Ideas for Leica Q3

[clasami]

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There are some small things that would improve operation of the Q2:

1. Place the "Play" button next to the "Zoom" button. That'll put it within reach of the thumb for quick and easy replay.
2. Alternatively, make "Play" assignable to the "Zoom" button, and "Zoom" to the "Play" button.
3. Add a magnified view option to the zoom mode.
4. Pressing and holding "Zoom" button should reset zoom - so one doesn't have cycle through 28/25/50/75.
5. Ad an AEL Spot Hold /Toggel option.
6. The dial on the upper right corner is partially coverd (likely to prevent inadvertent activation). Remove that "edge" of the cover plate to make dial more accessible.

That's all. Anybody else has anything to add (or subtract)?

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[Le Chef]

This works if you’re Jackson Pollock.

It’s adding complication for the sake of change. Leave that to the other camera brands.

It breaks with Leica’s carefully curated conventions of UI so why would you turn it into the kind of button mess that Fuji and Sony et al use?

I’ll stick with the current standardized Leica UI that works very well across M, SL, Q and CL.

[clasami]

vor 29 Minuten schrieb Le Chef:

This works if you’re Jackson Pollock.

It’s adding complication for the sake of change. Leave that to the other camera brands.

It breaks with Leica’s carefully curated conventions of UI so why would you turn it into the kind of button mess that Fuji and Sony et al use?

I’ll stick with the current standardized Leica UI that works very well across M, SL, Q and CL.

Where does it add "complications"? Where does it break with Leica's "carefully curated" UI conventions? It wouldn't even require a second button next to the "Zoom" button if one follows the alternative under 2).

The Sony a6400 has six control buttons (not counting the flash release button cause the Q2 doesn't have abuilt in flash). The Q2 has six control buttons.

Edited March 30, 2023 by clasami

[Le Chef]

Place the "Play" button next to the "Zoom" button. That'll put it within reach of the thumb for quick and easy replay. (That's an added complication from the existing configuration. Leica arrived at the current configuration because it works well across all cameras, not just one and really only benefits chimpers and vloggers.)

The dial on the upper right corner is partially coverd (likely to prevent inadvertent activation). Remove that "edge" of the cover plate to make dial more accessible. (You just answered your own request)

I might add that the Q2 is a FF camera whereas the 6400 is APSC and DPR describe its ergonomics as "hit-and-miss"

Edited March 30, 2023 by Le Chef

[darylgo]

Don't raise the price.  It's beyond the means of many photographers, marketing must see the Q is the gateway (drug) into Leica.  

Feature wise, according to Leica Rumors they'll be a moveable screen and a 60mp sensor, so we are a bit late to put in our needs/wants/desires. 

Let the Q4 posts start.

[clasami]

vor 26 Minuten schrieb Le Chef:

Place the "Play" button next to the "Zoom" button. That'll put it within reach of the thumb for quick and easy replay. (That's an added complication from the existing configuration. Leica arrived at the current configuration because it works well across all cameras, not just one and really only benefits chimpers and vloggers.)

The dial on the upper right corner is partially coverd (likely to prevent inadvertent activation). Remove that "edge" of the cover plate to make dial more accessible. (You just answered your own request)

I might add that the Q2 is a FF camera whereas the 6400 is APSC and DPR describe its ergonomics as "hit-and-miss"

Your threshhold for "complication" is rather low. Another button next to the zoom button would not complicate anything. But: It doesn't even have to be another button. See alternative proposal under 2).

The dial on top is not easily movable  - so the risk of moving it inadvertently is rather low.

The a7c is FF and has seven control buttons (one more than the Q2 - and the that is the "Record" button which Leica removed cause the Q2 is not a video centric camera). Both, the a7c and teh a6400 have an excellent control layout, allowing operation with pointer finger and thumb w/o taking once eye off the EVF. The body size of the a6400 is small - and some folks prefer a larger body.

Edited March 30, 2023 by clasami

[clasami]

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vor 9 Minuten schrieb darylgo:

Don't raise the price.  It's beyond the means of many photographers, marketing must see the Q is the gateway (drug) into Leica.  

Feature wise, according to Leica Rumors they'll be a moveable screen and a 60mp sensor, so we are a bit late to put in our needs/wants/desires. 

Let the Q4 posts start.

It is never too late - and some of my proposals are software based rather than hardware changes. And it doesn't seem that any of them would trigger a significant rise in cost, if any.

[Le Chef]

22 minutes ago, clasami said:

Your threshhold for "complication" is rather low.

In reality my preference is for as simple a UI as possible. Take away as much as you can so you can focus on taking photographs, not fiddling and faffing about with buttons and missing the shot. It's why the idea of "Profiles" that lie behind this UI work so well.

As for the Q3, if it really does launch this year, then the development process is likely pretty much already done and the final version of the camera is already set.

[clasami]

vor 5 Minuten schrieb Le Chef:

In reality my preference is for as simple a UI as possible. Take away as much as you can so you can focus on taking photographs, not fiddling and faffing about with buttons and missing the shot. It's why the idea of "Profiles" that lie behind this UI work so well.

As for the Q3, if it really does launch this year, then the development process is likely pretty much already done and the final version of the camera is already set.

Just ignore the additional button 🙂 Don't use it. It wouldn't even be marked with "Play". How about the that 2nd alternative: Software implementation. Also a "Complication"?

If not for the Q3, then for the Q4. Though I am afraid that with a 60MP sensor, it will be priced well outside my comfort zone as a hobby photgrapher.

[Le Chef]

2 minutes ago, clasami said:

How about the that 2nd alternative: Software implementation. Also a "Complication"?

Put it into a Profile if you need it and be done with it.

[Marc B-C]

Might it be an idea to merge this with the following existing thread?

 

[clasami]

vor 6 Minuten schrieb Marc B-C:

Might it be an idea to merge this with the following existing thread?

 

Not sure. That one is so long, don't think anyone reads it in its entirety. 

[clasami]

vor 14 Minuten schrieb Le Chef:

Put it into a Profile if you need it and be done with it.

How?

[Le Chef]

9 minutes ago, clasami said:

How?

I hav no idea since I can pretty much guarantee that the "Play" button will be on the left as it currently is. The only way to change it would be to allow another button to have "Play" as one of its functions. I'm just not sure that:

a) having two buttons assigned to "Play" would cause some software hangup unless one button had a "Play" priority

b) Leica would get rid of the 3 button configuration and have another button configurable to "Play"

Either way at that point you put into one or more of your profiles.

[clasami]

Gerade eben schrieb Le Chef:

I hav no idea since I can pretty much guarantee that the "Play" button will be on the left as it currently is. The only way to change it would be to allow another button to have "Play" as one of its functions. I'm just not sure that:

a) having two buttons assigned to "Play" would cause some software hangup unless one button had a "Play" priority

b) Leica would get rid of the 3 button configuration and have another button configurable to "Play"

Either way at that point you put into one or more of your profiles.

"If" "Play" becomes an assignable function, then yes, it could be in a profile and that is fine. I would assign "Play" to the current "Zoom" button and the zoom function to the current "Play" button (of course that would be another change in firmware as the zoom function cann also not be re-assigned currently).

[Le Chef]

If you allow buttons to be unmarked and "soft" in terms of their functions, you need to make sure those changes work across all new cameras. Since there are a number of people who own multiple Leicas consistency is key. Think of car controls like BMW's iDrive.

Edited March 30, 2023 by Le Chef

[clasami]

vor 22 Minuten schrieb Le Chef:

If you allow buttons to be unmarked and "soft" in terms of their functions, you need to make sure those changes work across all new cameras. Since there are a number of people who own multiple Leicas consistency is key. Think of car controls like BMW's iDrive.

Sure. That was one of the reasons I sold the X-E4. Operation not compatible with my X-E3 (Fuji unfortunately has a habit of making changes to the control layout with every iteration of their cameras and between camera models). But there is no reason to no add that additional "unmarked" button to other Leica models.

[Mikep996]

My preference for the Q3 would be: Q2 with 60MP sensor, NO changes to controls/ergonomics/lens.  

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica Q

[Olaf_ZG]

My only complaint about the buttons are that the sl2, q2 and m10 are not aligned. 
 

if play is up, it should be everywhere up. Menu should be down everywhere as well, fn or lv in the middle.

@op: your wish will turn the q into a fuji, no thanks.

[Le Chef]

The business of developing UI's becomes more important as we move forward with increasingly complex systems, particularly with voice controls and AI. Consistency across products is really important for manufacturers if they want customers to trade up. 

Mercedes many years ago learned that if they introduced a new "Baby Benz" with the 190, that the controls had to follow the pattern established by the larger car. Their view was both ease of trading up, but in the process discovered that older customers wanted to trade down to a smaller car that was "still a Mercedes Benz".

That "trading down" to a smaller model is something Leica needs to remember, particularly with the demise of the CL and the "cheapest" model being close to $6.000.