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

[Ramki]

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Hi all. Thank you very much for your suggestions. Greatly appreciate it.

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

[jaapv]

On 2/9/2025 at 6:02 PM, Ramki said:

Hi can you please let me know the settings that use for different genre? Why switch IS off for landscape? Hope you don't mind my questions. I am just started to learn photography.

Because you should not use IS on a tripod. 

[jdlaing]

https://digital-photography-school.com/image-stabilization-on-tripods/

[Lucena]

On 9/2/2024 at 4:28 PM, SirBlunder said:

Glad people liked this tip! For me it's totally indispensable when using my Q2. 

Another vital tip for newer users (in my opinion): It's vital to under-expose your shots almost all of the time with the Q2, with some exceptions. (Note that I almost always expose using the center-weighted option.) Although I love the sensor, highlights very easily get blown out whereas even the darkest shadows are recoverable in post. My typical workflow (I use Adobe Lightroom, but the non-classic version (side note... Adobe really needs to update their naming convention for these apps)) is that after dropping all my raw files in, I increase the exposure of all the shots by at least a step before going through all the photos. (I just edit the first one and then copy the settings over across all the photos.)

Do it too, specially here where light is almost always blinding. Use a polarizer filter most of the time too.

[Genoweffa]

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

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For those who use, what I call 'fixed straps' (as opposed for example to Domke straps)...like Leica's issue for SL...which are prone to twisting/tangling instead of staying 'square' with the camera hanging points, I recommend the above little fishing line connector, which rotates 360.

Edited April 3 by Genoweffa

[Pierre68]

On 4/3/2025 at 7:10 PM, Genoweffa said:

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For those who use, what I call 'fixed straps' (as opposed for example to Domke straps)...like Leica's issue for SL...which are prone to twisting/tangling instead of staying 'square' with the camera hanging points, I recommend the above little fishing line connector, which rotates 360.

When I see how worn both parts of this rig look from just carrying around a camera, I seriously wonder about the durability of this system, although I like the idea. Could you tell us which brand is it? Probably not Black rapid....

[Genoweffa]

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18 hours ago, Pierre68 said:

When I see how worn both parts of this rig look from just carrying around a camera, I seriously wonder about the durability of this system, although I like the idea. Could you tell us which brand is it? Probably not Black rapid....

both?...no..new Leica strap, lower part of the ring just beaten up from siting on my tiled desk...I am not worried, why should you..

Edited April 30 by Genoweffa

[Trankster]

Profiles:  Once you have your preferred and named user profiles, be sure to export a copy to your SD card. This is your back up in case you need to recover your profiles.  Also, do the export before every firmware update. You will need that to restore (import) your profiles. (Q3 user guide pages 61-63)

Favorites menu:  Set up the Favorites menu.  This way you don't have to hunt through 6 menu pages to find frequently used functions.  (Q3 user guide pages 58-59)

[Tarekith]

Also good idea to copy the profiles file from the SD card to your computer, iPad, or phone too.  If you format the card it will of course erase the profiles as well.  I keep copies of the settings files for all my cameras on my iPhone 16 Pro actually.  That way if something ever goes wrong in the field or while I’m traveling and I need to factory reset a camera while troubleshooting, I always have my settings with me ready to load back on the camera.

(as a Sony user in addition to my Q3, it gave me a chuckle to read about hunting through 6 pages of settings. 🤣 )

Edited June 11 by Tarekith

[Jeffry Abt]

On 4/24/2025 at 8:15 PM, Tseg said:

The Q3 43 is a crisp APO lens.  I like using a 1/4 Black Pro Mist filter from time to time to soften things up and add some more character.

 

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I leave the 1/8 Black Pro Mist on my Q3 43 all the time.

[Genoweffa]

On 6/12/2025 at 8:25 AM, Jeffry Abt said:

I leave the 1/8 Black Pro Mist on my Q3 43 all the time.

Wouldn't Lr clarity on minus side provide the same effect? 

[Jeffry Abt]

On 6/30/2025 at 10:31 AM, Genoweffa said:

Wouldn't Lr clarity on minus side provide the same effect? 

I don’t know.. Would it?  
 

I only use Photoshop. But truly the Black Pro Mist Filter is a 1st class product. The 1/8 is very subtle. And the filter gives some protection to the front of the lens. 

Edited July 4 by Jeffry Abt

[ColinS]

This is another great video from someone from Leica Australia about setting up the Q3:

I'd also advise making full use of the function buttons to quickly access the items you use most, particularly those buried deep in the settings menu. 

Also, if you're doing street photography or any other scenario where you need to capture something quickly,  learn to use zone focusing as part of a manual setup. I've got a couple of rangefinders and it's invaluable. 

Edited August 3 by ColinS

[jjroroek]

On 9/16/2024 at 7:45 PM, Le Chef said:

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.

in general leica lenses are made to shoot wide open. so 1.7 for objects closer than  3 meters. for landscapes and wide views 11 even at night ( at hight iso)

[richard371]

First things I did and am very pleased with my Q3 43.

1.  Verify FW 3.1.1. mine came installed.

2.  Turn off WIFI until you need to use the app

3. If you use a filter (I use a B&W) Purchase the Hoage off Amazon.  Its the same look and quality as the included but allows you to use macro with a filter and the Leica lens cap fits even better.

4.  I picked up the motoqueen thumbgrip for $99 off Amazon. Extremely high build quality and even says Leica on it.  (not sure how they got away with that.)Has rubber padding inside so no scratching and buttons feel great. Comes with an lcd screen protector.

5.  I'm using a 300mb/s SanDisk 64gb UHS-2.  Using a slower card etc. can lead to slowness/freezes etc.

6. Picked up the Owlkrown 40" flat rope strap.  Quality is top notch made in USA.

7. Screen protector for the LCD.  Id like to find one for the VF with sensor cutouts but no luck.

8.  Picked up the Oberwerth Q bag black.  Pricy but awesome.  Has room for an extra battery, card,  Separate pocket where I put the lens cap.

All in all, I spent almost a grand on accessories which hurt a but its such a nice camera I wanted to do it right.  Only thing left is a soft shutter concave button.

 

[davidrc]

Hi all,

Having used a CL for 6 months, it wasn't fully for me.

Not being anywhere near a demo of a Q, what I have gleaned from the forum, etc, videos, I am in need of a confirm, to see if I have things right before I purchase a Q2 or 3.

Would I be right in saying that, although on the back of the Q2/3 side the thumb indent, there is the function button which can lock the focus point.  This seems to be, like the CL, not a "fixed action till cancelled"....other than use it once to lock focus, take a photo/s and then keep the shutter button released at half way point to retain the focus.  Fully releasing would mean starting the full sequence all over again.  Which really means you may just as well manually focus yourself.  To me the feature has limited use, though handy in some ways.

Could a user confirm please?

Also, in the EVF, like the CL, the Q range has a full row of icons above the image area....other than toggling everything off and on...is there a way to edit the row of icons, to declutter?
I custom selection mode to do this?  Something I may have overlooked.

Assistance appreciated.  The online manual describing such things does bury them in text somewhat.  I've tried!!

 

Edited November 7 by davidrc

[Jon D]

This is not something I’ve done myself, but it is a “tip” for people who find the Q3 43 field of view a little “tight” on occasions. I’ve seen a couple of examples where the photographer has turned the Q3 43 to shoot in portrait, taken 2, 3, or 4 separate images in an adjacent pattern and have then stitched them together in software to create a panorama, or “wider” field of view image. 

[SimonV]

On 6/30/2025 at 6:31 PM, Genoweffa said:

Wouldn't Lr clarity on minus side provide the same effect? 

Not quite the same, but if you use it carefully there's perhaps more benefit to having a clean picture to apply the effect to rather than having it baked in. Using the negative clarity slider there's a potential to induce dark "halos" around certain edges of objects, which can look pretty bad. Black mist filters don't do this and only provide the glow, but then you're stuck with it in RAWs as well, so there's the tradeoff you have to consider.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica Q

[ianforber]

On 11/7/2025 at 3:51 PM, davidrc said:

Hi all,

Having used a CL for 6 months, it wasn't fully for me.

Not being anywhere near a demo of a Q, what I have gleaned from the forum, etc, videos, I am in need of a confirm, to see if I have things right before I purchase a Q2 or 3.

Would I be right in saying that, although on the back of the Q2/3 side the thumb indent, there is the function button which can lock the focus point.  This seems to be, like the CL, not a "fixed action till cancelled"....other than use it once to lock focus, take a photo/s and then keep the shutter button released at half way point to retain the focus.  Fully releasing would mean starting the full sequence all over again.  Which really means you may just as well manually focus yourself.  To me the feature has limited use, though handy in some ways.

Could a user confirm please?

Also, in the EVF, like the CL, the Q range has a full row of icons above the image area....other than toggling everything off and on...is there a way to edit the row of icons, to declutter?
I custom selection mode to do this?  Something I may have overlooked.

Assistance appreciated.  The online manual describing such things does bury them in text somewhat.  I've tried!!

 

I’ll have a go at this but I set my Q2 up ages ago so I’m trying to play with it now to answer your questions. 

First, the AF lock button. Leica changed how this works on the Q2 a while back. Currently, if you use it to lock focus it stays locked until cancelled. Pressing or half-pressing the button does not cause the camera to refocus. This is different than how it initially behaved. 

On the screen display, the display is toggled using the d-pad centre button. The options I have are:

- no row until half-press shutter, at which point the bottom row of icons appear

- bottom row permanently displayed

- top and bottom row displayed until half-press shutter, at which point the top row disappear 

I have a distant memory that it might be possible to choose what info is displayed in the top and bottom rows but I can’t find a way of doing that so I might just have made that up!

 

[BigBabyEarl]

I have a Q3M and for the life of me can’t get my photos to rotate in review. My vertical photos only stay in landscape and I can’t find the setting. When I press menu during playback it asks if I want to delete.