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Testing the Q2 out in the snow


w44neg

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Today I headed out with the Q2. I hadn't owned it 24 hours by this point but decided to find out how well it deals with inclement weather as we'd had a nice covering of snow over night. There's a local village that I'd been dying to photograph in this sort of weather for literally years, so I headed there to see what the Q2 would offer in terms of Image Quality and weather resistance, as the following quote on another thread yesterday intrigued me...

On 1/22/2021 at 6:03 PM, nico4444 said:

Q2 is NOT weather sealed. It is, however, rated IP 52 water and dust resistant.

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I'm a bit of a risk-taker when it comes to electronics and water... I had the very first version of the Apple Watch and regularly submerged it even though it wasn't officially water or splash resistant; my thinking is that manufacturers must factor this in to the design to a small degree, and Leica are known for great tolerances on parts etc, so water ingress is more difficult (hypothetically). Also, I once owned a Panasonic GX8 which was a fantastic camera, and I spent several hours shooting unprotected in pouring rain one night without drying the camera and lens once; it never had any issues after that and with Leica's link to Panasonic, I'd imagine there's at least some cross-over somewhere. I should add that from the second I picked the Q2 up yesterday, I added some tape over the upper microphone holes as I won't need them; it seems an unnecessary risk from Leica considering the rest of the body is a pretty closed-off design.

The snow consisted of small flakes but they were extremely wet and it did stress me out a little 😅 In the end though, the camera performed brilliantly and I'm sure there are other members here who have subjected theirs to far worse conditions. I'd have no fear taking this camera on planned future trips to the Arctic Circle etc.

On 1/22/2021 at 3:54 PM, axio said:

edit

Please show off more photos of your Q2 with holster.

Also, I was asked by @axio yesterday if I'd show more shots of the Q Holster. This was an impulse-purchase (well the Q2 was as well truth be told!) but I've very glad I bought it. The holster is busy more comfortable than a neck strap, more secure than a sling strap and more convenient than both of those as well in my opinion. The camera sits in the holster without it having to be buttoned up, although I'd always button it if I was in a city environment as it would b too easy for a thief to steal otherwise.

The holster is made of very nice materials, and lived quite nicely with the wet weather I experienced. I was a little concerned that when the camera is wet, the holster could possibly spread the surface water around the camera too much as you slide it in to place, but the camera survived so I'm no longer worried about this. Here's a couple of shots...

Finally, the image quality. Obviously owners will already know this, but if you're sitting on the fence, I have to say I'm very impressed. Contrasty, sharp performance. The camera performs as fast as any M-P models I've owned, and is far faster than the X100V it's replacing when writing to camera, even though the files are much larger in size.

The lens works well with the sensor, although it does vignette quite heavily at f1.7; it wouldn't matter with a central subject or busy background though. It's not far off the 35mm FLE and Summicron I've owned previously from memory, which is very high praise.

The following images are RAW, but I felt I barely needed to process them in Lightroom. The tones, colours and gradations are all superb. It's an expensive camera which some would see as luxury goods, but I just see it as a very rounded, well built and unique tool for the job.

 

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1 hour ago, Mute-on said:

I think the holster is actually meant to be worn vertically, so the camera is in portrait orientation, and cannot fall out easily. It looks to be almost horizontal in your pictures, and a little precarious. I’d hate to see it fall out! 

Enjoy your new Q2! :)

It is but it's much more convenient to wear across the torso, and there's no way it would fall out as I stated.

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I would say that you were pretty lucky. IP52 means that the camera will not come to harm from rain falling vertically, but that is not the issue. The conditions you describe will carry a high risk of internal condensation when carrying the camera into a warmer environment - and that is what kills electronic circuits. Without guaranty, and insurance companies tend to get snarky about moisture-induced writeoffs. I would never carry an EVIL camera into arctic conditions. Quite apart froim the risk mentioned above and the potential problems by freezing mentioned by Nico4444, the battery will lose capacity to the point of zero at temperatures significantly below 0ºC and at truly arctic temperatures the EVF and LCD will black out. Cold will not harm the camera, but it will stop functioning.

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3 minutes ago, jaapv said:

I would say that you were pretty lucky. IP52 means that the camera will not come to harm from rain falling vertically, but that is not the issue. The conditions you describe will carry a high risk of internal condensation when carrying the camera into a warmer environment - and that is what kills electronic circuits. Without guaranty, and insurance companies tend to get snarky about moisture-induced writeoffs. I would never carry an EVIL camera into arctic conditions. Quite apart froim the risk mentioned above and the potential problems by freezing mentioned by Nico4444, the battery will lose capacity to the point of zero at temperatures significantly below 0ºC and at truly arctic temperatures the EVF and LCD will black out. Cold will not harm the camera, but it will stop functioning.

Get out there and use your camera. If it breaks, buy another. I'll happily keep using the camera in the same conditions and worse, and I'll continue to update the thread as it carries on working. 

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Not everybody like to throw away thousands of dollars. I don't pamper my cameras, but I don't take silly risks. If the conditions get inclement I will use my TL and for instance Summicron 40-C. In case I get unlucky the body will have cost me a few hundred dollars and M lenses are quite moisture-resistant - no electronics and well built-

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Just now, jaapv said:

Not everybody like to throw away thousands of dollars. I don't pamper my cameras, but I don't take silly risks. If the conditions get inclement I will use my TL and for instance Summicron 40-C. In case I get unlucky the body will have cost me a few hundred dollars and M lenses are quite moisture-resistant - no electronics and well built-

That's great for you. Happy to take "silly risks" myself and have to say I'm surprised by the preachiness of some of the commenters on here. If it breaks, I'll let you know and you can wallow in how "you told me so" 😀

I've spent enough time in -20 degree conditions and the like to understand how much abuse some equipment can take; I'm not even going to go in to the car scenarios I've been involved in but I'm happy to push the Q2 to its limits.

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Good for you - I certainly don't grudge you your choices - some people go down Niagara falls in a barrel. However, this is a widely read forum and I certainly wouldn't want folks to think that Leicas are invincible beyond their specifications. For the record, I have had digital M cameras sitting in a puddle because of incoming waves, I use my cameras between -25 and +45 ºC, in the rain forest and dusty deserts and am happy that they tend to survive, but I certainly do not set out to put them at more risk than need be by protecting them as much as possible, nor do I think that it should be regarded as the norm.

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5 minutes ago, jaapv said:

Good for you - I certainly don't grudge you your choices - some people go down Niagara falls in a barrel. However, this is a widely read forum and I certainly wouldn't want folks to think that Leicas are invincible beyond their specifications. For the record, I have had digital M cameras sitting in a puddle because of incoming waves, I use my cameras between -25 and +45 ºC, in the rain forest and dusty deserts and am happy that they tend to survive, but I certainly do not set out to put them at more risk than need be by protecting them as much as possible, nor do I think that it should be regarded as the norm.

Well we just go about our lives differently. Your adventures sound great, but I don't see how your trips differ to mine today where I was photographing a subject in inclement weather. Just because it wasn't the arctic didn't mean I was putting the camera at "unnecessary risk.

Anyway, you're the moderator so you're right to protect your members; I'm just happy to share my experiences which I think is the point of a forum in the first place.

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I also use my Q2 under the snow and the rain. No problem so far. 
I also got a very nice insurance covering : theft, accidental break and water damage (including condensation) 

Never have to call them for anything so far. But good to know that I am covered.

 

But I will not use Q2 in very very dusty environment. Fine dust and sand flying around you will kill any camera. And it is not covered by my insurance. 

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Above user ended in a rainstorm and had next day lens fogged on the inside.

There is at least another user - i could not find the tread as i am too dumb to use the search function (or the oposite) - who had humidity inside the Q2.


However, it's everyones decision how he treats his camera, but he should not complain afterwards if the treatment he gives leads to problems.
Not for a Camera and not for anything else....

Chris

 

Edited by PhotoCruiser
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2 hours ago, nicci78 said:

I also use my Q2 under the snow and the rain. No problem so far. 
I also got a very nice insurance covering : theft, accidental break and water damage (including condensation) 

Never have to call them for anything so far. But good to know that I am covered.

 

But I will not use Q2 in very very dusty environment. Fine dust and sand flying around you will kill any camera. And it is not covered by my insurance. 

Thanks for the reply. Yes I think if I ended up in a heavily dusty environment I'd wrap it up in some way for sure.

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26 minutes ago, PhotoCruiser said:

Above user ended in a rainstorm and had next day lens fogged on the inside.

There is at least another user - i could not find the tread as i am too dumb to use the search function (or the oposite) - who had humidity inside the Q2.


However, it's everyones decision how he treats his camera, but he should not complain afterwards if the treatment he gives leads to problems.
Not for a Camera and not for anything else....

Chris

 

Having a quick glance at that suggests the user put the camera in to a plastic bag. Not a good idea at all IMO, although my German is super sketchy. 

Before @jaapv was replying last night I'd actually been outn again with the camera to shoot some fog in my local area at around midnight. No issues at all and I'll be storing the camera with silica bags anyway as I do with all my equipment to prevent mould/fungus etc.

I appreciate your response though. It does show they aren't indestructible but then it was never my intention to insinuate this in my original post; apologies if it's come across this way.

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Just read this and since it's about my Q2, I'd like to say a quick word.
First things first: The Q2 works perfectly again and absolutely nothing is left behind.
As for the plastic bag, without it, I'm convinced that there would most likely have been much more damage. This wasn't a rainstorm, this was bordering on the end of the world. Is just stupid, if you then go into the forest at all, but there is on another sheet.
The moisture on the lenses inside came from the fact that of course a lot of humidity collected in the bag, it was a summer thunderstorm and the next day was very hot weather and I took photos in the sun.
The shock was great, but I then put the camera in a box with some bags Silicgel and after a few days all was well.
As has already been said, where moisture goes in, it can also go out again, nevertheless, I refrain from such Q2 tests in the future. ;)

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2 minutes ago, Ning Ning said:

Just read this and since it's about my Q2, I'd like to say a quick word.
First things first: The Q2 works perfectly again and absolutely nothing is left behind.
As for the plastic bag, without it, I'm convinced that there would most likely have been much more damage. This wasn't a rainstorm, this was bordering on the end of the world. Is just stupid, if you then go into the forest at all, but there is on another sheet.
The moisture on the lenses inside came from the fact that of course a lot of humidity collected in the bag, it was a summer thunderstorm and the next day was very hot weather and I took photos in the sun.
The shock was great, but I then put the camera in a box with some bags Silicgel and after a few days all was well.
As has already been said, where moisture goes in, it can also go out again, nevertheless, I refrain from such Q2 tests in the future. ;)

That's good to hear. I store my camera equipment in sealed peli cases and use silica pouches. It's a good way of keeping a reasonable environment in terms of temperature for the camera to go in to during a photo session etc.

Your scenario is pretty extreme and I'd imagine a lot of cameras would suffer, no matter how sealed they are. The good thing is that you posted it on here for others to see where you may have gone wrong, or found the limitations... this way other people can avoid the same issues.

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Just a quick tip: Silicagel bags can be regenerated in the microwave, a few minutes (depending on the size) on 600W will dry them out. I have  a couple of big ones with a moisture indicator in my camera safe as it is in a place where it might be cold, and have to dry them about every two months.

 

 

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