Initial thoughts, added a Q2M to my SL2 rig

[trickness]

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Just got the Q2M on Saturday from Popflash. I’ve wanted an M10M for a while but traded my M glass for SL glass (yeah I’m that guy 😭) so would have needed to buy a lens for an M. Started seeing some advantages to getting a Q2M instead. Shot about an hour with it so far, initial impressions:

1) feels toylike compared to the SL and past M’s - the SL2 in particular Could be used for self-defense, I think I’ll have to be very careful with the Q2M to get it to last.

2) The lightweight and small size make it a true carry all the time camera, which obviously the SL is not, and which the M is barely (with a 50 Lux). I think I’m going to end up taking way more photographs with this camera simply because it’s very convenient.

3) fantastic complement to the SL because of the similarity in menu layout & shared battery. Feels familiar and that means no creative barriers due to interface adaptation

4) completely forgot to expose for highlights and my first five or six shots were abysmal until I had that ah! moment. I’m exposing to the left way more than on the SL which is no problem because shadow recovery is spectacular.

5) B&W EVF is a spectacular aid to getting in the correct mindset for B&W shooting. You can set the SL EVF to B&W also but the DNG is color. I think the biggest strength of an Monochrom camera is the focused limitation so that you are in a B&W head every moment you are using the camera.

6) I very often convert SL2 shots in SilverFX Pro and was always impressed by how they turned out. But the Q2M shots look different, even when the DNG is extremely clean, the images look like B&W film. Even after I have processed them in light room to my desired result, they don’t look like conversions or particularly digital. I did not really understand this because most of the reviews of the monochrom cameras emphasize how very close conversions can be to native monochrom images. While this can be true in the ultimate finished image, I find the monochrom editing process to be substantially different, I find the negatives to be substantially different, and my finished/edited images to look different, and none of it is subtle. There is a purity from the moment you see the picture in the viewfinder, snap it, all the way through to when you print it. It’s different than taking a color image and editing it in silverFX. 

6) I put a thumbs up grip on the camera which is wonderful but also makes it a little bit difficult to adjust the shutter speed dial. I can do it but it’s a bit awkward, I do feel like the adjustment of all the external parameters on the SL2 are more “professional”, meaning they are optimized to not impede professional use. The Q2M feels like it was optimized for body size. This and the somewhat plasticky feel are my only knocks on the camera - that and I kinda wish it was a 50 instead of a 28. But this is a NICE lens.

7) this camera is FUN. Absolutely love the macro mode. 

I realize I’m still in “shiny new camera happy face mode” but I am really thrilled at what an artistic complement this will be to my SL2. At at the moment I really don’t have any regrets that I went for this over an M10M. If you are considering a similar set up I think you’ll be quite happy!

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[gteague]

lightweight? i find the q2 solid as a rock and as heavy!

also, i find the q2 to have one of the best exposure meters of any of the many cameras i've owned. my first few outings i had the clipping alert turned on and tried to compensate for it, but i found that without trying to compensate, i got few blowouts. 

also, the thumbs up grip makes it hard to get to the zoom button and the exp comp wheel as well as the shutter dial. i have a lims half case with the grip built in and given all the pain the thumbs up cause, i might have to try to drive without it. but it's so dammed useful to have that thumb projection sticking up so you can just life the camera up out of the case. <sigh>

/guy

Edited March 8, 2021 by gteague

[trickness]

11 minutes ago, gteague said:

lightweight? i find the q2 solid as a rock and as heavy!

also, i find the q2 to have one of the best exposure meters of any of the many cameras i've owned. my first few outings i had the clipping alert turned on and tried to compensate for it, but i found that without trying to compensate, i got few blowouts. 

also, the thumbs up grip makes it hard to get to the zoom button and the exp comp wheel as well as the shutter dial. i have a lims half case with the grip built in and given all the pain the thumbs up cause, i might have to try to drive without it. but it's so dammed useful to have that thumb projection sticking up so you can just life the camera up out of the case. <sigh>

/guy

It’s lightweight compared to the SL2 which I think I was pretty specific about. If you ever carried around an SL2 with an SL35 Summicron around for a few hours, you’d know what I mean! And I also did mention that it just took me a minute to remember that I was shooting on a camera that you cannot recover highlights with.

But yeah it always takes a minute to adapt… Easier on this than going between an M and the SL for sure!

Edited March 8, 2021 by trickness

[gteague]

2 minutes ago, trickness said:

It’s lightweight compared to the SL2 which I think I was pretty specific about. And I also did mention that it just took me a minute to remember that I was shooting on a camera that you cannot recover highlights with.

But yeah it always takes a minute to adapt… Easier on this than going between an M and the SL for sure!

i have the s1 which supposedly the sl2 was based on. is the sl2 that much heavier than the s1? because although the s1 might be heavier than the q2, the much greater surface area spreads the weight out more. the q2 is small and solid.  

i'll go to bhphoto and get the weights for all 3 .....

/guy

Edited March 8, 2021 by gteague

[gteague]

aha very interesting!

s1: 2.25 lbs
sl2: 1.84 lbs
q2: 1.58 lbs

my s1 sure doesn't feel nearly a pound heavier than the q2. especially just the body, which is how the weight for the slr's is listed. the s1 is listed with battery and memory whereas the sl2 only says body only, so that might be some of the difference between their weights which you'd think would be closer.

/guy

Edited March 8, 2021 by gteague

[trickness]

20 minutes ago, gteague said:

aha very interesting!

s1: 2.25 lbs
sl2: 1.84 lbs
q2: 1.58 lbs

my s1 sure doesn't feel nearly a pound heavier than the q2. especially just the body, which is how the weight for the slr's is listed. the s1 is listed with battery and memory whereas the sl2 only says body only, so that might be some of the difference between their weights which you'd think would be closer.

/guy

You forgot to add the weight for the lens that needs to be attached to the SL2. Just a thought, instead of just looking up figures on the Internet, rent an SL2 with a 35 SL, put it around your neck for a few hours, hold it in your hands and go take some shots. Then do the same with the Q2M. It is a night and day difference between the two. That doesn’t mean I don’t love my SL2.

Edited March 8, 2021 by trickness

[gteague]

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oh no, you're right. weight is subjective depending on how it's distributed. it's just that the q2 felt so much heavier than my s1, even with a lens on the s1 and you said that it felt lighter than your sl2. i just found the contrast interesting and that's why i looked up the actual weights. i wasn't trying to be snarky--i just like to try to understand why people react to things differently sometimes and sometimes in defiance of the actual facts, which was my case. if there is a 'wrong' side to this, i'm on that side because the q2 is actually lighter than the s1, and by quite a bit if you take even a small lens into account on the latter.

i also might note in the way of variables, that the s1 is one of the best handling cameras i've ever owned. with a  50-90mm lens on it, it reminds me of an old nikon f3hp with the motor drive and maybe a 180/2.8 lens on it, but without the bottom-heaviness of the motor drive on the f3. but for the q2 i had to add a front grip and a thumb grip just so i could hold it without fear of it slipping out like a black-eyed pea from a shell.  

/guy

Edited March 8, 2021 by gteague

[trickness]

2 minutes ago, gteague said:

oh no, you're right. weight is subjective depending on how it's distributed. it's just that the q2 felt so much heavier than my s1, even with a lens on the s1 and you said that it felt lighter than your sl2. i just found the contrast interesting and that's why i looked up the actual weights. i wasn't trying to be snarky--i just like to try to understand why people react to things differently sometimes and sometimes in defiance of the actual facts, which was my case. if there is a 'wrong' side to this, i'm on that side because the q2 is actually lighter than the s1, and by quite a bit if you take even a small lens into account on the latter.

/guy

Yeah I totally understand that. The body of the SL2 feels substantially larger than the Q2, in part because of the shape and height and width. Once you add a lens to it it’s a completely different ball game, that’s why I used to shoot primarily M glass on my SL, it makes for a very potent combo without the weight of native glass. But the native SL glass is pretty spectacular....

[gteague]

i got a leica cl a little over a year ago (and it's a huge bonus that the q2 nearly mirrors the configuration and settings) and wasn't going to bother with any 'm' lenses for it. but so many people on here posted what a great experience it was i went ahead and got the adapter and a 50/2 and 75/2.4 m lens.

i guess up until then i hadn't really realized the cl was l-mount and i could use the m lenses on my full frame s1 and that alone was worth getting the 'm' lenses and even though my eyes are crap, the peaking on modern cameras is so good i can take the s1 with the summicron out and shoot wide open all day and hardly never miss focus. it's a delightful experience. along the way i picked up a film cl and of course it had the 40/2 rokkor which is like a pancake lens on the s1. 

so yes, i agree that a huge bonus of the l-mount cameras is being able to use 'm' lenses with an adapter.

/guy

[SrMi]

On 3/8/2021 at 11:16 AM, gteague said:

aha very interesting!

s1: 2.25 lbs
sl2: 1.84 lbs
q2: 1.58 lbs

my s1 sure doesn't feel nearly a pound heavier than the q2. especially just the body, which is how the weight for the slr's is listed. the s1 is listed with battery and memory whereas the sl2 only says body only, so that might be some of the difference between their weights which you'd think would be closer.

/guy

S1 weight listed is with battery, while SL2 and Q2 weights listed are without battery. SL2 with battery is 2.02lb.

Edited March 11, 2021 by SrMi