2020), and I couldn't be happier. I specifically choose the Q-P over the Q2 - prefer 24MP sensor.

I learned a lot from shooting M, so a great tool in that respect, but for my style (everyday life documentary/reportage of my life and people close to me), the Q is my all time favorite camera hands-down. So quick and spontanous, and really inspiring and simple. And the 28mm is the perfect focal length for me now (come from 35mm on M).

I shoot JPEG only and love the output of the Q both BW and colour with a few "in menu" tweaks to the JPEG output. I hardly do any PP. Leica's colour science to my eye is amazing and very life like - No, the JPEGs don't look like all Instagram VSCO #lookslikefilm presets. 😉 They just look like real life/how the world actually looks. This to me is great, as I don't really like heavy processed images - for MY own style. 

 

 

[stuny]

I've had the Q for nearly 2 years and love it.  It's my carry everywhere camera, except for wildlife shooting, for which I have the Vlux114.  Before a string of Leicas (beginning 2000) I had Olympus and before that Fujis.

[louys]

Although a long-standing Fuji X fan, I bought a used Q-P last year and was blown away by the quality of the camera and its all-round capabilities. It is an ideal travel camera and has displaced the Fuji X-T2 in my luggage. 
 

So my advice is to go ahead and try it. But I should also warn that you may soon find yourself lusting after other Leica gear in addition to the Q.

[louys]

51 minutes ago, louys said:

Although a long-standing Fuji X fan, I bought a used Q-P last year and was blown away by the quality of the camera - especially the lens - and its all-round capabilities. It is an ideal travel camera and has displaced the Fuji X-T2 in my luggage. 
 

So my advice is to go ahead and try it. But I should also warn that you may soon find yourself lusting after other Leica gear in addition to the Q.

 

[pixeljohn22]

Many thanks to everyone for their thoughtful comments. Still "thinking" about it.

[Yuri Banksen]

I’m a Fuji user (X and GFX). 
I bought a used Leica Q-P about three months ago. The picture quality from this camera is very different from my Fuji cameras. The rendering of the lens and the level of sharpness produces images with a different feel.

The camera begs to be used in a simple/minimal way. For example, the continuous focus doesn’t work very well and so I just keep mine in single shot mode which works quickly and accurately. I mainly use the camera set to centre spot focus and recompose if I need to.

I am much more of a 35mm - 50mm shooter, so I hesitated a lot before purchasing a 28mm fixed focal length camera. But I must say, like many others have commented, it’s nice to be “encouraged” to see in a different way. My portrait shots tell more of a story now, since there is more context within the shot. I’m really learning to like 28mm Summilux photography  

If you’re curious about Leica I’d say a Q is a good entry camera. You will discover that “Leica look” when you see the resulting images on your monitor. They have a superb clarity and precision.
My only slight disappointment is that highlights get blown more easily and are harder to recover, than with other cameras I’ve used with a similar pixel count. That doesn’t deter me though. This remains an undoubtedly unique camera that gives incredible results. 
Good luck with your big decision. 

[jaapv]

Blown highlights have to do with exposure (metering) and nothing with pixel count. Nevertheless, happy to hear you are enjoying your camera and welcome

[Yuri Banksen]

2 hours ago, jaapv said:

Blown highlights have to do with exposure (metering) and nothing with pixel count. Nevertheless, happy to hear you are enjoying your camera and welcome

Yes. I do understand that and I deliberately underexpose to try to preserve the highlights as much as I can. Perhaps I need to learn how to use the Leica Q’s metering system to get better original files. 
Anyway, I don’t want to stray from the OP’s question. Compared to Fuji cameras which I own and enjoy very much, the Leica Q offers something different; sharpness, precision and clarity that is quite extraordinary and which you cannot appreciate when browsing the internet for samples. 

[rivi1969]

On 7/15/2020 at 12:46 PM, pixeljohn22 said:

Hi. I'm a Fuji XT shooter and will stay that way for now. However, I am interested in a used Q (Q2 is beyond my budget) and was wondering if you Q owners are still pleased. I would be doing some street and some landscape as well as some family photos. Also looking at Fuji X100V. Thanks in advance.

I wonder which XT- do you have, and which lenses? I have the XT3 plus the 18mm f2, 23mm f2, 35mm 1.4, 60mm f2.4 and the “kit” 2.8-4 zoom, and find all Fuji glass pretty excellent. 

I suggest -if possible- to rent the Q before buying it and see how do you like the handling, IQ and 28mm FoV. A brand new X100V will cost you roughly half of a used Q and you can add the 28 and 50mm converters. 

[AndrewDD]

They're dropping in price fast. The very scruffy Q I part exchanged for the Q2 about a month ago was sold quickly, for £300 more than they currently have smart looking boxed examples.

[Le Chef]

13 hours ago, Yuri Banksen said:

Yes. I do understand that and I deliberately underexpose to try to preserve the highlights as much as I can. Perhaps I need to learn how to use the Leica Q’s metering system to get better original files. 
Anyway, I don’t want to stray from the OP’s question. Compared to Fuji cameras which I own and enjoy very much, the Leica Q offers something different; sharpness, precision and clarity that is quite extraordinary and which you cannot appreciate when browsing the internet for samples. 

Jaap would likely tell you that using the histogram and the exposure compensation dial would help you avoid blown highlights. There you are - beat you to it Jaap 😉 

[Viv]

You always have a choice: Expose for the shadows or expose for the highlights, depending on the subject.

[JTLeica]

2 hours ago, Le Chef said:

Jaap would likely tell you that using the histogram and the exposure compensation dial would help you avoid blown highlights. There you are - beat you to it Jaap 😉 

Best way to safeguard against any blown highlights or irrecoverable shadows is to bracket your shot. 3 shot bracket +/-2 stops and you can blend in post if needed

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[Craig Clark]

Like many of you on here, I owned several Nikon's, two sonys (both full frame mirrorless) and about 5 months ago picked up a used Q.  I got a really good deal on it because it had some visible dust on the sensor (which Leica NJ cleared up for $278).  I fell in love with the camera immediately and sold all of my sony gear and picked up a QP.  Now those two cameras are all that I shoot with.  I contemplated the Q2 but I am not a computer guy - and the size of the sony full frame images (A7RIII) used to be a bit rough to deal with in lightroom with my current set up.  I have found that 24mp is a sweet spot...and to be honest, I spend no time post processing.  The images look incredible straight out of the camera and have actually changed the way that I shoot.  When I shot sony I would get home and spend hours post processing....now its literally minutes.  I shoot everything with this camera....street, landscape, whatever.  It all looks fantastic. No regrets with my purchase or switching to leica.