Selling Q3....Q2M only

[Mark II]

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In low-light I generally only use a diffusion filter, or nothing at all. I can not think of any low-light scene where I would be shooting with a strong contrast filter.

The only real downside to the filters is that they usually result in more flare (reflections) when shooting high contrast night scenes with strong point lights - even filters with the best coatings seem to be problematic here. However, this is rarely a problem in daylight.

For daylight scenes the image quality (say) in a nature scene shot with an orange filter or orange+polariser is noticeably better than what I generally see with an lR or COP conversion of a colour file. If you look plants (trees) against the sky there will typically be a halo similar to an over-sharpening artefact that does not occur with the monochrom+physical filter. It is not a problem with weak filter effects, but it becomes more obvious if you try to emulate the near-black skies that you can get with a monochrome sensor and red+polariser filter pair.

All that said you need to be careful with what filters that you use and when. For example, when photographing daylight protests in Spain on B&W film, I quickly learned that using yellow/orange filters caused the red/yellow striped flags turn to a meaningless uniform grey...

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

[Matt Stevens]

For work I use Nikon cameras (color work). But my everyday, shooting for myself camera is the Q2M. Sometimes my wife will give me an assignment to shoot the grandchildren in color... and I do that. But shooting in B&W seems to give me more joy.

[Matt Stevens]

On 9/23/2024 at 8:11 PM, Matt Stevens said:

For work I use Nikon cameras (color work). But my everyday, shooting for myself camera is the Q2M. Sometimes my wife will give me an assignment to shoot the grandchildren in color... and I do that. But shooting in B&W seems to give me more joy.

Edit: Ugh... I just bought a used Q3 in the wake of folks selling Q3s to fund a Q3 43. I did this so I could take both a color Q and my mono Q on an upcoming trip to Budapest. (My wife insisted on a color camera on Euro trips.)

[reynoldsyoung]

Problem solved...purchased the Q3 43 to go with the Q2M....two different animals and fun to have them both along side each other.  Wide angle B&W when the contrast or landscape is there, 43mm APO for not to be denied brilliant color!!  Love it!!

[PATB]

12 hours ago, Matt Stevens said:

Edit: Ugh... I just bought a used Q3 in the wake of folks selling Q3s to fund a Q3 43. I did this so I could take both a color Q and my mono Q on an upcoming trip to Budapest. (My wife insisted on a color camera on Euro trips.)

I have the same dilemma, Matt.  I would love to have a BW only camera, but my wife insists on color images for our travels.  When I was younger, I would carry a Leica MP with Delta 400 on one shoulder, and a Nikon DSLR on the other!  Nearing retirement age, I need to travel as light as possible.  I have been traveling only with the original Q1 since released (2015?), and I am wondering if carrying that and a Q2M would be a burden when walking long hours in foreign cities.

[Camaro5]

I had the Q2M and Q3 and sold the Q2M.  I liked the higher resolution of the Q3 and found I could do B&W conversions that looked as good as what I got out of the Q2M.  For the type of shooting I do, I just didn't use the Q2M very much.  

[Mark II]

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On 10/23/2024 at 6:10 PM, Camaro5 said:

I had the Q2M and Q3 and sold the Q2M.  I liked the higher resolution of the Q3 and found I could do B&W conversions that looked as good as what I got out of the Q2M.  For the type of shooting I do, I just didn't use the Q2M very much.  

At lower ISOs, processing Q3 to monochrome in DxO PhotoLab using their Prime noise reduction tools, gives both lower noise and slightly more detail than the best that I can achieve with the Q2M in either LR or COP. I have not tested higher ISO images, but maybe will do a more formal comparison when my Q2M is back from repair (next year?!).

Unfortunately, DxO do not support Q2M raw files.

For me, the main reasons to use the Q2M over a Q3 are the complete inability to shoot any colour at all, the (slightly) less broken back-button-auto-focus, and the faster sensor readout (less distortion with fast moving subjects and e-shutter, plus shorter viewfinder blackout times).

Conversely, the main reasons for the Q3 are the better software compatibility (DxO, Adobe Enhance), the tilting LCD, and the option to use it as a second camera on colour projects - with the 4:3 crop at lower ISOs it pairs quite well with Fujifilm/Hasselblad medium format cameras.

[Camaro5]

I don't use DXO, but why would it process the higher MB Q3 files and not the Q2M?  They are both DNG.  When I convert Q3 files to monochrome I do it in LR & PS, sometimes Silver Efex Pro, and they look good.  It would be hard to tell if an image was converted or shot in B&W.  

[Mr Perceptive]

1 hour ago, Camaro5 said:

I don't use DXO, but why would it process the higher MB Q3 files and not the Q2M?  They are both DNG.  When I convert Q3 files to monochrome I do it in LR & PS, sometimes Silver Efex Pro, and they look good.  It would be hard to tell if an image was converted or shot in B&W.  

DXO's noise reduction software relies on colour information in the image, if teh RAW file is mon o only it won't support it.

[hedleyw]

26 minutes ago, Mr Perceptive said:

DXO's noise reduction software relies on colour information in the image, if teh RAW file is mon o only it won't support it.

Another reason why I went back to colour sensor. 

[Matt Stevens]

On 8/10/2024 at 2:29 PM, fordfanjpn said:

I'm still struggling with the idea of selling my Q3 and keeping just the Q2M. The Q3 is an amazing camera, and I love the image quality from that 60MP sensor. But I find that when I shoot with the Q3, I end up converting most of the images to B&W. It's a tough decision, but it's not getting much use, and I hate having that much money tied up in a camera that I'm not using on a regular basis. Has anyone else been through this and made a decision they're happy with? 

I bought both, Q2M and a Q3 used and have been testing mono outputs from each and I've recently convinced my wife I need to keep both. (Lucky me...)

[viramati]

On 8/28/2024 at 9:55 AM, hedleyw said:

You lose about 2 stops of light with an orange filter, about 3 stops with a red.

Just tested filters I have 

Yellow filter 1/3rd of a stop

orange 1 stop

red  2 2/3rd stop