Leica Q3 - Does it clips highlights ?

[AdamMark]

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The Q2 always seemed to clip highlights albeit that you could meter for the sky and bring up the shadows in LR etc.

 

My question is please : - Does the Q3 hold highlight detail better than the Q2 ? 

 

Thank you.  Kind regards , Adam.  

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[hdmesa]

When using anything but highlight weighted metering, you have to be careful not to clip the highlights with any camera. Even highlight weighted sometimes requires negative exposure compensation. That said, if the Q3 is anything like the M11, the highlights will be much more recoverable. Also on the Q2, don't shoot at ISO 50 unless you really want to shortchange the highlights for increased dynamic range in the shadows. ISO 50 on the Q3 should be native.

[elmars]

vor 4 Stunden schrieb hdmesa:

That said, if the Q3 is anything like the M11, the highlights will be much more recoverable.

I would not say much more but more. Nearly one f-stop.

[SrMi]

5 hours ago, hdmesa said:

When using anything but highlight weighted metering, you have to be careful not to clip the highlights with any camera. Even highlight weighted sometimes requires negative exposure compensation. That said, if the Q3 is anything like the M11, the highlights will be much more recoverable. Also on the Q2, don't shoot at ISO 50 unless you really want to shortchange the highlights for increased dynamic range in the shadows. ISO 50 on the Q3 should be native.

I wondered about ISO 50 in Q3. Since Q3's Auto-ISO avoids it (as in Q2), I assume that it is also a weird ISO and better to avoid.

[M11 for me]

vor 8 Stunden schrieb AdamMark:

The Q2 always seemed to clip highlights albeit that you could meter for the sky and bring up the shadows in LR etc.

 

My question is please : - Does the Q3 hold highlight detail better than the Q2 ? 

 

Thank you.  Kind regards , Adam.  

I can advise to try the following: When you set the exposure then look at the histogram and in camera menu under "Capture Assistants" switch the clipping on so that you see where your image its too bright. Observe that clipping and the histogram at the same time. In case you have some clipping then reduce your exposure either by choosing a smaller aperture or a shorter shutter speed or both. Do this until the clipping has gone. Then you are fine for taking JPGs. Should you shoot DNGs then you can easily overexpose again by one stop so that the clipping shows up again. Try 1 stop or 1 ½ or even 2 stops. Just try it out. This will give you the expertise on how far you can overexpose for your DNGs. Note that the pucture you see in your viewfinder is actually a JPG. The histogram refers to that JPG as well. And a JPG has less of a dynamic range than the RAW file. That difference is just these 1 to 2 stops that you add in the example above. As a disadvantage you have areas that are then too dark. But as you know these dark areas are less critical than the bright areas.

Now back to Q2 and Q3. Definitaly the Q3 does a better job. It has one of the best full frame sensors on the market.

[SrMi]

8 hours ago, AdamMark said:

The Q2 always seemed to clip highlights albeit that you could meter for the sky and bring up the shadows in LR etc.

 

My question is please : - Does the Q3 hold highlight detail better than the Q2 ? 

 

Thank you.  Kind regards , Adam.  

Clipping is mainly a function of metering. Any camera can avoid highlight-clipping with user intervention (check the histogram and clipping warnings).

Highlight recovery, or highlight reconstruction, occurs when one or two channels are clipped. It depends mainly on the post-processor used, though some cameras provide better data for reconstructing missing data. It is better to avoid clipping than to rely on a post-processor to reconstruct it without any IQ penalty (loss of detail, discoloration).

[hdmesa]

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15 hours ago, SrMi said:

I wondered about ISO 50 in Q3. Since Q3's Auto-ISO avoids it (as in Q2), I assume that it is also a weird ISO and better to avoid.

Oh, interesting. This means the Q3 should be a little better at high ISO than the M11 since the dual gain will kick in a stop later. Newer processor usually means a minor improvement as well.

[hdmesa]

15 hours ago, elmars said:

I would not say much more but more. Nearly one f-stop.

One stop is a lot between camera models. In M terms, this would be like going from the M10-P directly to the M11. 

[hdmesa]

14 hours ago, SrMi said:

Clipping is mainly a function of metering. Any camera can avoid highlight-clipping with user intervention (check the histogram and clipping warnings).

Highlight recovery, or highlight reconstruction, occurs when one or two channels are clipped. It depends mainly on the post-processor used, though some cameras provide better data for reconstructing missing data. It is better to avoid clipping than to rely on a post-processor to reconstruct it without any IQ penalty (loss of detail, discoloration).

While true, some color cameras like the Q2 felt closer to shooting a mono camera with regard to the highlights than to a camera with BSI like the SL2-S. Q2 metering didn’t help, neither did the profiles C1 and LR had for a long time.