Q3 viewfinder blackout is a pain

[Voxen]

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For street photography I wouldn’t worry too much because one can always shoot in continuous mode and capture multiple shots of the scene.

For portrait it is more annoying.

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[geesbert]

especially for dynamic portraits it is annoying, as you loose the contact to your subject.

 

[Ivan M]

20 hours ago, SAronian said:

I tested with both fast [SanDisk 128GB Extreme PRO V90] and ultra slow [non name micro SD in an adapter] While saving and transfer was almost 3x faster with the new SanDisk Sd card, the blackout time was unaffected.

Thank you kindly for your response. 

[geesbert]

New firmware 1.30 didn‘t change this problem

[clasami]

vor 2 Stunden schrieb geesbert:

New firmware 1.30 didn‘t change this problem

It did. Blackout time is now no worse than on the Q2. And if you set the camera to 2FPS, it is really short now (at the expense of some flickering).

[geesbert]

That's just not true. I have them here side by side, The Q3 is still double 

the 2fps trick worked with the old firmware at the expense of the review-while-keeping-the-shutter-pressed function

[Daniel C.1975]

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Just came back from vacation and updated to 1.3. While I had not a single moment during my vacation where the blackout time was a problem, the update to 1.3 has not improved anything in my opinion. It's the same as with 1.2

 

[Overgaard]

Drive Mode should be set to Continuous - 2 fps as this enables you to take just a single photo (by pressing the shutter and let go), but also to takes a series of photos if you are chasing a moving subject (by simply holding the shutter release down). Also, it has the advantage that the 0.4 second blackout time of the viewfinder in Single mode is reduced considerably, even when only taking a single photo (in Continuous mode) . 

Leica Q2 is still much shorter blackout time in both Single and Continuous mode (and does in fact have a shorter blackout time in Continuous also, even the blackout time in Leica Q2 and Leica Q2 Monochrom is almost non-existent). 

[David Wien]

On 10/3/2023 at 2:38 AM, AussieQ said:

LOL.............It's a non issue. Really????

I have never noticed it either!

David

[newtoleica]

Black out on EVF in mirrorless is a real pain. It disturbs the flow of working on the street and means you cant follow a scene easily. These little things matter hugely to the enjoyment users get. I've never tried a mirrorless that I was happy with in this respect. It was one reason I sold my Q2 quickly and why I use an M10-P. I never use the viosflex on the street and probably only about 3x a year otherwise..

[ianforber]

On 12/15/2023 at 5:26 AM, Overgaard said:

Drive Mode should be set to Continuous - 2 fps as this enables you to take just a single photo (by pressing the shutter and let go), but also to takes a series of photos if you are chasing a moving subject (by simply holding the shutter release down). Also, it has the advantage that the 0.4 second blackout time of the viewfinder in Single mode is reduced considerably, even when only taking a single photo (in Continuous mode) . 

Leica Q2 is still much shorter blackout time in both Single and Continuous mode (and does in fact have a shorter blackout time in Continuous also, even the blackout time in Leica Q2 and Leica Q2 Monochrom is almost non-existent). 

Based on your recommendation, I did precisely this when I got my Q2. Not for blackout reasons, just to help get the best out of the camera. Works very well and I now do this on my M11 which of course does not have a blackout problem 😂

[geesbert]

Still no one could provide a possible explanation why the camera is behaving like this. I'd presume if it can do a short blackout when in high frame rate mode it should be able to do it in single drive. Or why not?

[Overgaard]

18 hours ago, geesbert said:

Still no one could provide a possible explanation why the camera is behaving like this. I'd presume if it can do a short blackout when in high frame rate mode it should be able to do it in single drive. Or why not?

Possibly no one knows here on the forum. You can always write to Leica product management with feedback and questions. They are generally very accessible and will answer, is my experience. Only if the question is something they don't want to talk about, they will pretend it never happened (both the problem, the question and the email 🙂

[Derbyshire Man]

On 9/8/2023 at 9:31 PM, geesbert said:

Daniel, that sound reasonable

 

The on thing I cannot understand is, why none of the reviewers and youtubers out there mentioned this in their raving reviews. When I unpacked my Q3 and took literally the first picture I realised something was odd. I thought I had missed a setting. I know I am an idiot for buying something like that unseen, but I was so happy with both the Q and the Q2, what could go wrong?

Those programmers at Leica probably have a reason why the camera is behaving like this. But as it is now it spoils the shooting experience quite a bit. With my Q2 I hardly ever reviewed the pictures in camera, as I most of the time knew whether I got what I wanted because I could see what happened just after the shot, but with the Q3 it feels like I miss the action because I close my eyes. 

Colors, High iso, AF is well improved with the Q3, but this is a major step backwards

Because the youtubers are all Leica ambassadors and either on the payroll or threatened with not having advanced pre-release copies to get their 'reviews' out to drive clicks (and cash) if they say anything negative? This sort of thing is a conflict of interest a mile wide and never declared. Essentially it should be illegal not to declare this and until something is done it will be customers that pay financially, with their time and disappointment.

[Le Chef]

Not quite true. Jono mentions the blackout in his review and you could argue that he's very well connected with Leica as he's a beta-tester.

[Stuart Richardson]

I can't imagine that Leica has the time or inclination to chase down every reviewer all their different country distributors loan a camera to to make sure they don't mention what to most users is likely a minor difference between the Q2 and Q3. Don't get me wrong, I agree that it is annoying and if they can fix it they should, but I seriously doubt it is some kind of suppression campaign going on. Leica does not really have the staff or the need to do something like that.

[Derbyshire Man]

16 hours ago, Stuart Richardson said:

I can't imagine that Leica has the time or inclination to chase down every reviewer all their different country distributors loan a camera to to make sure they don't mention what to most users is likely a minor difference between the Q2 and Q3. Don't get me wrong, I agree that it is annoying and if they can fix it they should, but I seriously doubt it is some kind of suppression campaign going on. Leica does not really have the staff or the need to do something like that.

I've seen on youtube reports of this kind of behaviour from all the camera manufacturers, the nature of the modern world is that online video reviews make a massive difference to a product and to be fair to Leica, if the others are doing it you have no choice.

[adrianh]

16 hours ago, Stuart Richardson said:

 Don't get me wrong, I agree that it is annoying and if they can fix it they should, but I seriously doubt it is some kind of suppression campaign going on. Leica does not really have the staff or the need to do something like that.

I don't think Leica is actively chasing anyone. However, a lot of this influencers depend on pre production stuff in order to produce as much clicks and $$$ as they can and the sheer possibility that a manufacturer might put them on a black list is enough for them to refrain from most negative comments. Of course, you have some notable exceptions with character that produce well balanced reviews. On top of that, I think Leica has the worst bunch of influencers in the camera business. I've never seen a camera manufacturer send so many pre production units to people that have no clue what they are holding in their hands (again some notable exceptions aside). Sony / Canon / Nikon have their ambassadors that are mostly pros and have a deep understanding of the systems and their lenses. I've seen "tests" of the M11 and Q3 done by someone that usually creates content about Apple products and Apple Watch straps😅  and has otherwise no clue about photography. 

 

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[Snowman]

Got my Leica Q3 today with the latest firmware and the blackout is VERY annoying.

I hope this can be sorted out with a future FW release. I surprised Leica did not sort this out before mass production.

[geesbert]

2 hours ago, Snowman said:

Got my Leica Q3 today with the latest firmware and the blackout is VERY annoying

And still some people claim this is a non-issue. You kind of get used to it if you shoot the camera for a bit, but it is shocking when you are coming from nearly any modern camera.