Leica Q3 Expectations vs Reality Impressions?

[nariza7]

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Now that some people are receiving their Leica Q3s, what are your impressions of the Q3 as an owner? Did it live up to, exceed, or not exceed your expectations?

Seems like there's just some disappointments with freezing (maybe due to sd card speed), slow startup/stop, less than expected battery life, etc., but also many praises for the new sensor and autofocus.

[Olaf_ZG]

I guess reading this forum will give you the answers…

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[nariza7]

25 minutes ago, Olaf_ZG said:

I guess reading this forum will give you the answers…

Yeah, there's def a bunch of impressions in the forum. I'm just curious if those who've finally got the Q3 in hand after such a long anticipation felt any regret, reservations, hesitation on whether or not to keep it, excitement, etc. The Q3 is not without faults/issues, but despite that, I'm just wondering what owners feel after finally having it to use. Of course there's also a honeymoon phase, but that'd be great if nothing really made it regretful to get

Edited June 23, 2023 by nariza7

[Loneshooter]

Having a Q3 from 3 weeks now.

My gripes are:

-120fps EVF it's more sluggish and unresponsive vs 60fps 

-EVF blackout after "burst" shooting

-Quality of the paint: get scratched even when silk-touching it

-Connection with Fotos app sometimes unreliable --> no GPS metadata on pics

-Display auto brightness sensor very slow changing from dim to bright and viceversa

-No DOF preview

-Slower start up than my Q2

-Slow battery charge through Ac/Dc charger (faster through USB-C)

[nariza7]

I think from your list, blackout and slower startup would bother me the most...hoping that can be updated in firmware. They were pretty good with Q2 firmware updates, so who knows

[BobsFirstLeica]

3 hours ago, Loneshooter said:

Having a Q3 from 3 weeks now.

My gripes are:

-120fps EVF it's more sluggish and unresponsive vs 60fps 

-EVF blackout after "burst" shooting

-Quality of the paint: get scratched even when silk-touching it

-Connection with Fotos app sometimes unreliable --> no GPS metadata on pics

-Display auto brightness sensor very slow changing from dim to bright and viceversa

-No DOF preview

-Slower start up than my Q2

-Slow battery charge through Ac/Dc charger (faster through USB-C)

You posted your gripes.  Admittedly, the camera has some issues that can be improved.  What I would like to know from you is....Can you post some praiseworthy items about the Q3?

Bob

[HL99]

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3 hours ago, Loneshooter said:

Having a Q3 from 3 weeks now.

My gripes are:

-120fps EVF it's more sluggish and unresponsive vs 60fps 

-EVF blackout after "burst" shooting

-Quality of the paint: get scratched even when silk-touching it

-Connection with Fotos app sometimes unreliable --> no GPS metadata on pics

-Display auto brightness sensor very slow changing from dim to bright and viceversa

-No DOF preview

-Slower start up than my Q2

-Slow battery charge through Ac/Dc charger (faster through USB-C)

Not sure if you're running into it, but freezes also seem pretty common. Leica should offer a beta-tester discount  

[Loneshooter]

Lol! That’s for sure!

freezes are very common for me, when the camera is on but also when turning it off

[Loneshooter]

8 minutes ago, BobsFirstLeica said:

You posted your gripes.  Admittedly, the camera has some issues that can be improved.  What I would like to know from you is....Can you post some praiseworthy items about the Q3?

Bob

So here the “other” list:

-stunning color rendition over DNG, but also in JPEG standard mode too

-AF much much improved over Q2—> faster and more reliable (mixed impression over iAF)

- love the tilt screen (although not much Leica style)

-EVF resolution it’s way better than Q2

-I think Summilux 28mm gives his best coupled with Q3’s resolution

[Igster]

Ill give it a shot.

The pros that pop in my head:

- relatively small full frame package.

- lens is is stellar IF you like that focal range. If you're accustomed to anything higher, it might get some getting used to. 

- Dynamic range is spectacular. 

- Overall IQ is up there with the best. 

A few cons:

- AF is good but not great. I mostly shoot Sony, and the leica (or Panasonic) AF doesn't come close imho. 

- EVF blackout is a pain

- constant freezing. Although I have recently switched to a V90 Sandisk extreme pro sdxc uhs-ll and it's been smooth sailing. 

-Battery life is... well poor to be honest. You definitely need a second battery if you're planning to use it even moderately for a day. 

- EVF quality is nice, but as soon as the lights starts to dim, even just a little, it starts to struggle. 

I could go on with pros (there are many more than what I posted) and cons but all in all I think it's a great little camera and plan on keeping mine (for now). If Sony decides to come out with a new RX1, with recent A7IV or A7RV AF, and half the price, then I suspect it will give the Q3 a run for its money.

Just my 2 cents

[LatestWord33]

I am considering selling mine if various issues aren't sorted in the near future. The main cons are the following when compared with the Q2:

1.  The AF is great for people, but hopeless for architecture and landscapes. The boxes around people and the circles on eyes frankly look stupid.

2. The exposures and consequently EVF/LCD live view images go wrong when the shutter button is half depressed

3. The freezes

4. The battery life is limited.  You could go close to a whole day of heavy shooting on the Q2 on a single battery. You might be on your third battery if you did that on a Q3.

In my view thew bulk of the above problems are related to a poor implementation of the AF.

It is potentially a great camera, but will require significant firmware upgrades to improve on the Q2. As a Q2 owner, I would advise people considering the upgrade to wait until these issues are sorted. 

[LocalHero1953]

It would be helpful if those commenting on battery life would say if they are using the older battery or the new higher capacity battery.

[Daniel C.1975]

Thanks all. Hmm the battery live topic is not so great to hear. 

 

It would be interesting what the adjustments were. E.g. high or low view finder frame rate; single AF or continues AF etc. pp. Also what kind of usage - only photos or also video... From the spec sheet rating the Q3 should not be worse, or not much worse, than the Q2. What I read here sounds like a big difference between the two cameras. 

 

Thanks

Daniel

[LatestWord33]

I have been using the new battery only. The 2nd battery I use is also the new battery. I never use the camera for video. The focus mode is iAF, with face,eye,body and animal detect. People like me who have been heavy Q2 users, will find this camera drives them nuts. My hope is that firmware will eradicate some of these issues in the near future. My main concern is that the new AF related issues will be difficult to rectify.

This camera is another example of where the highly watched Youtube presenters do not actually review products properly and say what is required to keep them  in favour with the camera brands and to generate views. It identical with other industries such as car reviewers, who regularly provide glowing false reviews.

At the moment Q3 is a long way off achieving the level of perfection achieved by the Q2.

[Igster]

1 hour ago, LatestWord33 said:

I have been using the new battery only. The 2nd battery I use is also the new battery. I never use the camera for video. The focus mode is iAF, with face,eye,body and animal detect. People like me who have been heavy Q2 users, will find this camera drives them nuts. My hope is that firmware will eradicate some of these issues in the near future. My main concern is that the new AF related issues will be difficult to rectify.

This camera is another example of where the highly watched Youtube presenters do not actually review products properly and say what is required to keep them  in favour with the camera brands and to generate views. It identical with other industries such as car reviewers, who regularly provide glowing false reviews.

At the moment Q3 is a long way off achieving the level of perfection achieved by the Q2.

Agree 100% with the YouTube hype comment. 

[TDE-Photo]

vor 6 Stunden schrieb LatestWord33:

I am considering selling mine if various issues aren't sorted in the near future. The main cons are the following when compared with the Q2:

1.  The AF is great for people, but hopeless for architecture and landscapes. The boxes around people and the circles on eyes frankly look stupid.

2. The exposures and consequently EVF/LCD live view images go wrong when the shutter button is half depressed

3. The freezes

4. The battery life is limited.  You could go close to a whole day of heavy shooting on the Q2 on a single battery. You might be on your third battery if you did that on a Q3.

In my view thew bulk of the above problems are related to a poor implementation of the AF.

It is potentially a great camera, but will require significant firmware upgrades to improve on the Q2. As a Q2 owner, I would advise people considering the upgrade to wait until these issues are sorted. 

where is your problem with the AF for landscape our architecture? Can imagine any problems, at least all good here

I have a glitch in the EVF pressing the shutter half as well, sometimes, so it gives me a wrong exposed picture in the display but the final one is fine then. the only problem I could find,

no problem with any freezing here.

[BobsFirstLeica]

Having been a Leica owner for no more than 3 1/2 months, first the Q2, and now the Q3 I have a slightly different take on what I've seen in this thread.  At the outset I expect Leica will take care of all the bugs of the Q3 in due time.  My understanding of the Q2 is it took a little while and a few FW updates for it to become the "mature" camera it is today.  I was surprised to see FW5.0 because when I bought the cam, I thought there would be no more.

Not withstanding the $$$ of the cam I had only one expectation of the Q-series.... and that was I was getting an extremely high quality lens with a fairly light body/sensor/tech built around it.  I wanted something convenient, well-built, that I could carry anywhere and be assured of images that would satisfy my desire for high quality.  Did I expect AF as good as my Sony's or Nikons?  No.  Did I expect IQ that I can get from my GFX cams?  No, not really.  Did I expect battery life I could get from my Z9?  Obviously not.  Did I expect 2 card slots, video that would knock your socks off, etc.?  No.  You get the "picture."

What was good for me, and YMMV, was what I mentioned above.  Being a first adopter with the Q3 carries the usual first adopter problems.  I've always considered we are the Beta testers for new cams.  Once the reporting starts with enough common issues, Leica, like other manufacturers, will get to work, release the updates, and it will become a mature camera in time.  The one issue that is most perplexing that I have not had is the freezing issue.  Tough to determine a card-type issue or a series of adjustment changes when using the cam.  That is one where the sooner Leica nails down the issue(s) and releases a FW update, the better.

But for right now, for non-event purposes, I put the Q3 in the small bag, sling it over my shoulder, and take it everywhere with an extra battery in tow.  When presented with a subject of interest, I know to take it out and turn it on 3 seconds before I need to.....then make sure to turn off the cam after I have taken the shot(s).  If battery life is an issue, I do what I have done for years......when not using the cam, turn it off.  In the case of the Q3, if I turn it off then need to use it a few minutes later, it boots up quickly.  During a recent trip to Europe the Q2's battery needed to be charged each day and sometimes I needed a 2nd.  That taught me to expect the Q3 would be no different and it is not (no video with me).

I'll stop babbling at this point.  The IQ, dynamic range, AF (even buildings and landscapes), tilt screen, new button arrangement, are enough to satisfy this picky-arse SOB 😁. Don't get me wrong.... I want the FW updates yesterday!  But I will be patient.... because if history is correct, Leica will do their due-dilligence and make the Q3 function as it was designed.

Bob

[bobtodrick]

3 hours ago, BobsFirstLeica said:

Having been a Leica owner for no more than 3 1/2 months, first the Q2, and now the Q3 I have a slightly different take on what I've seen in this thread.  At the outset I expect Leica will take care of all the bugs of the Q3 in due time.  My understanding of the Q2 is it took a little while and a few FW updates for it to become the "mature" camera it is today.  I was surprised to see FW5.0 because when I bought the cam, I thought there would be no more.

Not withstanding the $$$ of the cam I had only one expectation of the Q-series.... and that was I was getting an extremely high quality lens with a fairly light body/sensor/tech built around it.  I wanted something convenient, well-built, that I could carry anywhere and be assured of images that would satisfy my desire for high quality.  Did I expect AF as good as my Sony's or Nikons?  No.  Did I expect IQ that I can get from my GFX cams?  No, not really.  Did I expect battery life I could get from my Z9?  Obviously not.  Did I expect 2 card slots, video that would knock your socks off, etc.?  No.  You get the "picture."

What was good for me, and YMMV, was what I mentioned above.  Being a first adopter with the Q3 carries the usual first adopter problems.  I've always considered we are the Beta testers for new cams.  Once the reporting starts with enough common issues, Leica, like other manufacturers, will get to work, release the updates, and it will become a mature camera in time.  The one issue that is most perplexing that I have not had is the freezing issue.  Tough to determine a card-type issue or a series of adjustment changes when using the cam.  That is one where the sooner Leica nails down the issue(s) and releases a FW update, the better.

But for right now, for non-event purposes, I put the Q3 in the small bag, sling it over my shoulder, and take it everywhere with an extra battery in tow.  When presented with a subject of interest, I know to take it out and turn it on 3 seconds before I need to.....then make sure to turn off the cam after I have taken the shot(s).  If battery life is an issue, I do what I have done for years......when not using the cam, turn it off.  In the case of the Q3, if I turn it off then need to use it a few minutes later, it boots up quickly.  During a recent trip to Europe the Q2's battery needed to be charged each day and sometimes I needed a 2nd.  That taught me to expect the Q3 would be no different and it is not (no video with me).

I'll stop babbling at this point.  The IQ, dynamic range, AF (even buildings and landscapes), tilt screen, new button arrangement, are enough to satisfy this picky-arse SOB 😁. Don't get me wrong.... I want the FW updates yesterday!  But I will be patient.... because if history is correct, Leica will do their due-dilligence and make the Q3 function as it was designed.

Bob

There isn’t a pro level camera introduced in the last 15 years that hasn’t needed firmware updates to fix issues found by users…there is no way a development team can foresee everything.

Leica users are the only ones that I have found to expect things to be perfect right out of the box.

Many of them don’t seem to have a grip on reality.

[BobsFirstLeica]

1 hour ago, bobtodrick said:

There isn’t a pro level camera introduced in the last 15 years that hasn’t needed firmware updates to fix issues found by users…there is no way a development team can foresee everything.

Leica users are the only ones that I have found to expect things to be perfect right out of the box.

Many of them don’t seem to have a grip on reality.

I cannot comment on that.  What I can comment is, I can imagine someone spending premium $$$ for a premium camera from a premium manufacturer wanting to see all that "premium" perform right out of the box.  Imagine some of those poor brand-new Nikon Z8 owners not being able to mount their lenses properly then finding out they need to send it back for repairs.  Like many of you I've been in the "pro" digital photography world from the beginning.  A these pieces of sophisticated tech increase in complexity and capability the more they may develop problems.  OTOH, my new iPhones work pretty well right out of the box.  😀.

Bob

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica Q

[beewee]

I noticed there are a lot of new users posting on this forum and presume the Q3 has attracted many newcomers to the Leica world. This makes sense given what I’ve been seeing on Google Trends which showed that interest in the Q3 has exceeded that of the Q2, M11, and M10. Only the original Q has had seen more interest than the Q3. With this in mind, I expect that many who are new to Leica cameras have a different set of expectations.

Having purchased the M10, SL2-S, and Q3 within weeks of initial launch, I’d say the Q3 is, by far, the most mature camera I’ve seen from Leica with the least amount of deficiencies. Also, having purchased the M8.2 soon after the launch of the M9 and shooting it for many years, I can easily say that the Q3 is way more mature than the M8.2 ever was, with all the firmware updates that’s been added over the years.

I’ve been following this thread but have yet to experienced any issues so far related to instability, EVF issues, LCD issues, or anything else that appear to be a bug but having used Leica cameras for this long, there are some practices that I’ve adopted and recommend everyone else to do as well.

1. Upgrade your firmware to the latest version (currently v1.1.0)
   • My camera shipped with v1.0.0 and the very first thing I did was upgrade it to v1.1.0. There are always bug fixes early on so ignore the temptation to twiddle with your shiny new camera until you’ve upgraded it to the latest firmware. Things can some times go sideways internally when you mess around with settings before upgrading from v1.0.0 firmware.
   • If you’ve been using v1.0.0 firmware for a while before you upgraded, do a factory reset of the camera after you upgrade to v1.1.0. It sounds strange but sometimes there are internal settings that are not user accessible and these don’t get translated/migrated properly when upgrading your firmware. To be safe, especially with early/initial firmware upgrades and especially if you have experiencing issues with your camera, do a factory reset.
   • You may want to save your user profiles before you upgrade your firmware and/or perform a factory reset and then you can reload the user profiles but if you still experience issues after this, then I recommend doing a factory reset and then recreate your user profiles from scratch, especially if your user profiles were saved while the camera was on an older firmware version. Again, sometimes there may be a bug in the user profile saving/loading when using user profiles saved from an older firmware version and this could cause other issues after upgrading your camera’s firmware.
2. Stick with SanDisk or Kingston V90 SDXC cards. Leica does their testing with SanDisk V90 cards so stick with what Leica uses for their own testing and don’t skimp on cheap media. I’ve personally be using Kingston Canvas React Plus UHS-II V90 cards (256GB) on my SL2-S and Q3 and never had issues. They’re also way cheaper than the SanDisk V90 cards and have never given me problems with Leica cameras that support UHS-II SDXC cards. They also happen to be one of the most highly rated cards on this forum.
3. When in doubt, upgrade your firmware. If you’re on the latest firmware and you’re still having issues, especially with FOTOs connectivity, do a factory reset. Can’t stress this enough.
4. If you’re really stuck, write down as much detail as possible about your firmware version, SD card model, camera configuration (save your user profile) and share this info with Leica Support so they have as much information as possible to work with and so they can replicate the problem you’re seeing. If Leica cannot replicate your issue, they cannot fix your issue either.