Q owners, do you own an M also?

[nonoirie]

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For those who own a Q and M, how do you differentiate the usage of the Q and M?  

As for me, I have an active 2 year old.  If I'm out and about with my kid by myself, I'll bring my Q with me so I could focus on my kid and utilize the AF on the Q.  I'll also tend to pick up my Q3 when it's darker as IMO, it's better in low light conditions than my M10P.  I'll also probably bring my Q when I travel as if needs be, my wife can use the Q also.  

How do you use your Q and M?  

[Corius]

I had a Q2... I bought an M11 because I thought I was missing out on something...then I sold the M11 and bought a Q3....

There is an often voiced opinion that an M is a better Q and that the Q is a "cheap" gateway for Leica to hook you into the M world, however that wasn't my experience.

Both cameras are fantastic but serve very different use cases. My family got sick of me forcing them to stand still while I tried to focus. My problem, and not the camera's, but it made me realise what I really needed. I can fully understand why some people may prefer an M, but it is wrong to try to equate the two, the experience is totally different.

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[Maverick1st]

Owned the original Q and traded it in against a M10 4ish years ago. My thought was i wanted to commit to learning the rangefinder system. I really enjoy the shooting experience of a M and felt more connected and that added to the satisfaction. However there were times where i missed having autofocus. I recently picked up a Q3 a few months ago and havent picked up the m10 since. Partly due to wanting to learn it on the trips that i took during that period and not wanting to take 2 cameras with me. 

Im struggling now to find how to use them together just as you are. The Q3 was the perfect vacation camera. 

My thinking now is i want to swap the M10 out for a M10M or M11M. I converted a lot of my M10 pictures to B&W. Having a dedicated monochrom camera for when i want to go out and make photographs seems appealing. 

[nonoirie]

21 minutes ago, Maverick1st said:

My thinking now is i want to swap the M10 out for a M10M or M11M. 

I thought of this also as would gain a high ISO powerhouse kit.  I'm not sure I'll miss the color rendering I get out of M and it's lens or how to explain and justify I could only shoot black and white of our kid to my wife.  🧐

Edited February 9 by nonoirie

[Le Chef]

I had owned a Q2 and put myself on the Q3 list at my AD. 
 

While waiting a borrowed an M10 and 35mm chron. Enjoyed the experience (like shooting a film SLR from the 80’s) but the Q has a broader footprint and greater capabilities. I can shoot manual focus and exposure very nicely using magnification and the EVF. 
 

I still like the idea of an M but it’s not the perfect alternative to the Q

[coleica]

I have a Q3 and an M6.  Don't really distinguish a set of rules regarding when to use each camera.  But in general, indoors and darker conditions, I lean towards the Q3.  Outdoors it depends on my mood, and the film loaded in the M6.  You know; sometimes I feel like a nut, sometimes I don't.   

[Abram]

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I don't see them as replacements, but rather complementary to one another. 

When I'm shooting digitally I use the Q2 or SL2 with a 50 as that's what meets my present needs. When I have time to just shoot for myself or if it's simply the preference I still have my M-A and a couple lenses that are my go-to. I too have a little one at home and I agree having AF is so useful in documenting them, but I'll always prefer the M as a platform given the choice. 

[jaapv]

1 hour ago, nonoirie said:

I thought of this also as would gain a high ISO powerhouse kit.  I'm not sure I'll miss the color rendering I get out of M and it's lens or how to explain and justify I could only shoot black and white of our kid to my wife.  🧐

You can always use the Colorize Neural filter in Photoshop. Though nothing approaching accurate, the results can be quite good.

[bobtodrick]

Now admittedly my M was an M4, but the reason I am happy with the Q was that I used to keep track of what focal length was used for my ‘keepers’.

I had a 35/50/90/135 kit.

Fully 90% of my images were with the 35.  I’ve always been a wide angle guy and the Q is perfect…for me.

When I was doing portraits I’d pull out the Rolleiflex.

[ianforber]

I have a Q2 and an M11 with a 50mm Summicron and a CV 35mm f1.5 Nokton. I don’t differentiate between the cameras. I tend to get one out of the bag and use it for everything until I feel guilty about the other one languishing unused and swap them around. I bought the M11 mainly because I’ve always wanted an M but also with the excuse that I needed a more compact camera - compact because the lenses are smaller and can be detached to make packing it for travel easier. Of course, I’ve never actually needed that aspect of the M11.

I don’t need both cameras and I often wonder why I’m bothering keeping the M11. It has better high ISO performance but that’s not really an issue given software such as DxO PureRaw. Maybe the Q3 is the answer but, having finally got a Leica M, I’m loathe to get rid of it but I don’t want to lose the Q2 either. 

[AussieQ]

Not yet.................................( admins makes sure my wife doesn't see this comment )  

[Siriusone59]

I have both, use the Q for things that I at one time would use a cellphone to photograph.  Those quick grab shots of family and events but often wished for a higher quality camera that was still somewhat compact.  Then I started thinking about longer lenses and more "thought out" images, thus the m10r was acquired.  I still use both depending on where I'm going and how much time I'm wanting to spend photographing my subjects.  They both are excellent cameras and both have a place in my arsenal of equipment.  I rarely use my iPhone camera anymore, the Leica gives me much more to work with.

[MikeD70]

I have a Q3 and an M8.  The M is strictly for SLOW deliberate subjects, the Q, well, anything goes there.  I'm 75, I couldn't follow a 2 year old with the M if my life depended on it, but with the Q, no problem.  I have 21 grandchildren, that Q can keep up.  It's faster than I am.

[FlickM]

I have the Q2 and the M262. I haven't had either for all that long, so I don't know if I'm qualified to answer - (though I've been through a lot of camera systems in my photographic life, starting in the pre digital era, so getting used to a new camera isn't that much of a deal for me). However, here are my thoughts. Switching between the two is like reading on my kindle or from paper books, a seamless experience. I have a Fujifilm X-T5 and lenses too, just to throw that into the mix.

The Q2 is a fantastic camera and I really appreciate the technology behind it if I'm out and about, capturing passing moments, like street photography. Having said that, 28mm is my least favourite focal length, so I'm still getting used to it: my eye is happiest seeing in the 40mm - 90mm range, or wider in the 16-24mm range, so a learning curve for me. Getting in close isn't always an option in Oxford, where there aren't enough people about a lot of the time to do so unnoticed. I have enough MP to crop, and even crop quite a bit using Lightroom enhance, though that feels a bit like defeating the purpose of the camera, and I haven't done it much. But it's fantastic to be able to use the screen to focus and fire the shutter when I'm trying to be sneaky (an articulating screen, one that works in portrait mode too, like I have on my X-T5, would be fabulous). Oh, and I can get in close, even do a sort of macro, with the Q2, which is not an option with the M262, as far as I know. I'd also use the Q at night I think.

I'm also new to the rangefinder on the M262, though in practice I didn't find it that much of a problem in Oxford, photographing people and buildings. I have a 40mm lens on that camera, so much more natural feeling for me: 40mm is a lovely focal length, just wide enough to get some context, or photograph buildings, but long enough to reasonably fill the frame with a subject. The camera is just a different experience. It takes me back to my pre digital, pre auto focus roots, it feels very calm and considered. I also prefer the colour rendering on the M262. I find the Q2 files a bit cold and a bit magenta, but nothing that can't be fixed PP. Though the colour from the M262 has a kind of magical quality that I find hard to define or explain, a kind of glow (I fully expect to be pulled up on that one!). 

For me the Q2 actually was a gateway into the M system. I probably won't go much further into that system though. I live on a tiny income and will be paying for the cameras for the rest of the year and beyond, probably. I've just paid £100 for an Elmar 9cm 90mm f4 lens, and that will likely be it. 

If I were to go away somewhere, I would take the Q2 for convenience. It's a fantastic camera and I love it, I just have to keep going out with it and getting used to the lens. But the M262 is where my heart is: I can't explain it, but using it is like coming home -

Edited February 11 by FlickM

[Driften]

No M for me but my Q2 has a Leica film CL to go with it. My eyes aren't as good as they used to be so I don't think I'll invest in an M.

Edited February 12 by Driften

[FocusDot]

On 2/10/2024 at 2:31 AM, jaapv said:

You can always use the Colorize Neural filter in Photoshop. Though nothing approaching accurate, the results can be quite good.

Surprisingly good actually! With some further tweaking I normally get great kind of film look-alike results that everybody likes very much
(and nobody believes me when I say it was created from b&w photo)

[jaapv]

It works very well on B&W conversions too. 

[carousel2050]

M or Q are two different shooting experiences. Both have their advantages. Shooting with a rangefinder is something you almost can’t find another time in the digital world. The Q is a nice small mirrorless af camera with a beautiful lens, but honestly it is so far behind in the af systems. My old Sony a7r3 is much more accurate and faster catching an eye or following a person - not even talking about my a7r5. The reason why I own the q3 is the possibility to use flash up to 1/2000sec. 

[Trankster]

I have a M3 and Q3.  I have been using the M3 for B&W film, and recently started developing and printing.  The Q3 is my go everywhere and travel camera.  I bring both on road trips, but leave the M3 behind for air travel to avoid the hassles transporting film.  As far as useage, I choose based on the subject matter and what strikes me in the moment.  

Edited February 12 by Trankster

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[JoshuaRothman]

The Q2 was my first Leica, and for a couple of years it was my only camera. But I subsequently added a number of M cameras—currently, M10, M10M, and M6.

Overall, I prefer the M cameras to the Q2. Even with my kids, who are quite fast-moving, I prefer the M, and feel that I'm actually faster with it—after years of experience I can often focus very accurately even before bringing the camera up to my eye. I also have a preference for the OVF and the rendering characteristics of my various M lenses.

All that said, the Q2 is a fantastic camera and I've taken many of my favorite photographs with it. I use it mainly in bad weather or rough conditions—like at the beach, or in the pool, or while playing in the snow with my son. I always pack it as a backup camera. 

From time to time, I think about selling the Q2 and either upgrading my M10 to an M10-R or picking up something different, like an SL2-S or Nikon ZF. Still, at the end of the day, I think the Q cameras offer a special combination of robustness, light weight, and all-in-one capability. I consider myself lucky to own one.