Q2 - current day performance

[costa43]

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Hi all

I want to buy a Q for my wife. The Q2 specifically as it seems the market is flooded with good deals for them at the moment. Being 5 years old it’s a pretty mature platform now, after all the firmware updates over the years, where does the autofocus sit with tracking/face detect? My wife will primarily be using it for pictures of our daughter/family snaps. Is it usable or will it frustrate? 

Cheers

 

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[Simone_DF]

30 minutes ago, costa43 said:

where does the autofocus sit with tracking/face detect?

 

On a scale from 1 to 10 I’d rate it between 0 and -1

[rich_]

Its not very good... Even the Q3 feels like a few generations behind the Sony models. However, the regular AF-S for the Q2 is fine in good light. 

Edited December 21, 2024 by rich_

[costa43]

1 hour ago, Simone_DF said:

On a scale from 1 to 10 I’d rate it between 0 and -1

I was hoping for a 5 at least! 🤣

[Luke_Miller]

I have my Q2 autofocus set up the same as on my SL2 and SL2-S.  AFC and tracking. Works fine for me.  I rarely find a need for face detect.  

[Le Chef]

AFS works absolutely fine, no need for facial or cat and dog recognition. 

[bobtodrick]

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Now coming from an age where we actually (horrors), manually focussed I find the A/F on my Q quite satisfactory for casual family photos.

[Cogito]

Unless she's intrigued by the history and heritage of Leica and willing to put up with AF that was substandard five years ago, she'll be frustrated. If she's used to manually focusing and loves the tactile experience of manipulating a fine piece of german engineering, like I and many here on the forums, and she'll enjoy it. 

If you do end up buying her a Q, I'd love to read her thoughts on the camera, please post them here. 

Personally, I have tens of thousands of dollars worth of sony cameras/lenses(for professional work) and a Q343(which I love,) but I (mostly) take family snaps with an iPhone. I did use the Q343 for some extended-family shot in a new england tavern, to my eye vastly superior to the ones shot with an iphone, but no-one else in the family seems to care. If she doesn't have a recent iPhone or Pixel, that's what I'd get her for Christmas. If she's a serious photographer, please disregard. 

Edited December 21, 2024 by Cogito
typo

[anonymoose]

If you use the Q2's face detect in good lighting with a forgiving f-stop of ~f2.8 with subjects that are somewhat still, facing you, and not super close (so you have a large focal plane to work with) I think you'll be quite happy with the outcome.

If you try to take low-light shots of a moving child at an off angle at f1.7 you will be very disappointed.

I went Q2 --> Q3 --> Q2 (weird, I know) and I definitely notice the AF being worse, but it isn't that bad. The Q3 will detect eyes quite well, but it will also snap between left and right and also the faces/eyes of multiple subjects quite chaotically at times. I'd rather use AF-C with point focus or even manual focus in situations like that (and often had to). Both the Q2 and Q3 pale in comparison to Sony mirrorless (particularly the A1 I own, which has other-worldly AF), so my point of relativity may also be super skewed--or maybe I have a good enough reference point to judge the Q2 and Q3 for what they are?

Edited December 21, 2024 by anonymoose

[costa43]

3 hours ago, Cogito said:

Unless she's intrigued by the history and heritage of Leica and willing to put up with AF that was substandard five years ago, she'll be frustrated. If she's used to manually focusing and loves the tactile experience of manipulating a fine piece of german engineering, like I and many here on the forums, and she'll enjoy it. 

If you do end up buying her a Q, I'd love to read her thoughts on the camera, please post them here. 

Personally, I have tens of thousands of dollars worth of sony cameras/lenses(for professional work) and a Q343(which I love,) but I (mostly) take family snaps with an iPhone. I did use the Q343 for some extended-family shot in a new england tavern, to my eye vastly superior to the ones shot with an iphone, but no-one else in the family seems to care. If she doesn't have a recent iPhone or Pixel, that's what I'd get her for Christmas. If she's a serious photographer, please disregard. 

She is definitely not intrigued or remotely interested in Leica but I am and she did ask me for a ‘real’ camera alongside her iPhone so I figured the Q would fit the bill nicely. I get to use it too which could be interesting. I’m now thinking about getting her a Fuji camera though. 

[costa43]

3 hours ago, anonymoose said:

If you use the Q2's face detect in good lighting with a forgiving f-stop of ~f2.8 with subjects that are somewhat still, facing you, and not super close (so you have a large focal plane to work with) I think you'll be quite happy with the outcome.

If you try to take low-light shots of a moving child at an off angle at f1.7 you will be very disappointed.

I went Q2 --> Q3 --> Q2 (weird, I know) and I definitely notice the AF being worse, but it isn't that bad. The Q3 will detect eyes quite well, but it will also snap between left and right and also the faces/eyes of multiple subjects quite chaotically at times. I'd rather use AF-C with point focus or even manual focus in situations like that (and often had to). Both the Q2 and Q3 pale in comparison to Sony mirrorless (particularly the A1 I own, which has other-worldly AF), so my point of relativity may also be super skewed--or maybe I have a good enough reference point to judge the Q2 and Q3 for what they are?

Thanks, may I ask what made you go back to the Q2?

[SrMi]

13 hours ago, costa43 said:

I was hoping for a 5 at least! 🤣

I am giving it a 5 :).

[anonymoose]

6 hours ago, costa43 said:

Thanks, may I ask what made you go back to the Q2?

 

[stuny]

I wonder if the Dlux-8 might meet her needs.

[costa43]

I considered the d-lux but even though it’s for her, it didn’t excite me enough! I have now ordered the Q2 for her. If she doesn’t like it then at least she will be more accepting of me trading it in for an m10m than if i buy one outright 😁

Thank you for all the input chaps.

Edited December 22, 2024 by costa43

[nameBrandon]

Hope she enjoys it! It's an amazing camera, but AF is not it's strength. Tracking is passable, but even behind something like an A7R2 introduced over 10 years ago. Face/Eye detect is a gimmick IMO on the Q2. Q3 is an improvement, but I'd still put it on par with Sony 5 years ago, or Fuji X 2 years ago. Not to give you a poor impression of the Q2 by any means, overall AF on the Q2 is decent and plenty usable. IQ is outsanding and the lens is a joy, especially when used with manual focus. 

[LocalHero1953]

In my experience, Leica AF is rarely anything but accurate and precise, once it thinks it has captured focus. Where it falls down is in finding a target in the first place and sticking to it when tracking movement.

[Dazzajl]

14 minutes ago, LocalHero1953 said:

In my experience, Leica AF is rarely anything but accurate and precise, once it thinks it has captured focus. Where it falls down is in finding a target in the first place and sticking to it when tracking movement.

So essentially not very good at its one job.

Leica is really not the place to look for industry leading tech is it. Everything that’s not the M is begged or borrowed and does a good enough job but there’s always many cameras that will do it better for a lot less cash. 

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[LocalHero1953]

1 hour ago, Dazzajl said:

So essentially not very good at its one job.

Leica is really not the place to look for industry leading tech is it. Everything that’s not the M is begged or borrowed and does a good enough job but there’s always many cameras that will do it better for a lot less cash. 

And yet there's no camera I would rather use for real world photography and high quality photos (rather than spec competition).

Strange,

[bobtodrick]

1 hour ago, Dazzajl said:

So essentially not very good at its one job.

Leica is really not the place to look for industry leading tech is it. Everything that’s not the M is begged or borrowed and does a good enough job but there’s always many cameras that will do it better for a lot less cash. 

Let’s see…Mercedes, Rolex,  Harley Davidson, Sonos…none are ‘industrial leading tech.

Sorry, not going to trade my Leica for a plastic Sony or my Rolex for a Casio.

Edited December 22, 2024 by bobtodrick