Q2 .MOV files will not play on Apple QuickTime or compatible with Apple photos.

[light_rhythm]

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I have been reading an old post On 4/15/2020 saying that macOS (Apple)does not recognise the codec used by Leica inside the .Mov files. Is this still correct? 

I discovered today that I cannot open my Leica Q2.MOV files in QuickTime or import them into Apple Photos. 

I do not have the same problem opening QuickTime or importing Cannon .MOV files, or Nikon .MOV files. So this seems to be unique to Leica. MOV files. 

I have gone through the .MOV video 4K and HD settings in the Q2 running various tests and have not found a way to correct this.

Is there a way around this problem so I can shoot with .MOV files (not MP4) and open these files in Quicktime and Apple Photos? 

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[Ad Dieleman]

Same for the Q3. I hope someone here has a solution, if not I'll stick with MP4 for now.

[frame-it]

try https://iina.io/

 

[coleica]

You can get a conversion app which will convert your mov file to an mp4/m4p file.  If you normally don't keep your videos in the Apple Photo app, you could use the VLC.app.  Normally, I use the handbrake.app for video conversions.  Normal disclaimer:  I am in no associated with any of the apps mentioned other than being a satisfied customer.

[Anakronox]

This sounds like a codec is missing.  I don’t have a Q3 but I’d go with @coleica’s suggestion and try opening the .mov files in VLC.  I use it across Mac, Linux, and Windows and I don’t think I’ve ever found a file it couldn’t play.  

[light_rhythm]

Thank you for your replies.

I wrote to Leica and this is their reply - 

".mov files only run in the paid versions of Wings-X, Final Cut, Adobe Premiere, DaVinci Pro and in the free DaVinci version Resolve.

The free VLC Player will play .mov files."

I have written back to Leica thanking them for their reply and said I hope in the future they can find a way around this so Leica .mov files can be brought into Photos and be played rather than having to use VLC Player and the paid versions above or Resolve. This would be very helpful for Apple users. 

Edited April 8, 2024 by light_rhythm

[thegobi]

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Well I’ll be darned! This comes as a surprise to me…

…considering I have never taken a video with my Q2M. 🤣

I just did a quick experiment:

I took a short movie ( first ever!)

The Leica photos app refused to download the video to my iPad stating that it is unsupported—but if I use a card reader to import it directly into IOS Photos it plays.

I have not tested this on my MacBook Pro yet…

[LocalHero1953]

Just taken a video on my Q2. Both .mp4 and .mov files played without problem in Quicktime on my MacBook Pro M1 Pro.

.mp4 and .mov are just wrappers for compressed video. You need the right codec as well for the file to be played. I suspect that I sourced the codecs a couple of years ago when I first played with video on the Q2. I haven't played with Q2 video much since then, and can't remember exactly what I did back then. If I used the Q2 for video now I would be playing it in Resolve, not Quicktime.

Edited April 9, 2024 by LocalHero1953

[thegobi]

I should have added that Apple photos on my iPad identified the video as H264 4K.

[Stuart Richardson]

Paul has hit the nail on the head: the suffix is just a container for the actual video which can be of many different flavors, not all of which are supported by all systems or programs. I ran into this when I started using the wide gamut video options in the SL2. Support for wide gamut videos is not standard in things like the free version of Davinci Resolve. I have generally used VLC so I did not notice an issue opening the videos on Mac OS, but it seems the particular codec Leica is using is not something they generally support in the operation system. As said, there are a few ways around this. You can either choose a different codec within the camera, you can use a program that supports the current codec, or you can transcode the video. If you have the Adobe Suite, it comes with Adobe Media Encoder, which can batch convert videos to different formats. Another option would be VLC, which is free and can also transcode. I have been using VLC forever, so I can recommend it, and it seems Leica does too. It is free, open source and works on basically every platform and can open nearly every video format.

Edited April 9, 2024 by Stuart Richardson

[thegobi]

The H.264 has been playable on Macs since QuickTime 7 (Ithink), so I was surprised that a Mac couldn’t play a file (regardless of container) based on it — AVC or HEVC flavours…

Is it something to do with the specific software being used?

It seems @LocalHero1953 has shown it plays natively on a Mac and it is working fine on my iPad (QuickTime and Photos are about as native as you get on a Mac  ), so I hope this is easily resolved.

I am wondering if my aversion to taking videos has come from years of putting up with this nonsense in multimedia web projects…

Don’t get me started on the whole ‘we won’t support licensed codecs’ browser war 🤣

[light_rhythm]

apologies for misposting 

Edited April 9, 2024 by light_rhythm

[light_rhythm]

2 hours ago, Stuart Richardson said:

Paul has hit the nail on the head: the suffix is just a container for the actual video which can be of many different flavors, not all of which are supported by all systems or programs. I ran into this when I started using the wide gamut video options in the SL2. Support for wide gamut videos is not standard in things like the free version of Davinci Resolve. I have generally used VLC so I did not notice an issue opening the videos on Mac OS, but it seems the particular codec Leica is using is not something they generally support in the operation system. As said, there are a few ways around this. You can either choose a different codec within the camera, you can use a program that supports the current codec, or you can transcode the video. If you have the Adobe Suite, it comes with Adobe Media Encoder, which can batch convert videos to different formats. Another option would be VLC, which is free and can also transcode. I have been using VLC forever, so I can recommend it, and it seems Leica does too. It is free, open source and works on basically every platform and can open nearly every video format.

 

3 hours ago, LocalHero1953 said:

Just taken a video on my Q2. Both .mp4 and .mov files played without problem in Quicktime on my MacBook Pro M1 Pro.

.mp4 and .mov are just wrappers for compressed video. You need the right codec as well for the file to be played. I suspect that I sourced the codecs a couple of years ago when I first played with video on the Q2.

How did you source the correct codecs on your Q2? It would be very helpful to know what the exact settings were you selected so I can try them. Thanks. 

Edited April 9, 2024 by light_rhythm

[LocalHero1953]

33 minutes ago, light_rhythm said:

 

How did you source the correct codecs on your Q2? It would be very helpful to know what the exact settings were you selected so I can try them. Thanks. 

No idea - age is against me recalling how I solved a technical problem more than 5 minutes ago! I also use VLC, so the codec may have come with that. 

[thegobi]

Unfortunately I can’t represent your problem

 

I will see what I can find out on my Mac tomorrow (it’s night-time here now)

The fact that it ‘just works’ on my iPad would lead me to think that should just work on a Mac as well…

[light_rhythm]

11 hours ago, LocalHero1953 said:

No idea - age is against me recalling how I solved a technical problem more than 5 minutes ago! I also use VLC, so the codec may have come with that. 

No problem thank you. I share your limitations too! 😊

[light_rhythm]

9 hours ago, thegobi said:

Unfortunately I can’t represent your problem

 

I will see what I can find out on my Mac tomorrow (it’s night-time here now)

The fact that it ‘just works’ on my iPad would lead me to think that should just work on a Mac as well…

Thank you.

[thegobi]

At least on my Mac, I can confirm that the video plays in QuickTime - that was an MP4 file using H.264 at 4K straight from my Q2M.

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Hallo,

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[light_rhythm]

12 hours ago, light_rhythm said:

No problem thank you. I share your limitations too! 😊

5 hours ago, thegobi said:

At least on my Mac, I can confirm that the video plays in QuickTime - that was an MP4 file using H.264 at 4K straight from my Q2M.

Thank you for your reply and help.

I can open MP4 files on my Mac too. The problem is I can't open .MOV files with Quicktime or Photos (.MOV files generally are higher in resolution and larger in size and better for editing on a Mac if working with editing programs like FinalCut). 

 

22 hours ago, thegobi said:

Unfortunately I can’t represent your problem

 

I will see what I can find out on my Mac tomorrow (it’s night-time here now)

The fact that it ‘just works’ on my iPad would lead me to think that should just work on a Mac as well…

Thank you.

Edited April 10, 2024 by light_rhythm

[thegobi]

55 minutes ago, light_rhythm said:

I can open MP4 files on my Mac too. The problem is I can't open .MOV files with Quicktime or Photos (.MOV files generally are higher in resolution and larger in size and better for editing on a Mac if working with editing programs like FinalCut). 

 

I would be checking that - as stated earlier MOV files are just wrappers for a codec- the file I opened was H.264 and 4K resolution— it would be interesting to do an actual quality comparison between the two files. They might be exactly the same…

MOV files are usually larger and better quality… but not always

Edited April 10, 2024 by thegobi