New: Leica Q3 with 60 MP BSI Sensor

[Le Chef]

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And does this work with the Q2? I’ve not bothered at all with Fotos as my first attempt a while back was so painfully slow I deleted the app from my phone. If it’s faster and works with the Q2 then geotagging would be a plus.

[panda21]

Does anyone else feel that Q2 and Q3 have different colors?

Example:

Q3
https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/leica-q3-initial-review

Q2
https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/leica-q2-review

It looks as if there is a difference between SL2 and SL2-S. I feel the difference especially in the blue sky and green and shadow tones.

Unfortunately, I must say that the colors have become LUMIX-like.

Of course we can customize it ourselves I suppose, but am I the only one who feels disappointed in the above points? I am surprised that no one has mentioned this point.
 

[Ktsa5239]

8 hours ago, Tobers said:

The Q3 has two little buttons on the back and the Q2 only has one, so you’d lose the ability to access one of those buttons.

But assuming if I don’t use the button, I wonder if the shape would fit 😃 

[jaapv]

23 minutes ago, panda21 said:

Does anyone else feel that Q2 and Q3 have different colors?

Example:

Q3
https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/leica-q3-initial-review

Q2
https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/leica-q2-review

It looks as if there is a difference between SL2 and SL2-S. I feel the difference especially in the blue sky and green and shadow tones.

Unfortunately, I must say that the colors have become LUMIX-like.

Of course we can customize it ourselves I suppose, but am I the only one who feels disappointed in the above points? I am surprised that no one has mentioned this point.
 

Well, in the end the camera does not create the colours, you do...

[Aram Langhans]

3 hours ago, wlaidlaw said:

The manual of the Q3 is not an easy or particularly logically set out book but after reading and absorbing IBM's manuals on RPG2 and RPG3 programming languages, anything else is simple. What I think would have really helped would have been a folded up A3 sheet, included with the camera, with a well laid out menu tree on it, set out like a family tree with side branches etc. Leica's version of this is in a section of the manual on pages 247 to 252 headed Direct Access, which is a less than descriptive title. It is also about as easy to interpret as one of British Rail's main line timetables used to be, with all the symbols for: "Does not stop at this station and non-connecting train" etc. The information on setting up the customisable buttons is all there but it takes a lot of digging out. I have my customisable controls and the favourites menu all now set up to my liking but you must remember to save it to a User Profile or it will get lost or overwritten. 

Wilson

Since you must have the manual, I have a question.  I have the Q2 and the Keyword Index in the back is almost unusable.  It obviously was translated directly from German, but they did not re-alphabetize it in English.  So, you cannot really look up things alphabetically. Did they do a better job on the Q3 manual?

[david strachan]

Sometimes I wonder about buying a Q camera.  But I'm very happy with my Leica assortment and also my M-P typ 240...it's wonderful...not the least the very hard screen which doesn't need a cover...and numerous lenses I have.

Back on subject ...nowadays finding good auto focus pretty valuable...

So how good is the auto focus on the Q3?

[SrMi]

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9 hours ago, Marc B-C said:

When I read somewhere here that the Q3 manual is some 260 pages (the Q2 is only 153), my first thought was that Leica has gone the way of Fuji. I had an x100f and Xt-3 and they had way too many features for me. Not to say the Q3 is not a great camera and a technical advance on the Q2 which will sell well, but the Q2 choice for me was / is partially due to the ease and beauty of use. 

 

The Fuji X-T5 manual is 400 pages long but is much denser than Q3's manual. A Fuji camera is still much more complicated to use.

[wlaidlaw]

6 hours ago, Aram Langhans said:

Since you must have the manual, I have a question.  I have the Q2 and the Keyword Index in the back is almost unusable.  It obviously was translated directly from German, but they did not re-alphabetize it in English.  So, you cannot really look up things alphabetically. Did they do a better job on the Q3 manual?

Marginally and some of the page numbers are incorrect. A tad sloppy. 

Wilson

[wlaidlaw]

3 hours ago, david strachan said:

So how good is the auto focus on the Q3?

I suspect it may be work in progress. It is not at all bad but just very occasionally a bit slow but I have not yet tried tracking. If you think how much the SL601's autofocus improved with FW updates, I hope the Q3 will do likewise. 

Wilson

[Qwertynm]

Has someone successfully changed the function of the FN2 button? All I get access to is changing the quick function menu but not the function of the button itself. I don’t care about video and don’t want fn2 to switch between foto and video. But can’t assign something else to it. 

Edited May 28, 2023 by Qwertynm

[wlaidlaw]

7 minutes ago, Qwertynm said:

Has someone successfully changed the function of the FN2 button? All I get access to is changing the quick function menu but not the function of the button itself. I don’t care about video and don’t want fn2 to switch between foto and video. But can’t assign something else to it. 

To change the fn button, first you have to hold it for a long press and then select the primary function you want it to have from the shown list. Then go into customise control on the menu pages and select Function Button 2. You will then be offered a list of the items which can appear on the list from a long press of the button. If you don't want these to be offered you turn them to off. You cannot turn off the item you have previously selected as your primary function. Once you have finished, it is best to save this to a user profile. The function assignment is individual to photo and video. In other words, you can have different function button mapping for Photo and Video. For example for Photo mode I have the primary short press of Fn button 1 set to digital zoom but on a long press I am offered the option to change this between the following items Digital Zoom, Drive Mode, Auto Magnification and Focus Peaking. Fn Button 2 has the primary function set to Perspective Correction but a long press offers Perspective Correction, Drive Mode and Optical Image Stabilisation. 

Hope this helps.

Wilson

[Qwertynm]

Thank you @wlaidlaw somehow it didn’t occur to me to try that out although it’s quite obvious in hindsight. Infound it a weird behavior of the camera menu to give a list of shortcut options to enable or disable but can see now how that could be useful. 

[Segal]

17 hours ago, Le Chef said:

And does this work with the Q2? I’ve not bothered at all with Fotos as my first attempt a while back was so painfully slow I deleted the app from my phone. If it’s faster and works with the Q2 then geotagging would be a plus.

I have never tried it since the new firmware came out. Let me check. When I bought my Q2, it only worked when shooting tethered, so I didn’t bother. 

UPD: Yes, it works as with my M11: pair it to the app once, then shoot with your phone nearby, and the geotags will be there.  

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Edited May 28, 2023 by Segal

[AlanD]

On 5/27/2023 at 3:02 PM, panda21 said:

Does anyone else feel that Q2 and Q3 have different colors?

…

Of course we can customize it ourselves I suppose, but am I the only one who feels disappointed in the above points? I am surprised that no one has mentioned this point.

I agree.  The problem is that Dpreview’s core team is a shadow of itself.  Petapixel is “surprised” that the Q used a leaf shutter (indicating a complete lack of technical mastery of the technical side of camera reviews).  All of the reviews are just influencers and marketing who can make any camera look great.  Have you ever seen a negative review from Jono Slack?  Or a non Leica review?

Dynamic range sells and people seem to love the M11 colors over the M10-R.  But I bought the Leica Q2 Disney knowing full well that the Q3 was just around the corner by comparing it against the M11.

You cannot easily overcome the Bayer filter differences.

[NicholasT]

On 5/27/2023 at 9:27 AM, haelio said:

That's disappointing. From the photos and the fact that the M11 grip is Arca Swiss compatible I'd assumed that this grip would be too. Looks like I'll be returning mine when it arrives.

+1

The absence of Arca Swiss compatibility makes no sense, particularly since grips like the LIM Q2 grip clearly show that with metal base Arca Swiss can be easily incorporated and is both discrete and does nothing to spoil the elegant design.

What sense does it make to put all that effort into making a grip with wireless charging functionality, make allowances for battery & SD card so grip doesn’t have to be removed and yet force users to add another (ugly & bulky) plate in order to use a tripod? Or alternatively having to swap to a grip / cover with Arca built in?

I guess the implication is that with 100,000 ISO we no longer need tripods. Any serious photographer knows that there are a number of circumstances where, as inconvenient as it may be to carry, a tripod is the only tool that will deliver the desired results.

I’ve ordered the Leica grip and charging base but as soon as LIM makes Q3 half case with grip I will likely sell the Leica grip and base, even though I really like the idea of wireless charging.

This is a missed opportunity by Leica on what should be a “no brainer” design decision.

Edited May 29, 2023 by NicholasT

[elmars]

Perhaps Leica deliberately designed this to be incompatible with Arca Swiss because of the inductive charging option. The material required for this may not be suitable for printing an Arca Swiss mount.

[jplotkin]

17 hours ago, AlanD said:

I agree.  The problem is that Dpreview’s core team is a shadow of itself.  Petapixel is “surprised” that the Q used a leaf shutter (indicating a complete lack of technical mastery of the technical side of camera reviews).  All of the reviews are just influencers and marketing who can make any camera look great.  Have you ever seen a negative review from Jono Slack?  Or a non Leica review?

Dynamic range sells and people seem to love the M11 colors over the M10-R.  But I bought the Leica Q2 Disney knowing full well that the Q3 was just around the corner by comparing it against the M11.

You cannot easily overcome the Bayer filter differences.

Thank you for this helpful perspective.
 

Can you help me understand why the color rendering might be different in Q3 vs Q2?

Is this related only to rendering in-camera production of JPG files, or related to the raw data from the new sensor itself?

I presume the concern is about the raw dng files themselves. But both the 48 and 60 mp sensors presumably have Bayer layout photosensors. So there are other properties of the new q3 sensor that produce different raw color rendering?

[jaapv]

The basic colour output is determined by the specifications of the Bayer Filter and the firmware. What you are seeing is the choice of Leicas engineering department. It is pretty easy to equalize the colour rendering between the cameras by tweaking the Lightroom defaults. Basically you need to profile both cameras

[jplotkin]

35 minutes ago, jaapv said:

The basic colour output is determined by the specifications of the Bayer Filter and the firmware. 

So, you mean, there could have been slight changes in the physical Bayer Filter design (still maintaining the 2:1 green dominance ratio) in the new Q3 sensor, compared to Q2?

 

Other than this, and firmware, I can’t understand how the q3 (raw) could have “different color rendition” compared to q2. 

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica Q

[jaapv]

Raw has no colour rendition. That is created by the raw conversion in Lightroom.