Introduction from soon to be Q3 owner

[SLamb]

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Hi all

I ordered a Q3 (plus thumb grip and extra battery) from the Leica Store UK yesterday evening, and just had a confirmation that is is packaged and ready to ship.   I have only ever been a photography enthusiast, but have been lucky to be in a position to own many brands such as Hasselblad, Contax, Canon and Nikon.  I was away from photography for a few years and only my trusty Nikon Z6 remains.

I was a member on this forum for a few years in the past when I had my M6 and M8 cameras.  I took part in the Leica Family of Man 2 project which celebrated the anniversary of the original project in 1955.  It was run by Alistair Firkin on the Leica Users Forum, and I was lucky enough to have three pictures featured in the book that was produced.

https://www.blurb.com/b/259512-the-family-of-man-2-project

I am excited to be back with a Leica camera.  My reasons for choosing the Q3 were:

1. I am older now and over the years I have had spinal surgery, knee surgery and shoulder surgery, so lugging a DSLR and lenses around is not something I relish any more.  The Q3 was appealing as I wanted the highest image quality in a camera of manageable size and weight.

2. I have been using my smartphone to take a lot of pictures, using my Samsung Galaxy S 24 Ultra (and the S22 before that), so I am used to using a 23mm lens with some zoom capability.  The Q3 should no different with its 28mm lens and the ability to crop images whilst retaining excellent resolution and detail.  The Q3 will of course produce significantly better quality pictures.

3. I used to spend hours developing film before going digital (I especially loved Scala black and white slide film) and then editing the pictures on  my Mac.  I am hoping the Q3 pictures may require less post processing, which my wife will appreciate as we spend much more time travelling together now and she wouldn't look forward to me spending hours editing pictures after a trip.

I cannot think of much else to say as an introduction.  I have spent many hours reading all your messages about the Q3 and have picked up a lot of knowledge.  Hopefully in the future I may be able to share some too.

Regards

Simon

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[David Wien]

Congratulations, Simon, and welcome back! A wise decision...

I look forward to seeing your photos here in due course.

David

[SLamb]

1 hour ago, David Wien said:

Congratulations, Simon, and welcome back! A wise decision...

I look forward to seeing your photos here in due course.

David

Thank you David.  It was a decision that I took quite a while to make but I am sure it was the correct one.  I have a lot of travel coming up this year to Italy, Austria, Germany, Budapest, Bratislava and Spain, so I hope I may have a few worthy pictures to share 🤞

[Ghiry6591]

I'm sure that in this Forum you will find everything you love in photography. Welcome back!

[stuny]

Welcome back, Simon.  I think you'll find the jpeg images (use highest settings) will be a fine compromise between time with your wife and less processing than if you shot raw.

[SLamb]

39 minutes ago, Ghiry6591 said:

I'm sure that in this Forum you will find everything you love in photography. Welcome back!

Thank you for your welcome, it is good to be back.

[SLamb]

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1 minute ago, stuny said:

Welcome back, Simon.  I think you'll find the jpeg images (use highest settings) will be a fine compromise between time with your wife and less processing than if you shot raw.

Thank you for the welcome.

That is how I have used my Z6 over the past few years.  I always use JPEG+RAW.  Many times the JPEG is sufficient, but I will use the RAW for those times when I can take a picture from being sufficient to one that I can make superb, and perhaps hang on a wall with a few others that I have around the house.  That said, the greater proportion of the pictures that we have displayed around the house are ones that I have taken with Leica cameras, and a few with the Hasselblad.  I have many photo folders with prints that I have produced, plus around 2,000 slides and 5,000 negatives in boxes that I really should get scanned.  Maybe a job for my retirement 🙂

[Aram Langhans]

On 3/13/2024 at 5:49 AM, SLamb said:

Hi all

I ordered a Q3 (plus thumb grip and extra battery) from the Leica Store UK yesterday evening, and just had a confirmation that is is packaged and ready to ship.   I have only ever been a photography enthusiast, but have been lucky to be in a position to own many brands such as Hasselblad, Contax, Canon and Nikon.  I was away from photography for a few years and only my trusty Nikon Z6 remains.

I was a member on this forum for a few years in the past when I had my M6 and M8 cameras.  I took part in the Leica Family of Man 2 project which celebrated the anniversary of the original project in 1955.  It was run by Alistair Firkin on the Leica Users Forum, and I was lucky enough to have three pictures featured in the book that was produced.

https://www.blurb.com/b/259512-the-family-of-man-2-project

I am excited to be back with a Leica camera.  My reasons for choosing the Q3 were:

1. I am older now and over the years I have had spinal surgery, knee surgery and shoulder surgery, so lugging a DSLR and lenses around is not something I relish any more.  The Q3 was appealing as I wanted the highest image quality in a camera of manageable size and weight.

2. I have been using my smartphone to take a lot of pictures, using my Samsung Galaxy S 24 Ultra (and the S22 before that), so I am used to using a 23mm lens with some zoom capability.  The Q3 should no different with its 28mm lens and the ability to crop images whilst retaining excellent resolution and detail.  The Q3 will of course produce significantly better quality pictures.

3. I used to spend hours developing film before going digital (I especially loved Scala black and white slide film) and then editing the pictures on  my Mac.  I am hoping the Q3 pictures may require less post processing, which my wife will appreciate as we spend much more time travelling together now and she wouldn't look forward to me spending hours editing pictures after a trip.

I cannot think of much else to say as an introduction.  I have spent many hours reading all your messages about the Q3 and have picked up a lot of knowledge.  Hopefully in the future I may be able to share some too.

Regards

Simon

Hi Simon.  Today I was getting nostalgic as the LUG is putting together their 2024 yearbook and I tried to find the Family Of Man 2 without any luck.  I ran across your post and the link you provided but alas, it is no longer valid.  I had a copy of that book many years ago, but it seems to have been lost.  I remember it fondly, though being new to Leica and the LUG back then I did not participate.  I do remember you from those early days, and I am glad you are back in action with a Q2.  I bought the Q2 when it first came out (had to wait....) as my return to the Leica fold from the R8. I have since gone to the Q3 with some regrets, but not enough to go back to the Q2.   I will look you up in the Forum to see what you have been up to.  Hopefully you have posted a few photos.  Check out mine.

 

[SLamb]

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Edited February 4 by SLamb
Posted in error

[SLamb]

14 hours ago, Aram Langhans said:

Hi Simon.  Today I was getting nostalgic as the LUG is putting together their 2024 yearbook and I tried to find the Family Of Man 2 without any luck.  I ran across your post and the link you provided but alas, it is no longer valid.  I had a copy of that book many years ago, but it seems to have been lost.  I remember it fondly, though being new to Leica and the LUG back then I did not participate.  I do remember you from those early days, and I am glad you are back in action with a Q2.  I bought the Q2 when it first came out (had to wait....) as my return to the Leica fold from the R8. I have since gone to the Q3 with some regrets, but not enough to go back to the Q2.   I will look you up in the Forum to see what you have been up to.  Hopefully you have posted a few photos.  Check out mine.

 

Hi Aram

I think I still have my copy of the FOM2 book here. It was a great project.  I was using an M6 at the time, and fortunate to have four pictures selected for the book. 

I actually have a Q3. It's a fantastic camera and I've adapted quickly to taking just the Q3 when travelling, rather than my Nikon Z and lenses. It's liberating and kinder on my back. 

I do have a few pictures in the Q3 picture thread. I've seen many of your excellent pictures there too. 

I'm flattered that you remember me from those days. Thank you 🙏