Jono Slack Review: Leica Q2 Monochrom

[LUF Admin]

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vor 16 Minuten schrieb evikne:

But is it fair that the LUF Admin gets all the likes?

Definitely not. I'll try to change the author...

Update 10:12: Done.

Andreas

[scott kirkpatrick]

16 minutes ago, evikne said:

A great review as usual by Jono!

But is it fair that the LUF Admin gets all the likes? 😉

I suspect our LUF Admin posted this from Jono's advance text, to save time.  But the permanent link to the article is here.  If you go to his site, the pictures are bigger.  And usually he posts a gallery of examples, although this time he apparently didn't have the camera as long as is usually the case, so I don't see a gallery.

[LUF Admin]

vor 3 Minuten schrieb scott kirkpatrick:

I suspect our LUF Admin posted this from Jono's advance text, to save time. 

Exactly so.

Time is one factor, confidentiality another one.

I have to prepare all news (article, press release, specs, reviews, product images, sample images) before the embargo date, thus only I or Leon can do so.

But now Jono gets the applause he deserves – and I can only recommend to follow @scott kirkpatrick ’s advice to visit Jono's website:

https://www.slack.co.uk/

One amendment: Jono's images are available here in the forum in higher resolution if you click them twice:

1. First click brings up the lightbox
2. Second click opens original resolution.

Andreas

[lanetomlane]

18 hours ago, Dennis said:

100% agree. That's why reading on line about highlights performance on M10 and your note-thoughts about it, I decided to start my Sunny 16 from 200 ISO. I use 100 ISO only when it's necessary. But from 200 to 3200, I really like best the aesthetics result of the M10.

 

Very good point and I agree with you 100%. Like you I use 200 as my base ISO and only on one or occassions have I used 100.

[jonoslack]

4 hours ago, Unblind said:

1. Haha! Since my translation program translated the page for me, I wasn't aware that I was writing in the "wrong" language. 🙂

2. An open question has been asked that the author could just as frankly answer if he wanted to. Or do you have to ask him via PM? 🙂

Sorry to be so slow. lots of questions everywhere!

I’ll be logging in a couple of times a day to answer questions 

I didn’t use filters in any of these shots (lazy me!)

[jonoslack]

15 hours ago, Leica28 said:

I wonder if any of the sample images were taken with a colored filter on the lens?  Doesn’t say one or the other

Hi There - I'm sorry to miss this before - no, none of them were taken using a filter (too lazy, Leica did supply them)

[jonoslack]

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16 hours ago, Unblind said:

Für keines dieser Bilder benötigt man dieses Auflösung, sondern ein gutes Auge und eine Kamera, die das minimal beherrscht. 

Der Rest ist purer Luxus...

Hi There

I don't think I agree about that. certainly for web consumption (which always makes articles a problem) but I think I can tell a difference anyway - it's more to do with sampling than resolution I suspect. Definitely for printing it makes a visible difference (even on smaller prints than it logically should).

Best

 

[jonoslack]

15 hours ago, Unblind said:

Gute Frage. 🙂
Ich denke, machen Bilder wurden mittels Software hochgezogen.

 

Hi There

Yes, they all were to a greater or lesser amount, I don't think it's very useful showing out of the camera files, but there wasn't extensive work done on them. Mostly there was some cropping, and some dodging and burning as well. The very high dynamic range has a tendency to make the out of camera files look a bit flat.

[jonoslack]

4 hours ago, evikne said:

A great review as usual by Jono!

But is it fair that the LUF Admin gets all the likes? 😉

Thank you - pretty good that Admin gets the likes (cos he gets the questions as well!)

All the best

[jonoslack]

4 hours ago, LUF Admin said:

Exactly so.

Time is one factor, confidentiality another one.

I have to prepare all news (article, press release, specs, reviews, product images, sample images) before the embargo date, thus only I or Leon can do so.

But now Jono gets the applause he deserves – and I can only recommend to follow @scott kirkpatrick ’s advice to visit Jono's website:

https://www.slack.co.uk/

One amendment: Jono's images are available here in the forum in higher resolution if you click them twice:

1. First click brings up the lightbox
2. Second click opens original resolution.

Andreas

What Andreas kindly does not say is that the reason is actually that the author took such an incredibly long time to send in the article right at the last minute!

He could easily have done it weeks ago and given Andreas and Leon time to translate it properly. 

Can't get the staff 🙃🙂

[wilfredo]

My Monochrom Type I is an 18 megapixel camera that can easily produce 24x30 prints beautifully. My former M8, a 10.3 MP camera could handle up to 13x19 prints beautifully; and my Leica D2, which I still own, a 5 MP camera produces beautiful 11x14 prints.  I don’t know the science as to why Leica cameras produce such great prints with less megapixels when compared to other camera brands, but in my experience Leica exceeds. My color photography camera is a Sony A7RIII, so I have something to compare it to. Given my experience, is it a reasonable expectation that I would  be able to produce excellent 16x20 prints at the 50mm Digital Zoom Range? Perhaps even some decent 11x14 portraits at the 75mm Zoom Range?

This is the first time I’m seriously considering a B&W CMOS sensor Monochrom.  After neck surgery, I never fully regained 100% use of my left hand, and manual focusing  has become a challenge. This camera may be the solution for me. I’m looking forward to seeing people shots as skin tones are very important to me.  
 

Thank you Jono for the review, I’m starting to feel that delirious excitement one gets when contemplating the purchase of a new Leica.  Most of my photography is B&W, and I suspect this would be a great walk about camera. 

[francipaq]

Merci pour cet excellent article et qui plus est, très réactif par rapport à la "jeunesse" de l'évènement. 

Je souhaite quant à moi que ce "Q2M" recueille autant de succès que son ainé "couleur", dont je suis utilisateur enchanté ... 👍

 

[jonoslack]

1 hour ago, francipaq said:

Merci pour cet excellent article et qui plus est, très réactif par rapport à la "jeunesse" de l'évènement. 

Je souhaite quant à moi que ce "Q2M" recueille autant de succès que son ainé "couleur", dont je suis utilisateur enchanté ... 👍

 

Je vous remercie pour vos aimables paroles. Je suis très heureux que vous ayez apprécié l'article

All the best

 

[XRayGuy]

Jono, you have written another wonderful review - thank you.  I really enjoyed your sample images.

Can I ask - has the autofocus improved at all over the Q2?  I am particularly wondering about the face/eye detection and if that has evolved at all as the Q2 seems quite a bit behind the SL2 there.  Also, how is the autofocus in low light, particularly at night?

[marknorton]

Question about monochrome cameras in general. The filters in the colour filter array in a colour sensor set the spectral response of the individual pixels but how is the spectral response set in a monochrome sensor to (I assume) broadly match the human eye? Is it done using the sensor cover glass? I remember in my days of B/W film, Ilford made a film called Pan F (panchromatic) intended to provide a balanced response to different colours. 

[Guest Nowhereman]

Without a doubt, many will love this camera; but I've never been taken with any of the Leica Q cameras because I don't like shooting with the EVF: for me. it's like looking at the scene through a TV rather than through a window (like with my M10). In this respect, I'm happy shooting one-handed with the Ricoh GR III, which I just point at the scene and, sometimes, use the LCD only to roughly establish the edges. For me, using the much smaller GRIII in this way works better than the larger Leica Q cameras.

The other consideration is the monochrome aspect. I had the original M-Monochrom and, although I liked it, I found that I prefer the look and flexibility of processing my color Leica M10 files: this allows me to change the B&W color response, particularly for the high-contrast B&W that I like to do. Nor does the high megapixel of the Q2/Q2M count attract me, as I prefer 24 MP cameras.
________________________
Frog Leaping photobook

[jonoslack]

10 hours ago, XRayGuy said:

Jono, you have written another wonderful review - thank you.  I really enjoyed your sample images.

Can I ask - has the autofocus improved at all over the Q2?  I am particularly wondering about the face/eye detection and if that has evolved at all as the Q2 seems quite a bit behind the SL2 there.  Also, how is the autofocus in low light, particularly at night?

Hi there - thanks for the kind words

I didn't have a Q2 with the latest firmware to compare with, but I certainly didn't have problems with the autofocus - I'll be getting another camera in a day or so and I'll have a look again, as far as I remember it has face detect rather than eye detect, but I would need to check. 

[jonoslack]

45 minutes ago, marknorton said:

Question about monochrome cameras in general. The filters in the colour filter array in a colour sensor set the spectral response of the individual pixels but how is the spectral response set in a monochrome sensor to (I assume) broadly match the human eye? Is it done using the sensor cover glass? I remember in my days of B/W film, Ilford made a film called Pan F (panchromatic) intended to provide a balanced response to different colours. 

Hi Mark

That's a really interesting question . . . I would have thought they would design the cover glass so it  broadly matches the human eye, but as the human eye sees in colour even that's a bit tricky!

I might even see if I can get a response from Leica on that one.

Best

[jonoslack]

28 minutes ago, Nowhereman said:

Without a doubt, many will love this camera; but I've never been taken with any of the Leica Q cameras because I don't like shooting with the EVF: for me. it's like looking at the scene through a TV rather than through a window (like with my M10). In this respect, I'm happy shooting one-handed with the Ricoh GR III, which I just point at the scene and, sometimes, use the LCD only to roughly establish the edges. For me, using the much smaller GRIII in this way works better than the larger Leica Q cameras.

The other consideration is the monochrome aspect. I had the original M-Monochrom and, although I liked it, I found that I prefer the look and flexibility of processing my color Leica M10 files: this allows me to change the B&W color response, particularly for the high-contrast B&W that I like to do. Nor does the high megapixel of the Q2/Q2M count attract me, as I prefer 24 MP cameras.
________________________
Frog Leaping photobook

Hi There

That almost exactly mirrors my feelings about a year ago, until the SL2 appeared, and even then it took a few months to come around. These days I feel the same way about the EVF . . . for about 20 seconds after I start shooting, then I forget about it and enjoy the obvious advantages in terms of exposure etc.

With the Q2M seeing the scene in b&w whilst shooting is an extra lure. 

The only thing I can suggest is not to try an M10-r or any of the other higher resolution cameras . . . it's an expensive conversion!

All the best

 

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica Q

[markforce]

On 11/12/2020 at 11:21 AM, jonoslack said:

Hi There

That almost exactly mirrors my feelings about a year ago, until the SL2 appeared, and even then it took a few months to come around. These days I feel the same way about the EVF . . . for about 20 seconds after I start shooting, then I forget about it and enjoy the obvious advantages in terms of exposure etc.

With the Q2M seeing the scene in b&w whilst shooting is an extra lure. +1! Thanks, mark

The only thing I can suggest is not to try an M10-r or any of the other higher resolution cameras . . . it's an expensive conversion!

All the best