Hello from first time Leica owner!

[Goldeneye]

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Moved from D800….First Leica. Bought mine brand new from Berlin Leica store a couple of weeks ago, haven’t really gotten a chance to use it much. Bought a grip and a thumb support along with the camera - however thinking could’ve bought a leather cover/grip. Any suggestions?

 

[Dave in Wales]

 

Hand grip would be my suggestion.

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[Marc B-C]

Welcome. I joined the Q2 party early last year. The following is a repost of a post I made near that time of the acccessories I bought and what I use:

"Here are a list of things I bought at the time of purchase and useage:

Leica Q2 Protector (half case) - used for 30 mins now back in the box.

Leica Q2 Thumb grip - permanent fixture on the Q2.

Leica Q2 Hand grip - also a permanent fixture on the Q2.

JJC HG-Q2 Hand grip - used for 5 mins but did not like the height of the grip part - although it does have a built in arca-swiss mount.

Leica Double Rope Strap (by Cooph) - used for 5 mins but decided I did not like the metal rings and so switched to a:

Peak Design Leash - used for the last couple of month but now switched to the:

Peal Design Cuff - in the bag but not attached to the Q2 yet (only needs one attachment point to the Q2).

Leica Q2 49mm UV filter - I would prefer to not lose the Q2 lens cap and so have this permanently on the Q2 with the cap left in the bag for when not using the camera (lens hood is on the lens)

Nitecore Battery charger - great for travel, although the USB cord is far too short. I use the Leica charger at home.

Leica Q2 spare battery - essential for travel and a day or two away from a charger (my Q2 appears to slowly drain the battery when not being used, albeit switched off)"

Hopefully this would help but suggest have the camera for a week or two to see how you get on before ordering everything!

[acg69]

Hand AND thumb grip might be unnecessary. Using it without any of the two is hard. Between the hand and thumb, it depends what suits you and your hands most. For me, it's the hand grip. Half cases are a bit too much for my taste, but in the end it is a very personal thing and it depends a great deal on what you are used to.

[grick]

You didn’t mention which Leica you purchased, but since you are posting in the Q/Q2 forum, I assume it is a version of a Q or Q2.

Like Marc B-C, I use a thumb grip and a Leica hand grip on my Q2M. Attached to the hand grip, I use the finger loop. And then I use a wrist strap which uses an attachment system that doesn’t scar or scratch the camera. I prefer a Harry Benz wrist strap or an Artisan & Artist wrist strap. When walking and not shooting, I put my camera in a small crossbody or sling bag.

I prefer this setup over a neck strap and a leather half case because I can walk about with the Q2M hanging from the finger loop/hand grip with the wrist strap for security against dropping. It’s always ready to shoot. Plus it reduces chances of getting  scratched by zippers or metal buttons on coats and clothing like when I used to use neck straps.

Leather half cases are beautiful but don’t provide a good grip without using a neck strap, in my opinion.

Greg

[Le Chef]

Out of interest does anyone use a screen protector, and if so is there one you prefer?

[grick]

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23 minutes ago, Le Chef said:

Out of interest does anyone use a screen protector, and if so is there one you prefer?

I have always used screen protectors. I especially believe in them after putting a deep gouge In the screen of my only uncovered camera screen. I bumped it’s screen with a metal lens hood attached to a lens on a heavy M body.

 I have always used Expert Shield. I’d recommend the glass screen protectors. If you follow the directions on their installation video, you will get good results. https://shop.expertshield.com/
 

Greg 

[Marc B-C]

16 minutes ago, grick said:

I have always used screen protectors. I especially believe in them after putting a deep gouge In the screen of my only uncovered camera screen. I bumped it’s screen with a metal lens hood attached to a lens on a heavy M body.

 I have always used Expert Shield. I’d recommend the glass screen protectors. If you follow the directions on their installation video, you will get good results. https://shop.expertshield.com/
 

Greg 

That is the one I use too.

[Goldeneye]

2 hours ago, Le Chef said:

Out of interest does anyone use a screen protector, and if so is there one you prefer?

Yes I bought expensive (30 euro) Leica screen protector but messed it up while installing  

Went ahead and bought “ Expert Shield Glass Screen Protector for Leica Q2 Camera, Standard” from amazon. Extremely happy with it, doesn’t even fell like there’s anything on it, it’s thick and clear. Key is the dust particle free installation and they have super clear instructions how to do that. 

Edited January 23, 2022 by Goldeneye

[Goldeneye]

16 hours ago, acg69 said:

Hand AND thumb grip might be unnecessary. Using it without any of the two is hard. Between the hand and thumb, it depends what suits you and your hands most. For me, it's the hand grip. Half cases are a bit too much for my taste, but in the end it is a very personal thing and it depends a great deal on what you are used to.

Yep tend to agree regarding having both (which I do) - for me I think I’m going to try to sell the hand grip and keep thumb, biggest issue for me is hand grip adds some bulk/weight and most importantly need to remove it every time for battery replacement or flash memory card removal … that’s why i wanted to explore some elegant leather covers/cases with mild grip..

[Goldeneye]

13 hours ago, grick said:

You didn’t mention which Leica you purchased, but since you are posting in the Q/Q2 forum, I assume it is a version of a Q or Q2.

Like Marc B-C, I use a thumb grip and a Leica hand grip on my Q2M. Attached to the hand grip, I use the finger loop. And then I use a wrist strap which uses an attachment system that doesn’t scar or scratch the camera. I prefer a Harry Benz wrist strap or an Artisan & Artist wrist strap. When walking and not shooting, I put my camera in a small crossbody or sling bag.

I prefer this setup over a neck strap and a leather half case because I can walk about with the Q2M hanging from the finger loop/hand grip with the wrist strap for security against dropping. It’s always ready to shoot. Plus it reduces chances of getting  scratched by zippers or metal buttons on coats and clothing like when I used to use neck straps.

Leather half cases are beautiful but don’t provide a good grip without using a neck strap, in my opinion.

Greg

Good points - thanks for sharing. It’s a Q2. Although I am now itching for M11, lol. Have fair experience with manual shooting with my D800 which I lugged around everywhere, have been to over 40 countries and most of the US… my go to setup for travel has been 24-70mm lens but with D800 it’s big and heavy …Q2 having a full frame sensor and 28mm lens (with cropping function) got very close to that setup, so I thought it’s a natural step for me, especially as I love to do travel and some level of portrait photography when traveling with family. I think I’m going to keep thumb grip (assuming I won’t use flash, hardly used before) and add a leather half case. Camera stock leather strap is good but I’d rather use something a big longer or adjustable (prefer leather) ..

Edited January 24, 2022 by Goldeneye

[Goldeneye]

18 hours ago, Marc B-C said:

Welcome. I joined the Q2 party early last year. The following is a repost of a post I made near that time of the acccessories I bought and what I use:

"Here are a list of things I bought at the time of purchase and useage:

 

Leica Q2 Protector (half case) - used for 30 mins now back in the box.

Leica Q2 Thumb grip - permanent fixture on the Q2.

Leica Q2 Hand grip - also a permanent fixture on the Q2.

JJC HG-Q2 Hand grip - used for 5 mins but did not like the height of the grip part - although it does have a built in arca-swiss mount.

Leica Double Rope Strap (by Cooph) - used for 5 mins but decided I did not like the metal rings and so switched to a:

Peak Design Leash - used for the last couple of month but now switched to the:

Peal Design Cuff - in the bag but not attached to the Q2 yet (only needs one attachment point to the Q2).

Leica Q2 49mm UV filter - I would prefer to not lose the Q2 lens cap and so have this permanently on the Q2 with the cap left in the bag for when not using the camera (lens hood is on the lens)

Nitecore Battery charger - great for travel, although the USB cord is far too short. I use the Leica charger at home.

Leica Q2 spare battery - essential for travel and a day or two away from a charger (my Q2 appears to slowly drain the battery when not being used, albeit switched off)"

Hopefully this would help but suggest have the camera for a week or two to see how you get on before ordering everything!

Thank you, very helpful. Looks like I have similar setup like yours, off the bat (both grips, also have Leica UV filter on the lens). The sales person at Leica Berlin recommended these three things so I got these along with the camera. The hand grip makes camera a bit bulky and blocks the battery and flash card access so I’m rethinking that.. Extra battery is a good idea. I think Q2 battery drains much quicker than my D800 part of the reason is that I never really used the display, always the view finder only but I feel it’s a bit small to use on this sized camera…

question: is flash important? I always stayed away from using flash in my photography 

[Marc B-C]

1 hour ago, Goldeneye said:

Thank you, very helpful. Looks like I have similar setup like yours, off the bat (both grips, also have Leica UV filter on the lens). The sales person at Leica Berlin recommended these three things so I got these along with the camera. The hand grip makes camera a bit bulky and blocks the battery and flash card access so I’m rethinking that.. Extra battery is a good idea. I think Q2 battery drains much quicker than my D800 part of the reason is that I never really used the display, always the view finder only but I feel it’s a bit small to use on this sized camera…

question: is flash important? I always stayed away from using flash in my photography 

I have large hands so both the handgrip and thumb grip are needed for me. Removing the handgrip every so often is no hardship for me  i have no interest in flash with this set up sp to me it is not important. Having said that to use flash fully in TTL I believe you have to buy a Leica flash and they are poor value, even for Leica  

 

[Goldeneye]

21 hours ago, Dave in Wales said:

 

Hand grip would be my suggestion.

Ok….this is going to influence my opinion.. especially the esthetics of camera not being tilted and resting on hand grip straight 🙂 

 

many thanks for sharing !

[Marc B-C]

2 hours ago, Goldeneye said:

Ok….this is going to influence my opinion.. especially the esthetics of camera not being tilted and resting on hand grip straight 🙂 

 

many thanks for sharing !

If easy access to the battery and sd card are important, the JJC HG-Q2 Hand Grip allows access and does fit well (it is also significantly cheaper than the Leica one but is well made). My only gripe with it is that the grip at the front is shorter than the Leica one, so not so comfortable for me. The corollary to this gripe, however, is that it does not interfere with any strap protectors.

Edited January 24, 2022 by Marc B-C

[Astropap]

Have you checked out Lim’s half case with grip?  Nice leather, good metal grip and battery compartment is accessible without removing the case. And not very expensive. 

[Goldeneye]

delete - repeated 

Edited January 25, 2022 by Goldeneye

[Goldeneye]

17 hours ago, Astropap said:

Have you checked out Lim’s half case with grip?  Nice leather, good metal grip and battery compartment is accessible without removing the case. And not very expensive. 

Yes indeed, intriguing !

[luetz]

On 1/23/2022 at 9:06 PM, Goldeneye said:

question: is flash important? I always stayed away from using flash in my photography 

Each to his own...but I find Flash for portrait/indoor/still life and fill(especially useful).  Used remotely off-camera thru soft box or umbrella is my favourite.  The SF60 with the SFC1 remote works extremely well.  

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Hallo,

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[JohnQ]

After several false starts I now have an Artisan Workstation half case on both my Q2 and Sl2s. The Q2 case incorporates a grip that works well. Both cases are beautifully made - black leather with red stitching quite subtle. The Q2 case makes it fiddle when removing the sd card but what price protection?