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I have a SL2 and a QP, I got a Q2M Reporter about 2 months ago and have used it as my daily carry since.  I was always converting photos taken with the QP or the SL2 so I saved up wanting to get the Q2M and had the opportunity to get the Reporter version. In my opinion the photos come out much crisper with much more detail, especially in the shadowed areas so you can pull out some amazing detail by lightening up those areas.  At the end of the day it really is how you take photos and what your preferences for photography is.  I have the 2 other cameras that take color shots but do not miss them at all.  

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In my experience the files of the Q2M are amazing, there is so much room for working with them it is insane. I have the feeling it is similar to working with a negative in the hands of a pro. Also since there is so much details in the shadows you basically have a huge (perceives) dynamic range if you don’t clip the highlights and push the shadows.

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The Q2M is peerless whereas the Q2 could easily be replaced by a Sony A7Riii or iv with Batis 25mm (pros and cons). As others have said the Q2M files are very special indeed. 

Despite this I have just sold my Q2M and bought the Q2. I shoot predominantly B&W but not 100% so my first solution was to carry a Panasonic GX9 (15mm + 25mm) alongside the Q2M. It's not a bad solution but most of the time I don't want to carry two cameras so I ended up leaving the Q2M at home. Now I have the Q2 I can take that and it does all I want. I don't need the Q2M and it offers me very little real world benefit but it is something quite special. Being pragmatic, that specialness is limited (for me) to admiring the files before they end up being exported to a jpeg or printed. 

Edited by PaulJohn
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2 hours ago, M11 for me said:

Well, when you have a real B&W camera then you start to think in B&W. I believe that this makes the big difference. And of course a conversion from color to B&W is easily possible in Post.

To think in B&W you simply change the viewfinder setting to B&W. Both my Q2 and CL are set up that way to see in B&W, then in post I can develop in color or B&W.

Edited by Le Chef
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I've read through this aged and lengthy thread with interest as a retired photographer (over 30 years). Now mainly a hobbyist I shoot for shows, exhibits and some professional jobs here and there.  For many years with the Sony A6500 and now with the Sony A7c and Leica CL.  Let's remember (or learn) that digital cameras take a black & white photo and THEN applies the colors.  Setting your camera to monochrome or black & white, isn't "converting" the images to black & white, it is actually bypassing the conversion to color.  There are numerous reasons for opting one over the other but - this article articulates very well, I believe, how those differences affect your photography. 

https://reddotcamera.net/leica/q2/vs-leica-q2-monochrom/

Edited by DenverSteve
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On 11/2/2022 at 11:05 AM, DenverSteve said:

...Let's remember (or learn) that digital cameras take a black & white photo and THEN applies the colors.  Setting your camera to monochrome or black & white, isn't "converting" the images to black & white, it is actually bypassing the conversion to color. 

What? This is absolutely false. 

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On 11/2/2022 at 10:05 AM, DenverSteve said:

I've read through this aged and lengthy thread with interest as a retired photographer (over 30 years). Now mainly a hobbyist I shoot for shows, exhibits and some professional jobs here and there.  For many years with the Sony A6500 and now with the Sony A7c and Leica CL.  Let's remember (or learn) that digital cameras take a black & white photo and THEN applies the colors.  Setting your camera to monochrome or black & white, isn't "converting" the images to black & white, it is actually bypassing the conversion to color.  There are numerous reasons for opting one over the other but - this article articulates very well, I believe, how those differences affect your photography. 

https://reddotcamera.net/leica/q2/vs-leica-q2-monochrom/

you need a bit more reading,  definitely more diverse and from more credible sources for sure. Not making claims about the article and its contents, aside of being a very simplistic approach :)

i.e.: https://www.opto-e.com/en/basics/monochrome-vs-color-sensors

Edited by nwphil
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On 11/2/2022 at 8:05 PM, DenverSteve said:

I've read through this aged and lengthy thread with interest as a retired photographer (over 30 years). Now mainly a hobbyist I shoot for shows, exhibits and some professional jobs here and there.  For many years with the Sony A6500 and now with the Sony A7c and Leica CL.  Let's remember (or learn) that digital cameras take a black & white photo and THEN applies the colors.  Setting your camera to monochrome or black & white, isn't "converting" the images to black & white, it is actually bypassing the conversion to color.  There are numerous reasons for opting one over the other but - this article articulates very well, I believe, how those differences affect your photography. 

https://reddotcamera.net/leica/q2/vs-leica-q2-monochrom/

That’s not the case.  Digital sensors respond to luminance by default, which has no regard for the color spectrum.  For color cameras, they have a filter layer, typically a Bayer-pattern, which filters that light through an RGB array.  The camera hardware and software interpret this modified data and map that as color data into the raw data stream.  For monochrome sensors, the color filter array is not present.  When you set a color camera to monochrome mode, you’re not modifying the raw data to bypass the color filter array; that’s impossible.  You’re in essence instructing the camera software to take the color file and save it as a jpg, stored inside the raw or as an additional file.  The color data is still retained in the raw image though.  Hope this helps.

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Hello. Also read the complete thread here. 
I will get one of them as my first Leica I think. Q2 or Q2M
 

mainly I am shooting weddings as a side business. Therefore I use fuji equipment at the moment. (Great colors)

this week I will get a Q2 for testin purposes from Leica. After that I hope I can decide. 
 

Now why am I thinking about the Monochrom? My way to Fuji (and in the End Leica) was lead by my wish for more simplicity. Sony cameras I had before felt like a PlayStation and not like a camera. Too much technical features. Let’s focus on aperture, shirt speed and iso. That are the things I need. Leica shines there even more than fuji. 
 

my first fuji was the X100V. So I know compact cameras. 

i also love black and white images but with weddings I often lack inspiration which one I would like to convert. With private use of my x100v if often set it to black and white. 
 

i shoot so much color images, Yes! 
i want way more black and white, yes! 
 

i would praise the ability to take the camera and already know then: black and white, 28mm. End of discussion. 
 

all those choices all the time. Annoying. 
as I have color cameras it should not be a problem. The only thing is now: do I take often a color camera with me then (beside wedding jobs). 
 

if I would buy a Q2 I would only do few black and white I think, perhaps less than I could.
 

When buying a monochrome I don’t have to think about 

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q2m advantages:

- ridiculously good high iso performance (q2 color is behind sony/canon/nikon for 1-2 stops at least whereas q2m is 1-2 stops ahead)

- even sharper as no color array, perfect for crop

- tonality of b/w that no color conversion can achieve

- freedom to capture light without being distracted by color

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For me it's very simple

- converting from color to b&w it's a compromise ( yes, it works most of the times, as I have been there and done (still do sometimes) that too 🙄)

- using a monochrome camera/sensor it's a commitment (yes, it won't work for all, and it's fine - freedom of choice it's so awesome 😍)

So, it's not a VS but in alternative to color

Edited by nwphil
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I've never had a more difficult time making a choice on a camera. 

My mother sent me to church twice a week until I was 17, and something might have rubbed-off or I would have just bought one of each (a q2 and a q2m), meaning that I can delude myself into arguing my choice is strictly practical.

I've studied the differences between the Q2m and converted Q2 files very closely, and my conclusion is that for printing up to 16x20 and online display it is very very difficult to make an argument for the Q2m. There is actually an argument that the Q2 files may provide more opportunity in PP for color-contrast manipulation in a monochrome conversion. The Q2m is somewhat superior in high iso situations, but I use tripods and I'm not typically street-shooting at night. I still shoot 35, 120 and 4X5 film so I have high quality monochrome output covered. . .albeit without the work speed of the Q2 format. FWIW I think the Q2m might retain a better resale value down the road (if the M monochrom is any example).

Of course if you want to carry just one camera and ever want to shoot color the choice is easier.

I have sinned, my choice was a Q2 reporter. .

 

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