Q3 viewfinder blackout is a pain

[Snowman]

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2 hours ago, geesbert said:

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. 

Surely Leica see this as a 'problem'. Hopefully a future firmware will solve or at least mitigate the blackout issue to Q2 levels.

Apart from that is still an excellent camera and pleased I upgraded from a Q2.

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[mrkennethtong]

It is very annoying.

 

[Photon42]

I got a new Q3 yesterday, FW 1.3. Just saw this thread over five (!) pages that there is an issue with the blackout time. Well - I did not experience that as such. Sorry. Great little camera and after having sold my Q1 in late 2017 it is now like meeting an old friend again.

[geesbert]

FW 5.1 is a HUGE improvement, as there is virtually no blackout for 2 FPS anymore. still a bit in single mode, but I feel it is improved. 

I have image review set to shutter press, so now I keep it on 2fps for fast shooting without reviewing and have the wheel button assigned to drive mode to be able to switch to single mode to have the possibility to review after each shot. nice!

[geesbert]

1 hour ago, geesbert said:

FW 5.1 is a HUGE improvement, as there is virtually no blackout for 2 FPS anymore. still a bit in single mode, but I feel it is improved. 

I have image review set to shutter press, so now I keep it on 2fps for fast shooting without reviewing and have the wheel button assigned to drive mode to be able to switch to single mode to have the possibility to review after each shot. nice!

Sorry, I meant FW 2.01

[sebben]

On 12/23/2023 at 1:24 PM, Snowman said:

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.

Has this issue been fixed with Firmware?

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On 6/27/2024 at 12:50 PM, sebben said:

Has this issue been fixed with Firmware?

Not sure, but the solution is very simple. Set your camera to 2FPS. Make sure to include it in all profiles.

This will reduce the blackout significantly. 2FPS is slow enough to be able to take one photo if you need one. But it's also good enough to make a sequence of shots if you keep the shutter pressed. At 2FPS you'll keep autofocus and 14 bit files. Apart from solving this issue I find it very convenient anyways. In fact, I had my Nikon's DSLR's always set to 3FPS at all times.

Edited June 28, 2024 by RBNvRBN photo

[Jaclo]

Very sad how many “work arounds” you have to go through to get a six thousand plus dollar camera to function without the glitches.  Maybe Leica devotes to many resources to those highly sought after watches.

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33 minutes ago, Jaclo said:

Very sad how many “work arounds” you have to go through to get a six thousand plus dollar camera to function without the glitches.  Maybe Leica devotes to many resources to those highly sought after watches.

I agree that it should not have it, as it doesn't seem have to it when you set at a higher FPS. But my point was that it is not "work around". It actually is advisable to set it to 2FPS anyway.

[Jaclo]

Got it, I don't have the Q3, still working w/QP.  I pretty much never use continuous though, I'm thinking about the Q3, thought price increase may be a deal breaker, but hearing of these issues is of concern as well. 

[Le Chef]

5 hours ago, Jaclo said:

Very sad how many “work arounds” you have to go through to get a six thousand plus dollar camera to function without the glitches.

I’m not sure what these “work arounds” are. Mine functions without a glitch and has done since day one. I use pretty much exactly the same settings as I had used before with my Q2, and that had no glitches either.

Can you list the glitches for me?

Edited June 29, 2024 by Le Chef

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5 hours ago, Jaclo said:

Got it, I don't have the Q3, still working w/QP.  I pretty much never use continuous though, I'm thinking about the Q3, thought price increase may be a deal breaker, but hearing of these issues is of concern as well. 

Of course, I can't decide for anyone that it is worth six thousand dollar. That is a personal decision. The camera is not perfect, but what is... I understand that before shelling out so much money you do have high expectations. Leica does have a reputation to iron out issues with regular firmware updates (even long after release date). But there are no guarantees. 

However, the experience of using it is special for me (I've used Fuji X-series, Sony A7s,  Nikon D800's amongst others before). It is what I would call a 'think fast - move slow' kind of camera. It invites you to use it manually. To think before you make a shot. I frequently use manual focus, manual exposure, etc. It's fun... But it's not an 'easy' camera. Apart from that, the lens is really really good. No problem in using it at 1.7. The images are crisp and undistorted. There is a bit of focus breathing but it's not a vloggers/video camera anyway. 60MP is no problem for this lens. I find the noise pattern at higher ISO's not disturbing (and you can go fairly high on the ISO). The images it produces are stunning. I've always felt a bit disappointed with the Fuji files when I looked at them on my screen at home. Not so with this camera. 

But if you are looking for something with bells and whistles, fast perfect auto everything ('think slow, move fast') this probably isn't your camera.

[Reverend]

Definitely annoying and seemingly aware of the most inopportune moments.

 

That said, my workhorse Sony A7iii does it as well.  

[Mark II]

I do not think that the 2fps drive setting is a work-around for the Q3's viewfinder blackout time.

If you set the drive mode to 2fps and hold the shutter down while panning the camera, you will notice that the viewfinder is not updating continuously - it jumps. Likely the only difference between the 2fps continuous and single drive modes is that the latter blacks out the viewfinder, while the former just freezes the display for the same time.

For 4fps and 7fps, either something must be reduced for the in-camera processing of the image data, and/or the sensor readout (about 100ms).

But I can not tell any meaningful difference at base ISO in image quality between 7fps and single-shot mode DNGS, so maybe there is scope to speed up the single-shot mode without sacrificing image quality.

[anonymoose]

Curious how people feel about the blackout time with the latest firmware?

[SrMi]

On 10/2/2024 at 11:31 AM, Mark II said:

I do not think that the 2fps drive setting is a work-around for the Q3's viewfinder blackout time.

If you set the drive mode to 2fps and hold the shutter down while panning the camera, you will notice that the viewfinder is not updating continuously - it jumps. Likely the only difference between the 2fps continuous and single drive modes is that the latter blacks out the viewfinder, while the former just freezes the display for the same time.

For 4fps and 7fps, either something must be reduced for the in-camera processing of the image data, and/or the sensor readout (about 100ms).

But I can not tell any meaningful difference at base ISO in image quality between 7fps and single-shot mode DNGS, so maybe there is scope to speed up the single-shot mode without sacrificing image quality.

If 4 or 7 fps use 12 instead 14 bits, then you sacrifice some DR at the lowest ISOs.