Advice on whether I am following my heart too much with buying a Leica Q

[LocalHero1953]

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Don't forget that AF and AE work only within the cropped area - this is of real practical use. I have my default setting as 50mm (equivalent) crop for this reason.

[bobtodrick]

Buy it!!

A couple years ago I followed my heart and purchased a Q.  Have had many cameras over the years...from a Leica IIIg to a Linhof Technika (film) and various Panasonic's and Nikon systems (digital).

But over the years I have come to appreciate simple.  That is the Q with excellent image quality.

Just today finished a one week project photographing towns on the Cowboy Trail https://theplanetd.com/alberta-road-trip-a-route-through-the-south/

All I took was the Q and I never felt I was lacking equipment.

Edited August 2, 2022 by bobtodrick

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[Tribbiani]

4 hours ago, bobtodrick said:

Buy it!!

A couple years ago I followed my heart and purchased a Q.  Have had many cameras over the years...from a Leica IIIg to a Linhof Technika (film) and various Panasonic's and Nikon systems (digital).

But over the years I have come to appreciate simple.  That is the Q with excellent image quality.

Just today finished a one week project photographing towns on the Cowboy Trail https://theplanetd.com/alberta-road-trip-a-route-through-the-south/

All I took was the Q and I never felt I was lacking equipment.

Great pictures. But as I go through them I can’t stop thinking of “6x6”. Or maybe 4x5. I know it’s just personal taste, great colors anyway!

 

About the OP dilemma, it depends on many personal factors but to me the Q is in a sweet spot now considering used prices and the quality you get.

I certainly cannot/don’t want to afford a Q2 right now but I recently acquired a Q and I couldn’t be happier. I will keep my old X series Fuji, but the one I brought for summer vacation is the Q. 

If you find one at a good price and condition you could buy it to try it and consider it as a rental since you will probably be able to sell it for what you paid for it if you don’t like it.

Edited August 2, 2022 by Tribbiani

[Almizilero]

I bought a Q used a couple of month ago. Even though a have a very good Sony Alpha System, the little Q is my daily driver and it is a joy to use. I'd recommend it to everybody, seasoned pros as well as newcomers, because it's so versatile an delivers axcellent results. If you can deal with the 28mm.

The price seems a bit steep. If it's from a camera seller with some kind of warranty I'd say go for it. I got mine from a private seller, which is always a gamble. You'd probably have to find someone in your area, because there are so many fraud offers around at the moment.

[Nick Lo]

On 7/29/2022 at 4:04 PM, lbuizza said:

Hello friends, 

As the title suggests, I have found a Leica Q (typ 116) near me in good condition, with 6000 clicks and four extra batteries for about €2.5k. I have been looking for a camera for a while, and whilst this is expensive something is pulling at my heart strings for it. 

I have an old Olympus camera that in the past I have really enjoyed shooting (and experimenting with developing in my darkroom bathroom) with meaning I am not a total newbie to photography but I would by no means say I was a good photographer. Recently I have been wanting to shoot more with digital as the workflow would work better for me if I wanted to start editing in e.g. Lightroom etc. So two questions: 

1. Am I thinking of buying a Ferrari when in reality I need to practice on a Golf first?

2. If I did go ahead with the Ferrari option, is the above a decent price? Does something like a Q devalue quickly, bearing in mind the arrival of a Q3 next year? 

 

Thanks for the advice!

Q is an exceptional camera. The questions you may ask yourself are:

1. Is 28mm ( 25/26mm effectively) something you like? (since there is no changing lens with the Q, although you can crop in post/ or digitally crop in camera)

2. Is processing raw and editing something you will enjoy to deal with? You will get the best out of the files by shooting raw and editing. 

If you are okay with both and you can afford it, why not? 

It is okay to buy a Rolex if you can afford it comfortably, enjoy the ownership and value the craftsmanship, the mechanic, the heritage and the design even all you need may be just a Timex ( not saying timex is not a good watch). 

The price of the Q you are looking at is within the reasonable range. A Leica Q in mint low mileage condition with some extra accessories and batteries is around 3000 +/- USD. A very good user condition copy can be sold as low as 2000 USD. 

Q will continue devalue slowly. But you should be able to sell it with an acceptable loss ( say $1000) if you want to upgrade to Q3 a couple years from now. 

Edited August 2, 2022 by Nick Lo

[NZDavid]

On 8/2/2022 at 2:13 AM, jaapv said:

That, I fear, is incorrect. When you change the angle of view by cropping, the end result on perspective is identical to cropping by changing the focal length. Perspective and relationship foreground/background can only be changed by altering the distance between subject and camera.

Yes, cropping is the key word, I think. If you go close with a 28mm lens, or wider, for a portrait, then noses will grow and ears will recede. A 50 or longer provides a more natural look (without cropping). 

But what of landscapes? If you are shooting with a long lens, that row of mountains in the background will loom large and look as if they are only few miles away from where you are standing. Use a WA lens and they will be reduced to a low ridge. 

Perhaps the question is, are you happy to crop or do you prefer using full frame?

The Q looks like a brilliant camera with true Leica DNA. Go for it!

[jaapv]

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1 minute ago, NZDavid said:

Yes, cropping is the key word, I think. If you go close with a 28mm lens, or wider, for a portrait, then noses will grow and ears will recede. A 50 or longer provides a more natural look (without cropping). 

But what of landscapes? If you are shooting with a long lens, that row of mountains in the background will loom large and look as if they are only few miles away from where you are standing. Use a WA lens and they will be reduced to a low ridge. 

Perhaps the question is, are you happy to crop or do you prefer using full frame?

The Q looks like a brilliant camera with true Leica DNA. Go for it!

Just look at the example I posted. There is no perspective difference between a longer lens and a crop, provided you do not move. 

[M11 for me]

vor einer Stunde schrieb NZDavid:

But what of landscapes? If you are shooting with a long lens, that row of mountains in the background will loom large and look as if they are only few miles away from where you are standing. Use a WA lens and they will be reduced to a low ridge. 

So Jaap demonstrated very well through his images above that cropping results exactly in the same image as if you had changed your 28mm to a 70mm lens. The same applies of course when you change your 28mm lens to a 500mm lens (for your mountains). You could take your 28mm picture and crop in post. But there is one big difference: You loose pixels when you crop. The rest is the same (assuming (1) all lenses are a similar optical quality and (2) you do not move your camera). But we have to be realistic: When you know beforehand that you will look at your images only on your computer or tablet then the loss in pixels is neglectable in most cases. Except pixel peeping would show a difference in image quality. If you plan to make a large print for your living room then you have to consider the number of pixels you have as a base.

And another thing: Do not take a 28mm image and then crop into the top right corner to this image and then think that this is the 70mm FOW. You see then that heads might be distored. Be aware that this portion of your image (top right) would not be part of your 70mm image at all. So you can only crop into the middle of your 28mm picture. The element that you would like to show has to be part of the theoretical 70mm image of course. 

[NZDavid]

2 hours ago, jaapv said:

Just look at the example I posted. There is no perspective difference between a longer lens and a crop, provided you do not move. 

Thanks for this but not quite what I meant. I was referring to objects further away than the trees (on the horizon, like mountains) which appear foreshortened. I’ll try to find an example or shall do some more and post them later.

[jaapv]

Indeed, and the frame lines of the Q2 are centered. Leica kindly provided ample pixels for cropping to 70 mm, actually even more, as a print does not need more than 10MP provided it is viewed from the correct distance The lens is fast enough to compensate the DOF change. 

[jaapv]

17 minutes ago, NZDavid said:

Thanks for this but not quite what I meant. I was referring to objects further away than the trees (on the horizon, like mountains) which appear foreshortened. I’ll try to find an example or shall do some more and post them later.

That is the point. They don’t.  The perspective (foreshortened) is determined by the relative position of the picture elements and the camera. Not by the lens. The effect you are seeing is caused by the difference in field of view. As soon as you “correct” the field of view by cropping the impression of foreshortening disappears. 

[harmen]

In the end, all your camera can capture is what is visible from where you are standing.  No lens can alter the relative positions or sizes of anything in view.  You need your feet to achieve that.

The length of the lens simply determines the angle of view.  A fisheye will let you capture everything from the left to the right, while a long lens will capture a smaller segment.  Your 28mm lens cropped to 50mm will look exactly the same as an original 50mm lens: objects are placed in exactly the same places and with the same relative sizes.

The size of the aperture has an impact on the lack of sharpness in front of or behind the plane of focus.  For the same size of the aperture, the unsharpness will be the same.  For example, 50mm f/1.1 equals to an aperture size of 4.5cm, just like a 90mm f/2 has.  It results in similarly vague backgrounds.  Note that this is the actual size, not the f/ number.  So your 28mm f/1.7 cropped to 50mm will not look exactly like a 50mm f/1.7: a real 50mm f/1.7 would have a background that is less sharp.  The cropped 28mm will look the same if your 50 is set to f/3.

[lofercan]

On 7/29/2022 at 10:04 PM, lbuizza said:

Hola amigos,

Como sugiere el título, he encontrado un Leica Q (tipo 116) cerca de mí en buenas condiciones, con 6000 clics y cuatro baterías adicionales por unos 2,5 mil €. He estado buscando una cámara durante un tiempo, y aunque esto es caro, algo está tirando de las cuerdas de mi corazón por ello.

Tengo una vieja cámara Olympus que en el pasado realmente he disfrutado disparando (y experimentando con el desarrollo en el baño de mydarkroom) con lo que significa que no soy un novato total en la fotografía, pero de ninguna manera diría que era un buen fotógrafo. Recientemente he querido disparar más con lo digital, ya que el flujo de trabajo funcionaría mejor para mí si quisiera empezar a editar, por ejemplo, Lightroom, etc. Así que hay dos preguntas:

1. ¿Estoy pensando en comprar un Ferrari cuando en realidad necesito practicar en un Golf primero?

2. Si seguí adelante con la opción Ferrari, ¿es lo anterior un precio decente? ¿Algo así como una Q se devalúa rápidamente, teniendo en cuenta la llegada de un tercer trimestre el año que viene?

 

¡Gracias por el consejo!

I had the same thought as you. I bought a practically new Q-P, with warranty. I am amazed at the camera.

Edited August 6, 2022 by lofercan

[nicci78]

Q or Q2 are actually the only two reasonable cameras from Leica :

- excellent ergonomics. 
- reasonably priced. 
- awesome Summilux-Q 28mm f/1.7. 

They are the best digital Leica ever. That’s why they are the also most sold ever. 
 

I would say that your heart has followed your brain. 
Enjoy your Q which the best between Q and Q2. Except if you want weathersealing.