Leica Q2 Monochrom

[Marley]

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16 hours ago, piran said:

@Marley Congratulations ...on all counts 🍾 Good luck too:-)

Thank you and yes goodluck to me! Finances are in check, but parenthood and fatherhood is gonna be tested. 😃 

[Marley]

4 hours ago, Leica28 said:

Congratulations on being a soon-to-be parent.  How nice, twins!!!  You will really enjoy your new camera and babies!

at first I was at the fence for buying such an expensive camera. But after the ultrasound came out, that sealed the decision for me. Oh and this is not going to be my first baby. Twins yes but baby no. Don't ask how many children I have. You'll be shocked 😃

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[RoySmith]

22 hours ago, Marley said:

So excited! Just placed an order for the Q2M!  This is going to be my first Leica. Sometimes you just have to jump the boat and live life to the fullest. I've saved up a lot for this and promised myself to document and celebrate my soon to be newborn twins! 

That is so fantastic - congrats. Looking forward to the photos, if you have time!

[Tony Cole]

Hello, all you enraptured Q2M users!  Am similarly enraptured, but as a glasses wearer find that I need to increase the EVF brightness on occasion. That is fine, B U T it only works for one shot at a time. Has anyone found a way to fix the EVF brightness - at whatever level - so that you can continue shooting  with the level set the way you want/need it?

[piran]

18 minutes ago, Tony Cole said:

level set the way you want/need it?

You need to get to grips with the way the OS uses profiles in the configuration menu. Each time you change or amend something you later need to rely on (sounds like an arrest litany!) the change needs to be in your profile in use or the master one. Either way read the manual w.r.t. profiles. Good Luck 😎

Edited April 28, 2021 by piran
typos/eyesight :-| ...notice I wear glasses too

[Tony Cole]

Many thanks, Robert.  Perhaps I'm not doing things correctly, but I find it impossible to save an alteration of EVF brightness in a Profile.... Tony

[piran]

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@Tony Cole You have a point. I've never touched the EVF brightness but assumed it was in the remit of a profile. Seems it is not. Two options:
1) whilst looking through the EVF alter to taste and then long press the centre button - ie don't just hit half depress the shutter button as per usual. Not sure where your 'impossible to save an alteration of EVF brightness' applies but my change just now survived a power off!
2) fire off a bug report to the firmware people at Leica and maybe they will put the EVF brightness into the profile options.

Edited April 28, 2021 by piran
just tried soft exit (shutter button) and it didn't save, so see the red writing above and use the centre button to 'save' ?

[Tony Cole]

Oh, very well done, Robert - and thank you so much. The long press is definitely the way to go, and it has survived several "on - use x 3 - switch off" cycles. Very grateful, Tony 

[piran]

Excellent, good to hear. 😎

[RoySmith]

2 hours ago, piran said:

Excellent, good to hear. 😎

I tried this on the Q2 and the long press of the centre button worked. I could not find documentation of the long press centre button - what precisely does it do ? Was this added in one of the firmware updates ?

[piran]

@RoySmith Don't know on all counts. I have an old original Q and a rather newer Q2M. Long press is probably a red herring ...probably more like a click. The salient point must be that the centre button MUST be utilised and not rely on the OS 'saving' the new setting live or dynamically once selected before running into the soft exit of half-pressing the shutter - as we all might normally do. So, precisely, the SAVE mechanism is via the centre button. No, I don't think it was added in any particular firmware update but I don't know that for sure - either way. 

I get used to working things out through using or running equipment and OS's that save reconfigurations on-the-fly literally when selected and others that will only 'save' on a particular type of exit or specific saving button with or without an annoying Are You Sure waste of time. Horses for courses. 🙂

Edited April 28, 2021 by piran
typos/eyesight :-| ...doing too much simultaneously:-/

[Marley]

Hello! Finally a leica owner here!  Long time lurker but at last, I was able to get hold of this beauty.

So happy with the camera. Initial impressions: 

1.) The build quality is fantastic. The matte finish is just beautiful. The knobs and dials are very well made and has the right resistance. The aperture ring too. 

2.) Ergonomics is spot on. I have small hands and find no need of the hand grip and thumb grip. The user interface is so simple it took me a couple of minutes to get the hang of it. 

The menu is simple and not complicated. The button layout is so easy to use, the favorite menu, the FN buttons all are very straightforward. 

3) Battery life is not so good. even when using EVF extended, it does not last that long IMO. Maybe it still lacks the charging cycle I'm not sure. 

4.) Quite noisy when you turn on OIS. I can hear the mechanism from the camera body. Also, theres a rattling noise when the camera is turned off. I don't worry but its something to note for OC people. 😃 

5) The EVF picture quality is so nice! The image is crisp and clear. Even my young daughter prefers to use it than the LCD screen. 

Question to other users, when shooting RAW and JPG, will you see some difference in LCD playback mode? Should you use a big monitor to see the difference? I am still using JPG at the moment, still waiting for Apple's new M1 chip. I know RAW is the way to go, just would like to know those that shoot Jpeg  with it. 

PS when shooting left eyed, I notice that my nose triggers the size of field mode view. But this has been addressed with the new firmware so all good!  

Will post some pics soon! Be gentle on your criticisms! 😃

 

 

 

[piran]

@Marley Powered off 'rattles' are a feature or fact of life with the OIS (aka not to worry). Battery life ...mmmm, another fact of life, I have three batteries. The Leica charger takes several hours to fully recharge (to 100%) but you have to go back home or otherwise find some mains voltage. Yes, charging cycles need to be built up to improve longevity. Setting shorter timeouts helps as the Q2M wakes up quite quickly. A smaller 3rd party (nitecore) in-the-field charger using 12v DC (automotive) is 'quicker' (about an hour) but only raises the battery to around 80% full (by design - long story). I believe that running the EVF takes more juice from the battery than does that of running the LCD - sort of counter-intuitive I know. I would update the f/w sooner rather than later as the exposure numbering gets put back to zero - see thread. The camera can save RAW with JPG so I am confused as to your comment, I only shoot RAW (DNG) as it saves the human (me) any confusion. I tend to use PC as opposed to MAC.