Hello Leica friends. Please help me get started in your world!

[Jeff S]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Here’s the thing… every option mentioned here is extremely capable for making fine pictures.  Buy any M camera/lens (one) that suits your fancy, new or used, from a good Leica dealer (like Leica SoHo) with warranty and return policy. Don’t look back. You don’t know enough yet to miss anything; enjoy the freedom.
 

Then stay off the forum for 3-6 months and forget about all this gear stuff.  Only then will you know enough about your specific likes and dislikes, including whether or not you enjoy the RF experience. Buying/trading more gear, if that’s your eventual choice, will be easy. I would recommend buying a printer if you haven’t already. Even a phone camera can produce fine files for online viewing.  Then there are film Ms…

Jeff

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[Masukami]

@dmarkii

I had originally suggested a 50mm because it compliments very well the 28 on your Q2M - making a very versatile two lens kit.

I hadn't realised you were planning to sell the Q2M. In that case, if you are looking for the discipline of using one lens to 'do it all' (there are pros and cons to this, depending on what you like to shoot) and are set on the M10-R, then you might consider something between the 28 and 50 that you can still crop with, taking advantage of the higher resolution of the M10-R.

Have you thought about a 35mm?  It's a little tighter than the 28 on your Q2M but not so much that you can't still take advantage of its field of view (significantly wider than the 50).

Assuming you want modern rendering, there are plenty of options: from the underated 35mm 2.4 Summarit to the excellent 35mm 1.4 Summilux FLE (with the 'workhorse' 35mm Summicron ASPH and the exceptional 35mm APO in between).

Reading opinions on a forum or seeing them on YouTube is no substitute for working out for yourself what really suits you (and that process takes time).  All the conflicting 'advice' has probably got you to this point of decision paralysis in the first place.

I say this from my own bitter experience: for what it's worth, the fact you are looking to move on from the Q2M after only owning it for a few weeks might suggest you could benefit from slowing down. 

There's no rush.

Why don't you commit yourself to finding out for yourself over a period of time what really suits you?  (and enjoy yourself during the process)

You could do this with your existing Q2M...  spend two months shooting it only at 50mm, then another two months only at 28mm and, finally, two months only at 35mm.  I suggest that order because it gives you the largest gap (experientially) between the two extremes.  But don't cheat!  Discipline yourself to really sticking with (and learning) the allotted focal length in each two month period.  

While you are doing this, perhaps take on-board Jeff S's excellent suggestion:

7 hours ago, Jeff S said:

Then stay off the forum for 3-6 months and forget about all this gear stuff.

 

This approach wouldn't give you the immediate dopamine-hit of a shiny new purchase but you may well end up developing your skills as a photographer and finding out what really suits you - which, in the long term, could be much more gratifying.

Again, all of this is only my (fairly worthless) opinion - I'm not you and, at the end of the day, you're gonna do what you're gonna do. Good luck!

 

Edited January 31, 2022 by Masukami

[Guest]

Yes, you've had some good advice here, from those of us that have been where you are, and most of us never leaving that place too despite the years that should have hammered some sense into us..............So, my two-pennys-worth.

Keep the Q2M. You've only had it for weeks, ( right? ), you've not had enough time to fully realise it's capability. I just traded in my Q116 and a Summicron f2 28mm against a Q2M and I am astounded at that camera's potential and I'm someone who still dislikes EVF's. I can see in the snaps you posted at the start of this thread that you do have the skills to push that camera further. Keep it, well for a year at least, it will not lose much value.

Buy an M, sure why not? This will at least give you the potential  to create colour images rather than being locked into the Q2M's B&W output, ( for me not a bad thing, but that's personal choice ). For where you are now but not knowing your potential budget I'd get a M10-P, sure or a R if you can make that step.......But the M10-P is a truly wonderful camera, 24mp is way enough for anybody, if I use this forum's image threads for examples 24mp is way good enough for 95% of what I see. A good M240-P is well worth consideration too.

Lenses. If you keep the Q2M then a 50mm makes sense, this from someone who rarely uses any lens on a M that has a focal length more than 35mm. Summilux, Summicron, even the Elmar or a Summarit are all good choices, but don't forget or dismiss the Voitglander options out there because they are truly excellent lenses at times as good as the Leica equivelents and in a couple of cases better than. They are also around 1/3 to 1/2 the price of Leica lenses while being made to as close as dammit to the same high standard. I own around 16 lenses for my M's. half of them are Voitglander, the Summicon 28mm I traded in I replaced with a Voigtlander Ultron II f2 28mm, and I find to be it a better lens than the 'cron mechanically as well as optically.

There's a wealth of BS that flies around lens choices here and other camera forums, you make your own mind up for sure but remember that nowadays there's rarely such a thing as an awful lens choice, most of the new third party lenses are well good enough and some are simply outstanding. Be careful when choosing a "fast"lens for whatever lens you decide for whatever M you may buy, try the lens out on the camera first, not for it's optics but for it's balance. Larger lenses for me don't work on a M, smaller is better handling and with a M rangefinder you will tend to get far less VF blockage with a more compact lens albeit slightly slower lens.

Lastly it's been mentioned that studying other's work in books is a good idea, and I agree with that but it's a "static' experience.........A far better idea is to find a good workshop or two. I have been making my living in photography and film-making for just over 60 years, last year I took a workshop here in France, the first I'd ever taken for myself although I have helmed several in the past. This workshop elevated how I look at my personal photography in ways that took me completely by surprise, like kicking open a door. I will be going back again this year. I recommend that you find one or two and try them yourself.

Sorry, this post is somewhat of a long ramble, but I hope that fragments of it help.......

Don't sell the Q2M!

Edited January 31, 2022 by petermullett

[Masukami]

11 minutes ago, petermullett said:

Lastly it's been mentioned that studying other's work in books is a good idea, and I agree with that but it's a "static' experience.........A far better idea is to find a good workshop or two.

+1

[dmarkii]

Took another walk last night with the Q2M to continue to explore how it works - taking all of your amazing advice into consideration! Posted some pictures, this time in the correct place, I hope: