Q Series - Simple tips for beginners, the confused and the lazy - please add yours.

[shuttershaz]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Perhaps people can give tips on the following two topics:

1. What "Profile" do you use in Lightroom?: Adobe Color, Adobe Standard v2, or Embedded
2. What is your typical aperture range? I find myself not going much past F5 usually

[Advertisement]

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

[Le Chef]

7 hours ago, shuttershaz said:

Perhaps people can give tips on the following two topics:

1. What "Profile" do you use in Lightroom?: Adobe Color, Adobe Standard v2, or Embedded
2. What is your typical aperture range? I find myself not going much past F5 usually

It depends.

I will look at Adobe Profiles on a shot-by-shot basis.

Aperture depends on what I’m shooting:

Landscapes f8 - f11, but could be wider in low light

Street f4 - f5.6

Portrait f2 - f2.8

But the best thing is to experiment often until you find settings that work for you.

[Orguy]

What are the most popular/best(?) straps for the Q3/ Q3 43 ? 

I have been using the default Leica strap for my Q3 that came with the camera , and I notice that the leather is fraying where the metal O rings go through. Rather than triying to reinforce or fix it seems this is the time to upgrade to a new strap.

[Guest]

12 hours ago, Orguy said:

What are the most popular/best(?) straps for the Q3/ Q3 43 ? 

Artisan&Artist silk straps are excellent although pricey. I use the long version which is great cross-body. The strap is very flexible and well made.

https://artisanartistglobal.com/products/acam-306a-silk-cord-strap-ring-attachment-extra-long

[timbo_bobcat]

On 9/11/2024 at 7:24 PM, Dr. G said:

It's good to know this can be done for stitching purposes.  I'm under the impression that back button focus isn't available on the Q3.

You can use use back button focus on the Q3, by assigning one of the four function buttons to AF-L. Press it to focus on the desired subject, then recompose and use the normal shutter. If no recomposing is required, don't press the function button, and the shutter button will still autofocus as usual.

[SrMi]

4 hours ago, timbo_bobcat said:

You can use use back button focus on the Q3, by assigning one of the four function buttons to AF-L. Press it to focus on the desired subject, then recompose and use the normal shutter. If no recomposing is required, don't press the function button, and the shutter button will still autofocus as usual.

That is not BBF. Making any adjustments or taking a picture will unlock the focus.

BBF requires removal of focus operation from the shutter button. That is not possible with Q3 unless you switch to MF and completely disable AF.

[farnz]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I confess immediately to being an AF noob, having spent my 40+ years of photographic experience with manual focus Asahi Pentax and Leica cameras so I might have misunderstood, and apologies if I have.

On my Q3 43 I customised the Thumbwheel button on the top deck to AF-L so when I focus on a subject and then press the Thumbwheel button the focus then stays on that subject with the EVF guides staying green (no shutter button half-press) and I can recompose and fire the shutter button and focus will remain on the original subject no matter where I point the camera.

For the next shot, focus is back 'in the crosshairs' again where I'd expect until I push the Thumbwheel button when it locks focus to whatever's in focus when I press.  I can recompose etc and so on.

Is BBF different to what I've described above?

Pete.

[SrMi]

16 minutes ago, farnz said:

I confess immediately to being an AF noob, having spent my 40+ years of photographic experience with manual focus Asahi Pentax and Leica cameras so I might have misunderstood, and apologies if I have.

On my Q3 43 I customised the Thumbwheel button on the top deck to AF-L so when I focus on a subject and then press the Thumbwheel button the focus then stays on that subject with the EVF guides staying green (no shutter button half-press) and I can recompose and fire the shutter button and focus will remain on the original subject no matter where I point the camera.

For the next shot, focus is back 'in the crosshairs' again where I'd expect until I push the Thumbwheel button when it locks focus to whatever's in focus when I press.  I can recompose etc and so on.

Is BBF different to what I've described above?

Pete.

Yes.

With BBF you can only focus using the back button. Shutter does not trigger focusing.

With Q3, you have to relock focus after each shot, or after changing aperture, EC , etc.

The closest to BBF functionality on Q3 is actually manual focusing.

[bobtodrick]

On 9/27/2024 at 1:51 PM, Orguy said:

What are the most popular/best(?) straps for the Q3/ Q3 43 ? 

I have been using the default Leica strap for my Q3 that came with the camera , and I notice that the leather is fraying where the metal O rings go through. Rather than triying to reinforce or fix it seems this is the time to upgrade to a new strap.

This seems to be an issue.  A number of my customers have had their supplied Leica straps fail…the most recent a customer/friend whose M10 hit the ground at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix when his Leica strap failed.

I had personally don’t like the rope straps but use a https://artedimano.com/189/?idx=138

[Cogito]

Also did't like the rope straps I tried but do like the Artisan & Artist Silk Cord Strap, softer and easily wraps around wrist.

Anyone need a Peak Design leash or cuff? ~~~~

[pixelpunch]

If you, like me, prefer to focus manually, it's a help to set "film style" to "bw natural" and turn on the peaking (under focusing -> focus assist) and set it to "red". Then you'll see very clearly what's in focus and not. I have put the peaking sensitivity to "low". The EVF has enough resolution for it to work just fine. This works so well that you can turn off "auto magnification" and instead assign a function button to activate magnification when needed. 

Also: If you get used to using the focus nob with your index finger, you'll soon learn how it "feels" to have the lens set to different distances. 

Another thing – when you have your display set to EVF Extendet, the LCD still turns on if you flip the screen out. So you never ever have to change that setting. When you want to go from EVF to monitor, just flip out the screen a little. 

over and out

Addition: The setting to bw doesn't work if you want to photograph in color in jpeg. But if you shoot raw the color information is still in the raw file, and will reveal itself when you import your DNG files to your raw converter (such as Lightroom). 

Edited October 6, 2024 by pixelpunch
forgot to say one thing.

[Qwertynm]

I feel a bit dumb posting this but after 1.5yrs with the Q3 I still haven’t figured out how to use user profiles effectively. I just use one where I stored all my Fn button functions but that’s it. I shoot manual, never use jpg or smaller file sizes and no video. 
 

So please tell me how or why I should use more than one user profile - thanks. 

[David Wien]

12 hours ago, Qwertynm said:

I feel a bit dumb posting this but after 1.5yrs with the Q3 I still haven’t figured out how to use user profiles effectively. I just use one where I stored all my Fn button functions but that’s it. I shoot manual, never use jpg or smaller file sizes and no video. 
 

So please tell me how or why I should use more than one user profile - thanks. 

I think you are good to go! I set one profile, which is just a snapshot of the normal state of the controls. then if I make changes, I can get back to this one easily. More than that would be quite over the top for me, when, unlike on my Canon R6, all the important controls are provided for without digging into a menu.

David

[ianforber]

17 hours ago, Qwertynm said:

I feel a bit dumb posting this but after 1.5yrs with the Q3 I still haven’t figured out how to use user profiles effectively. I just use one where I stored all my Fn button functions but that’s it. I shoot manual, never use jpg or smaller file sizes and no video. 
 

So please tell me how or why I should use more than one user profile - thanks. 

No reason unless you want to. I use auto ISO and aperture priority so I have one for general colour photography with the ISO limit set at 3200 and a b&w one with the limit set at 8000. Raw and converted to b&w in post but I don’t mind the extra noise/grain in a b&w image. I also have one for tripod work which is intended for me to focus manually using a guide to set a level horizon, OIS off and set a fixed ISO and trigger the camera using FOTOS. All those different parameters are nice to have in different profiles but I could just use one profile 

[Le Chef]

Profiles make sense if you have 2 or more types of photography that you do. I have 3 profiles: Landscape, Street, Portrait. Each one has different exposure settings, ISO settings, and focus settings. I can switch in an instant using the profile button on the LCD screen. I just happen to think that if you want to get the most out of the camera, then profiles helps you do that with less effort and complication while out shooting.

[Qwertynm]

4 hours ago, ianforber said:

All those different parameters are nice to have in different profiles but I could just use one profile

Thanks for confirming this. That’s what I figured. I have some settings in the favorites menu that I can access as fast as changing user profiles. So I feel those profiles are a bit redundant to me. 
 

@Le Chef I do have different types of photography that I do but I can’t see how different exposure settings would carry over if you’re shooting manual. Do you leave the Av and Tv in Auto all the time? Maybe I‘m misunderstanding what you’re saying but every lighting situation is different. I change the aperture or shutter speed much faster using the manual dials than switching profiles in the menu. 

[Le Chef]

I’m talking more about changing how exposure is measured in terms of metering, not aperture or shutter speed which I change as needed. the same with focus, and how the camera focuses, spot vs eye tracking or multipoint for example. Different patterns needed can be set in profiles faster than going through a menu to change one of those different measurement approaches,

[Qwertynm]

1 hour ago, Le Chef said:

how the camera focuses, spot vs eye tracking or multipoint for example.

I have set that to the multipoint button. For landscape I usually use manual AF. Other than having a profile for tripod work I currently don’t really see the point in having multiple user profiles. 
 

Maybe I have to summon @lik  according to your thread 43 (on the german side) you’re an avid user of user profiles. Would you mind sharing how you set them up and how you are using them?

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Leica Q

[Le Chef]

It’s simply that I use different settings for the 3 types of photography I do.

So with Landscape for instance I set Exposure Metering to be highlight weighted, focusing to be AF Single and Field. Drive mode to Single, and Aperture Priority. Fixed ISO.

For Street I set Exposure metering to Multifield, Autofocus to Spot, Drive mode to Continuous 2 frames/second. And aperture and shutter speed to manual. But ISO to auto.

For Portrait I set Exposure Metering to Spot, Drive Mode to Single, Shutter to Electronic, Focus Mode to AF Single, Eye Face Detection (might also simply use manual focus), Fixed ISO.

Under Page 4 of the menu -> User Profile -> Manage Profiles -> Save as Profile (whichever is the first free number) -> Rename Profile.

Anytime you want to change a profile you go back to User Profile -> Manage Profiles -> Save as Profile (select the profile you want to change) -> Save profile -> Confirm 

Done!

[Cheesehead]

I use 5 profile setups as a basis for further modification and tweaks.

1) One set with point focus and a lower ISO limit with allowance for slow shutter speeds. Single shot.

2) An action setting allowing higher ISO and more limiting of the minimal shutter speed, also point focus set for burst.

3) Set up for timed group shots. I believe there is 5 second delay and then it takes a series of 8 pictures. That way I can set the camera in a tripod, on a table or a rock and be in the picture.

4) A single shot with continues focus and eye/person detection. I use this if I hand the camera to a nearby stranger who knows nothing about camera so that I can get a picture taken of me and my companion and still have a good chance of being in frame and in focus.

5) A setup to take 3 rapid exposure bracketed shots so I can either mix them later or more often just choose the best looking one in a more complicated lighting situation.