The new Leica Q3 43 - Review by Jonathan Slack

[jaapv]

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Point three: Compression does not change with focal length or cropping, it is solely determined by camera and subject position. 

[anonymoose]

9 hours ago, jaapv said:

Point three: Compression does not change with focal length or cropping, it is solely determined by camera and subject position. 

That's simply not true. If I stand in the same spot with the Q3 and Q3 43 and take the same picture, the 43 will have (and does have) better compression of the background.

[jaapv]

Debunked many times in this forum. With clear illustrations and in about any photography primer. I am not going to waste bandwidth on this misconception any more. 

[Guest]

41 minutes ago, anonymoose said:

That's simply not true. If I stand in the same spot with the Q3 and Q3 43 and take the same picture, the 43 will have (and does have) better compression of the background.

@jaapv is quite correct and has regularly posted about this. To save his sanity here is a link for you

https://photographylife.com/what-is-lens-compression

 

[Le Chef]

@jaapv I think you need a “compression” bunking tee shirt.

[Le Chef]

3 hours ago, anonymoose said:

That's simply not true. If I stand in the same spot with the Q3 and Q3 43 and take the same picture, the 43 will have (and does have) better compression of the background.

If what you say were true, then the whole theory of light would need to be rewritten. All you are talking about is perceived compression, not actual compression. You can easily see that when you use a zoom lens. Walk nearer or farther away from your subject and it becomes very apparent.

Do I get my tee shirt yet, @jaapv?

[jaapv]

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Geometry would need a revision by Lewis Carroll as well. 

[farnz]

4 hours ago, jaapv said:

Geometry would need a revision by Lewis Carroll as well. 

Or Salvador Dalí ...

Pete.

[anonymoose]

On 11/28/2024 at 8:35 AM, anonymoose said:

That's simply not true. If I stand in the same spot with the Q3 and Q3 43 and take the same picture, the 43 will have (and does have) better compression of the background.

Realizing I misspoke here and seemingly stirred the hornets nest as a result 😅. I mean to say if I take/frame the same picture (standing closer/farther as required by different FLs), I get better compression with the 43. Is that also a figment of my imagination?

[SrMi]

1 hour ago, anonymoose said:

Realizing I misspoke here and seemingly stirred the hornets nest as a result 😅. I mean to say if I take/frame the same picture (standing closer/farther as required by different FLs), I get better compression with the 43. Is that also a figment of my imagination?

That is what @jaapv wrote (see your and his bolded statement):

"Point three: Compression does not change with focal length or cropping, it is solely determined by camera and subject position. 

[MrOtts]

I've had my Q3 43 for over a month now and I'm uncertain if I'm going to keep it.  I also own a Q2 and it's been my favorite travel camera of all time.  

My main issue with the 43 is that i thought I'd start using it for more people shots.  The AF is very laggy and the hunting when having it on face/body detection is absolutely unacceptable.  I didn't expect it to compete in AF with my A7RV, but I feel that it is worse than the Q2.  Granted, I did not have face/body detection on it, but for the price of this thing, I expected better AF.

On a positive note, when I do get a picture in focus they are stunning.  

[LocalHero1953]

2 hours ago, MrOtts said:

I've had my Q3 43 for over a month now and I'm uncertain if I'm going to keep it.  I also own a Q2 and it's been my favorite travel camera of all time.  

My main issue with the 43 is that i thought I'd start using it for more people shots.  The AF is very laggy and the hunting when having it on face/body detection is absolutely unacceptable.  I didn't expect it to compete in AF with my A7RV, but I feel that it is worse than the Q2.  Granted, I did not have face/body detection on it, but for the price of this thing, I expected better AF.

On a positive note, when I do get a picture in focus they are stunning.  

I have been using my Q3 43 a lot for people photographs, mainly play rehearsals - so quite a lot of movement. I did not have high expectations when I bought it (I had read the reviews), but it is good enough for this purpose when you start working with both the limitations and specific functionality of the camera. I sold my Q2 to get the Q3 43 and the latter's AF is far better, IMO (as is its low light, high ISO performance).

I use the framing lines to control the focus: AF only operates within the frame. So, in a crowd I use a small frame; if it's just one person I use a larger frame. I switch frequently between Face and Field, and between MF and AF. When using Field I may use AF-L (AF lock) to momentarily focus while reframing or waiting for the right expression. And when using MF, I get automatic focus magnification. Picking the appropriate focus tool from this set of options takes a bit of practice, and I am sure that the right Sony/Canon/Nikon would do specifically AF better. But they would not be as small, discreet or quiet (something my subjects comment on) as the Q3 43. And I value being able to switch between auto aperture, auto shutter speed and auto focus with the intuitive turn of the ring or dial - I hope Leica adds an ISO dial in the next version!

Edited November 30, 2024 by LocalHero1953

[LocalHero1953]

In case it helps, these are my current custom settings for the Q3 43:

• Thumb wheel: exposure compensation
• Thumb* wheel button: AF-L (with magnification and AF focus mode also available)
• Fn1 button (left): 'crop' frame
• Fn2 button (right): ISO
• 'Arrows' centre button: toggle display info

* but operated with the forefinger, so it can switch quickly to the shutter release.

Everybody's choices will differ, depending on which functions are a priority for their regular shooting. 

Edited November 30, 2024 by LocalHero1953

[aficionados]

8 hours ago, MrOtts said:

I've had my Q3 43 for over a month now and I'm uncertain if I'm going to keep it.  I also own a Q2 and it's been my favorite travel camera of all time.  

My main issue with the 43 is that i thought I'd start using it for more people shots.  The AF is very laggy and the hunting when having it on face/body detection is absolutely unacceptable.  I didn't expect it to compete in AF with my A7RV, but I feel that it is worse than the Q2.  Granted, I did not have face/body detection on it, but for the price of this thing, I expected better AF.

On a positive note, when I do get a picture in focus they are stunning.  

You are complaining the face detection feature doesn’t work on Q3 but you are happy with Q2 which doesn’t have this feature at all?

why don’t you turn off the face detection and be happy then? 🤪

[MrOtts]

13 hours ago, aficionados said:

You are complaining the face detection feature doesn’t work on Q3 but you are happy with Q2 which doesn’t have this feature at all?

why don’t you turn off the face detection and be happy then? 🤪

That is exactly what I did in order to get the shots that I needed to get.  What I am unhappy about is a feature that is common on every other camera, down to their entry-level variants, being so bad on a premium product like the Q3.  

With the Q2 being so wide, I used it more for places and things, and since these things didn't move the Q2 AF really didn't bother me.  Of course I had people in the mix, but I didn't get a 28mm for people photography.   The 43 is different to me.  More people shots, more people that move shots, and the AF is bothering me.

I'll give the suggestions that @LocalHero1953 provided and try again this weekend.

This is my conundrum.  The lens is stunning and of course I love the Q series ergonomics.  The Q is always the camera I pick up when I walk out the door.  I WANT to WANT the 43, but I don't think she's the girl I want to take to the dance.  Of course it's me and not her!  Also, real photographers manual focus anyway, so what's the big deal?  

[anonymoose]

12 hours ago, MrOtts said:

That is exactly what I did in order to get the shots that I needed to get.  What I am unhappy about is a feature that is common on every other camera, down to their entry-level variants, being so bad on a premium product like the Q3.  

With the Q2 being so wide, I used it more for places and things, and since these things didn't move the Q2 AF really didn't bother me.  Of course I had people in the mix, but I didn't get a 28mm for people photography.   The 43 is different to me.  More people shots, more people that move shots, and the AF is bothering me.

I'll give the suggestions that @LocalHero1953 provided and try again this weekend.

This is my conundrum.  The lens is stunning and of course I love the Q series ergonomics.  The Q is always the camera I pick up when I walk out the door.  I WANT to WANT the 43, but I don't think she's the girl I want to take to the dance.  Of course it's me and not her!  Also, real photographers manual focus anyway, so what's the big deal?  

I'm hoping Leica can fix the face detection via software update. I can't think of a reason why the Q3 43 would be worse than the Q3, but I very much noticed it.

[Cogito]

1 hour ago, anonymoose said:

I'm hoping Leica can fix the face detection via software update. I can't think of a reason why the Q3 43 would be worse than the Q3, but I very much noticed it.

Is it merely that there’s less DOF with a longer lens so more focus misses? 

[anonymoose]

3 hours ago, Cogito said:

Is it merely that there’s less DOF with a longer lens so more focus misses? 

I had problems with face/eye AF while shooting f2-f7 with plenty of light (outdoors), so not sure. My Sony camera doesn't care if I have a 24mm, 35mm, 55mm, or 70mm lens on it in terms of finding eyes (quite well at that), but maybe Sony has trained their algorithms to generalize better across different focal lengths?

Maybe someone has an SL3 and can comment on how well it detects faces/eyes with different lenses?

Edited December 1, 2024 by anonymoose

[LocalHero1953]

17 minutes ago, anonymoose said:

I had problems with face/eye AF while shooting f2-f7 with plenty of light (outdoors), so not sure. My Sony camera doesn't care if I have a 24mm, 35mm, 55mm, or 70mm lens on it in terms of finding eyes (quite well at that), but maybe Sony has trained their algorithms to generalize better across different focal lengths?

Maybe someone has an SL3 and can comment on how well it detects faces/eyes with different lenses?

It makes no difference on the SL2-S: it all depends on the amount of light and the contrast. Focal length has no direct effect.  The Q3 43 is certainly not as good as the SL2-S at face recognition but much better than the Q2, which was poor. The person who mentioned this first said that they didn’t use the Q3 much for people so I’m not convinced there’s strong evidence for this anomaly. 

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica Q

[Cronilux]

Thanks to your SL3-S review and this review about the Q3 43, I now bought a Q3 43. First results are amazing and I can´t wait to properly use it, once the awful weather is gone.