Review Q3 Half Case from Lim's

[VoxFabiani]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

@MindsEye would you share tour tip about this "black dot" ?

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[bherman01545]

Lim's does make nice cases for the money - built-in grip, access to battery and memory card, etc. I, however, went with the Leica Q Protector case. Although there is no access to the battery or memory card from the bottom, the fit is better and is one of the few cases that extends all the way to the top edge of the Q2/Q3, which is where the Q series cameras tend to get damaged. With a fully charged BD-SCL6 battery and a decent-sized memory card, you won't need to remove the case very often anyway.

[MindsEye]

On 9/23/2023 at 12:06 PM, VoxFabiani said:

@MindsEye would you share tour tip about this "black dot" ?

I got them from Amazon. The 12mm size fits the Q3 Leica logo perfectly. Unfortunately you have to buy 140 of them. I've been sharing mine with other Q3 owners. I hope others do the same. I figured sending a few in an envelope by mail is less of a carbon footprint than having UPS deliver a package to everyone that wants them. Not to mention the extra plastic in a landfill. You really only need one or two of them unless you need to take it off frequently for some odd reason.

Edited October 1, 2023 by MindsEye

[VoxFabiani]

7 hours ago, MindsEye said:

I got them from Amazon. The 12mm size fits the Q3 Leica logo perfectly. Unfortunately you have to buy 140 of them. I've been sharing mine with other Q3 owners. I hope others do the same. I figured sending a few in an envelope by mail is less of a carbon footprint than having UPS deliver a package to everyone that wants them. Not to mention the extra plastic in a landfill. You really only need one or two of them unless you need to take it off frequently for some odd reason.

Many thanks @MindsEye 🙏

I'll try to find that online.

[Joasop]

Hello. Great review. I used to have one as well for my Q2 and enjoyed it because it provided extra protection, looked great, and felt good in the hand. Currently I have the Leica wireless charging handgrip on my Q3 along with the finger loop and overall it is doing just fine. A few things though about the current setup is that I don't like the fact that I don't have quick access to the battery to swap out batteries, I don't really use wireless charging (even though I thought it was a great idea - it doesn't charge fast enough and the camera gets a bit hot), it is a bit big and bulky, and it doesn't have an arca swiss mount (my tripod and other mounts for the SL2 and SL2-s are Really Right Stuff. With this said I am looking for other solutions and was wondering if you considered the IDS grip when looking for a grip for the Q3 and if so what made you go for the Lim's over IDS?

[dastunta]

It looks like the case adds quite a bit to the camera height - is this correct? Also, is the hand-grip optional or does it come pre-attached? 

I love the compactness of the Q3 and am looking for the most minimal but reasonably protective case with access to the USB-C port. 

TIA. 

[FusionX.Photo]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

These look nice but i'm always wary when something is significantly cheaper, anybody got one ?

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/MUZIRI-KINOKOO-Leica-Q3-Protective/dp/B0CQR5DG3P/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=leica%2Bq3%2Bcase&qid=1706215434&sr=8-2&th=1

[David Wien]

4 minutes ago, FusionX.Photo said:

These look nice but i'm always wary when something is significantly cheaper...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/MUZIRI-KINOKOO-Leica-Q3-Protective/dp/B0CQR5DG3P/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=leica%2Bq3%2Bcase&qid=1706215434&sr=8-2&th=1

It does look nice, though!

David

[FusionX.Photo]

2 minutes ago, David Wien said:

It does look nice, though!

David

I remember a few years ago several people in the Fujifilm community had Lims half cases fall apart and some cameras were damaged so who knows, it's all a gamble especially when Leica's own case scratches the camera badly, that's unforgivable.

[BobsFirstLeica]

49 minutes ago, FusionX.Photo said:

I remember a few years ago several people in the Fujifilm community had Lims half cases fall apart and some cameras were damaged so who knows, it's all a gamble especially when Leica's own case scratches the camera badly, that's unforgivable.

I hope that is not the "case" with Lims Half case.  I bought one to replace Leica's own case on the Q3 and have been very pleased.  It seems well built and quite protective.  Only time will tell.

[FusionX.Photo]

2 minutes ago, BobsFirstLeica said:

I hope that is not the "case" with Lims Half case.  I bought one to replace Leica's own case on the Q3 and have been very pleased.  It seems well built and quite protective.  Only time will tell.

I hope you're taking it out on the street and using that zone focus 😉

[E.H.]

I have had a Lims half case for over three months for my Q3 and it’s great. Workmanship on the case is excellent… good fit and looks sharp  

 

 

Edited January 25, 2024 by E.H.

[huwm]

I've had this one from AliExpress and used it along with thumb grip to take photos on a ski trip with thick skiing gloves on.

Worked a treat and only adds about 5mm ish to height. No tripod mount though which is not an issue for me.

I'll take it off when the weather warms up but maybe leave the thumb grip on.

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!

[GREG PLAT]

On 8/25/2023 at 3:59 AM, MindsEye said:

Here are my first impressions of Lim's Q3 Half case (with in-built grip and Arca-Swiss rails)

Photos below

Comfort and Fit

My Q3 half case arrived today (2 days from S. Korea.) It’s definitely less bulky and lighter than I expected. It has nice leather and I think, a beautiful fit and finish commensurate with the camera. Before it arrived I had bought the Leica thumb support and expected I’d be sending the half case back because the thumb rest provided some much needed support, grip and balance. So I’m pleasantly surprised how nicely this half case rounds out the whole package. It not only looks nice but provides great balance, comfort, and confident support. The very slight extra height solves the pinky problem too. In short, it improved upon the thumb support enough that it's worth keeping the half case also.

Practicality

Best of all it is also very practical in its design. In addition to a grip, you can easily remove/insert both SD card and battery. It also has an Arca Swiss dovetail built in. Even though there is really no need to remove the case, it has a flush mounted flat screwdriver held in by a magnet so that you won’t be searching for one to remove it if you so desire.

Tripods

I tried it on three tripods, all with ball heads and Arca Swiss style plates: My Gitzo Traveler with RRS, Gitzo Explorer with Linhoff Profi II ball and a Kirk plate, and Letiz minipod with a Sunway QR plate. All work well with the only caveat being that with a smaller QR plate, the rear rail on the case may not be fully gripped edge to edge (see photos below.) The front rail was not a problem with any of my tripods/QR plates. This assumes you need/want to be able to center the lens on your tripod. I haven’t used lever release plates in many years so I don’t know how they would work. LR plates were always a problem for me as far as compatibility whereas the classic knob type plates I have now, work with just about everything.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• It’s pretty!

• Perfect fit

• Comfortable- rounded to match curves of camera

• Very light, also slender/not bulky

• Easy removal/insertion of SD card and battery

• Solves pinky problem/place to rest your little finger (I have average sized hands/Men’s medium in U.S.)

• Strong magnet holds flush mounted screw driver for retaining screw, completely unobtrusive

• Reasonable price especially compared to Leica brand which has no grip or Arca Swiss rails

Cons (pretty minor ones really)

• Depending on your tripod QR plate, you may not be able to center the lens exactly while having the rear rail of the case fully gripped by the plate edge to edge. The front case rail is not an issue. If you don't need/want the lens centered, it's not an issue.

• It’s possible if you hold the camera in your hand all day you might feel the edge of the grip in your palm. This is only conjecture right now as everything is smooth and rounded but I haven’t carried it in my hand all day yet.

These are just initial impressions. I’ll report back after I shoot with it for awhile.

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!

An overall view (above) The Etsy website has lots of other photos.

Here (above) is the Q3 with lens centered on my Gitzo Traveler with RRS ball head and 38mm wide plate. Compare this with the other photo to get an idea of the portion of the case's rear rail not being held edge to edge by the QR plate (about 7 mm)

This photo (above) shows where the Q3 sits with the case's rails fully in the QR plate from edge to edge

With my wider (63mm) Kirk plate on Linhof Profi II ball head (above), it isn't really a problem centering the lens as there seems to be enough length of the case's rails gripped by the QR plate to hold the Q3 securely

Would you like please to send me the links of the tripods you wrote? Which is the best and lighter for aLeica Q3?

[MindsEye]

17 hours ago, GREG PLAT said:

Would you like please to send me the links of the tripods you wrote? Which is the best and lighter for aLeica Q3?

For traveling I use a Gitzo Traveler 1. The four section folds up a little smaller than the three section. I use a small Really Right Stuff Bh-30 ball head on it. I highly recommend the Mini Screw Knob clamp over the quick release, especially for travel but also for reliability and fit.

Gitzo and RRS are not cheap, but neither is Leica. I'm sure others on the forum may have other suggestions.

Hope this helps.

Joel

[ianforber]

I use the Heipi travel tripod. It’s like an improved version of the Peak Design tripod, with a much better ballhead. I particularly like that the center column is actually a mini three-legged tripod, meaning you have a more robust centre column as well as being able quickly to whip it out to have a mini tripod too. 

[MindsEye]

On 3/8/2024 at 3:45 PM, MindsEye said:

For traveling I use a Gitzo Traveler 1. The four section folds up a little smaller than the three section. I use a small Really Right Stuff Bh-30 ball head on it. I highly recommend the Mini Screw Knob clamp over the quick release, especially for travel but also for reliability and fit.

Gitzo and RRS are not cheap, but neither is Leica. I'm sure others on the forum may have other suggestions.

Hope this helps.

Joel

I realized the link I provided for my tripod was the five section whereas I have the 4 section Traveler GIGT1545T which is a little under 17"/42cm and $100 less than the five section but a few inches/cm longer folded. It weighs around 2lbs/1kg. The ball head adds around 280g so the total weight for tripod and head together is a bit under 3 lbs (1.3kg). Sorry for any confusion. Gitzo's myriad of models and sizes doesn't make it easy. But they make stellar stuff.

[WinnowingFan]

The leather came unglued and the case fell off while I was on a photo workshop in New Orleans last week. Fortunately I had the camera on a strap. I'll try to glue it together when the leather glue arrives. I do like the thumb grip. It helps steady my hold on the camera. I had the case for about a year. Slight use.

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Leica Q

[toutsuite]

Resurrecting this thread. I had the Lim case for my Q2 and thought it looked great, but had a couple of issues:

• Camera would no longer stand on its own when placed on a flat surface. It needed to rest on the lens. Not a huge deal.
• I found removing the SD card incredibly difficult due to the depth of the indentation from the bottom of the case. Maybe those with thinner fingers had an easier time, but it was always a chore for me.

Would you say either of these are still an issue with the Q3 version?

Thanks!

Alex