How to use Crop Feature on the Q2

[Reid McClure]

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Good Morning!

I'm thrilled with my new Q2. However, as I'm using my Q2 for the first time this morning, I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong with the crop feature. I took several shots of our Courthouse. The first at 28mm, next I actuated the crop feature at 35 mm (the crop lines did actuate in the viewfinder) and then went on to depress the shutter button, followed that by actuating the 50mm crop feature (the crop lines did actuate in the viewfinder) and then I depressed the shutter button, I did the same for the 75mm crop feature. Yet when I upload the images, they all remain in the 28mm wide angle array. Note: I am using the Leica Q2 Thumb Rest, depressing the crop button it's equipped with. Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Reid

 

[LocalHero1953]

What are you uploading your images into, and are you uploading in raw or jpg?

In Lightroom Classic & CC the selected crop determines the view you see (even though you can change the view back to 28mm, or anything else).

Your viewer may not recognise the crop info embedded in the Q2 raw file. Your viewer has to be able to handle Q2 files to make sense of the data it is given.

I never use jpg, so I don't know how crops are handled outside the camera. 

Edit: and welcome to the forum!

Edited September 2, 2022 by LocalHero1953

[Reid McClure]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the Welcome!

I'm uploading in RAW. The only specific RAW editing program I have currently is the Sony Play Memories Home. It did not recognize the DNG files from the Q2, so I dropped them into my C drive pictures folder the went into PS Elements 18 editing program and retrieved each RAW image to check to see if the various crops were recognized. They all were in the 28 mm array.

You mentioned the crops being embedded. Is there a software program I can purchase and downloads that would recognize the specific crop (Do you use Lightroom?). Please note that the Leica FOTOS app I transferred the images to didn't recognized the specific 30, 50, or 75 crop.  I wonder if I'm failing to do something menu settings. I did actuate specific crops from the menu and it each came out at 28mm. It's not a big problem as I can crop in post-edit, but still I'd like to use this valuable feature in camera. Thanks for you reply!

All the best to you!

Reid

[LocalHero1953]

I don't know about Photoshop Elements, but from what I have read it also uses Adobe Camera Raw, the helper app that provides camera-specific data to the Adobe family. I don't know if your older version of PSE does this or if you will have to update. ACR is usually a free update if your PSE is modern enough to use the latest version. It is regularly updated to allow for new cameras.

I use Lightroom (I have the photographer's subscription model which gives you all the Lightroom products plus the full Photoshop, for around £10/month), and the Q2 files are read and displayed, cropped, as expected. My normal first step though is to remove the crop! Although I find the crop convenient to use in camera*, I would rather recrop in Lightroom.

I don't use FOTOS to download except when I'm out and about and want to send an image to someone or post it on social media. I find it cumbersome and slow. I read files directly into my laptop or desktop from the SD card.

You will find most people on the forum (and probably other photo forums) use Lightroom or Capture One. There are plenty of people with experience of other apps though. C1 is usually slower than LR to provide functionality for Leica cameras - I don't know if it can show Q2 crops.

 

 

* The Q2 auto exposure and auto focus only look within the crop. I find this useful for constraining my area of interest, even if I actually want a different crop for the final image.

[Reid McClure]

1 hour ago, LocalHero1953 said:

I don't know about Photoshop Elements, but from what I have read it also uses Adobe Camera Raw, the helper app that provides camera-specific data to the Adobe family. I don't know if your older version of PSE does this or if you will have to update. ACR is usually a free update if your PSE is modern enough to use the latest version. It is regularly updated to allow for new cameras.

I use Lightroom (I have the photographer's subscription model which gives you all the Lightroom products plus the full Photoshop, for around £10/month), and the Q2 files are read and displayed, cropped, as expected. My normal first step though is to remove the crop! Although I find the crop convenient to use in camera*, I would rather recrop in Lightroom.

I don't use FOTOS to download except when I'm out and about and want to send an image to someone or post it on social media. I find it cumbersome and slow. I read files directly into my laptop or desktop from the SD card.

You will find most people on the forum (and probably other photo forums) use Lightroom or Capture One. There are plenty of people with experience of other apps though. C1 is usually slower than LR to provide functionality for Leica cameras - I don't know if it can show Q2 crops.

 

 

* The Q2 auto exposure and auto focus only look within the crop. I find this useful for constraining my area of interest, even if I actually want a different crop for the final image.

Thanks Paul! Your reply really helps! I’ll mist likely investigate Capture One and Lightroom. In addition I will look to update my current Photoshop Elements 2018 to see if it will recognize my Leica Q2 DNG Raw files. Thanks again!

[Ba Erv]

Capture One doesn’t recognize the raw file crops in the Q2.

[Reid McClure]

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17 hours ago, Ba Erv said:

Capture One doesn’t recognize the raw file crops in the Q2.

Thanks for the information Ba!

[Ba Erv]

17 hours ago, Reid McClure said:

Thanks for the information Ba!

I guess I should’ve added that it’s not difficult to create a Custom Style in C1 that duplicates the 35mm, 50mm, or 75mm crops incorporated into the jpg files. The respective crops can be applied to the raw file with a single click.  It takes about 2 minutes to create these custom Styles. It’s not automatic like LR but still very easy to accomplish.

[Reid McClure]

Thank you for this information Ba! I need to upgrade to a system that will do Justice to the DNG (RAW) files. I’m looking a a few! Nice to know that the embedded crops can be recognized!

[kirkmc]

On 9/3/2022 at 2:21 AM, Ba Erv said:

Capture One doesn’t recognize the raw file crops in the Q2.

If you're on a Mac, you can run an AppleScript on your files imported to Capture One to crop them. 

https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/296100-capture-one-and-leica-q2-crop-mode/#comment-3719951

 

[Thatch2021]

Reid, I believe you have to shoot in RAW+Jpg to see the cropped view of the photo you took. I shoot in RAW+Jpg all day today and the cropped version is my Jpg. I also used the Vivid color profile, Shadow white balance, and Highlight weighted metering; wow, what beautiful colors the Q2 has. I am trying to figure out how to copy the Jpg color profile to my RAW files because the color straight out of camera today was amazing! Have you tried to shoot in Jpg?

Also, I used Capture One and the cropped photo displays along with my RAW file; filename is the same the ending is DNG or JPG. I love Capture One over Lightroom. My database really struggled as it grew in size so I switched a few years ago to Capture One. Good luck with your photos!

 

LT

Edited September 7, 2022 by Thatch2021

[Ba Erv]

On 9/5/2022 at 2:14 AM, Reid McClure said:

Thank you for this information Ba! I need to upgrade to a system that will do Justice to the DNG (RAW) files. I’m looking a a few! Nice to know that the embedded crops can be recognized!

Just to clarify, the in-camera crops will only appear in your jpg images.  The raw files will still be full frame 28mm.  The idea behind creating a Custom Style in C1 is merely a shortcut to the recreate the respective crops seen in the jpg image.  The easiest way to accomplish this is to view the raw and jpg files side-by-side then duplicate the crop seen in the jpg to the raw file.  Save the crop as a Custom Style and name the style as you desire.  Make sure you uncheck everything in the options except the "Crop".  C1 will give you a warning when you save the Style that's it's not recommended but just ignore that.   The Custom Style you created will then appear under Styles and Presets tab.  To view the crop simply hover the mouse cursor over the respective Style you made or click on it to apply.  You can always revert back to the original file by clicking on "Reset" in the Adjustment tab.