Leica Q3 43 manual focus tips

[reemas]

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Looking for tips on how you use the manual focus on the Q3. 
 

Do you use the digital zoom? 3X or 6X? The ring is a bit firm, how do you grip it?

I use autofocus but would like to improve my manual focusing technique for when I need it. 
 

thank you!

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[keeping_a_balance]

don't think there is a perfect solution for every person. 

Some love using focus peaking (can adjust the color), others don't like it because it confuses...

Some like certain magnification others like less, I think it's going to come down to a lot of trial and error for you to dial in what you like best.

While on my Q2 I used focus peaking, I have it off on the Q343 and SL3 cameras as i tend to find it gets in the way.

Depending on light situations I can use back of the screen with super magnification but I play with magnification depending on the environment and the subject. 

I find that EVF gives the best results for critical focus.

Sometimes when lazy I just zone focus which has some pluses but more negatives...

The biggest problem I have with the Q series is that the focus tab is sensitive to slight touches once focus is on and defaults to magnifying again, which several times I have had issues with.

But have fun with it, it's a great camera and MF gives you the ultimate control.

 

[Tarekith]

Learning how to zone focus helped me a ton with the Q3 43:

Though I will admit on an 43mm lens the range scale is pretty compressed compared to other lenses.  Otherwise I tend to use focus peaking set to red which is easiest to see with the B&W photos I do, and zoom mag set to 6x.  The focus ring loosens up some with use, but not excessively so.  For me the biggest thing was just slowing down and making focus and composition two different steps; get focus where I want, make sure to not touch the focus ring (see post above why), and then worry about composition without the zoom or peaking messing me up.

[reemas]

4 minutes ago, Tarekith said:

Learning how to zone focus helped me a ton with the Q3 43:

Though I will admit on an 43mm lens the range scale is pretty compressed compared to other lenses.  Otherwise I tend to use focus peaking set to red which is easiest to see with the B&W photos I do, and zoom mag set to 6x.  The focus ring loosens up some with use, but not excessively so.  For me the biggest thing was just slowing down and making focus and composition two different steps; get focus where I want, make sure to not touch the focus ring (see post above why), and then worry about composition without the zoom or peaking messing me up.

What did you do to learn zone focusing?

[Tarekith]

I watched that video.    I mistakenly called it zone focusing in my reply initially, I meant range focusing.

Edited February 26 by Tarekith

[LanceR]

Personally, I think that the manual focusing on the Q3 43 leaves a bit to be desired.  I shot with an M camera for years, so manual focus is something I intrinsically enjoy.

Personally, I find focus peaking to be a distraction and not accurate enough.  If I need critical focus on my Q3 43 or SL3 in manual focus, I use the zoom.

I really like what other camera systems have done, where they create a bit of a hybrid.  For example, you can setup face detection, but manually focus until you get a green confirmation box and confirmation sound.  I experimented with it on the Hasselblad X2D and the Nikon Zf.  It would also be great to have it at least automatically zoom to the face if detected.

[Dr. G]

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2 hours ago, LanceR said:

Personally, I think that the manual focusing on the Q3 43 leaves a bit to be desired.  I shot with an M camera for years, so manual focus is something I intrinsically enjoy.

Personally, I find focus peaking to be a distraction and not accurate enough.  If I need critical focus on my Q3 43 or SL3 in manual focus, I use the zoom.

I really like what other camera systems have done, where they create a bit of a hybrid.  For example, you can setup face detection, but manually focus until you get a green confirmation box and confirmation sound.  I experimented with it on the Hasselblad X2D and the Nikon Zf.  It would also be great to have it at least automatically zoom to the face if detected.

The zf is great, but even with the confirmation I found myself using magnified view with either my CV 40 1.2 and 50 f/1.  I haven’t really played around with magnified manual focus on the Q3 43, but I find that on the SL3 the magnified view through the EVF isn’t as clear as it was on my SL2-S.  I loved the zf, but as a primarily low light shooter I tend to underexpose by a stop to keep shutter speed up and pull from the shadows.  The Q3 and SL3 are much better in this regard vs the zf.  The zf files, when exposed correctly, however, are really good.  

I imagine Nikon has a patent on their focus confirmation system, so I’m not sure how soon we’ll see it on a Leica camera.  It would be really interesting on the rumored M camera with an EVF, though.

[LocalHero1953]

I use manual focusing on the Q3 43 only when the subject is not moving (or will stay there for a while) and I want to take one or more shots without the AF delaying the shot or picking the wrong subject. Most of the time I use AF: switching between Body/Face/Eye and Field, and using AF-L (assigned to the centre button of the top dial) and the crop frame to control the AF process.

When I manually focus, I keep my fourth digit (third finger) on the focus tab, and use the soft tip of the finger to lock/unlock the tab from the AF position. I have it set to magnify and focus peaking, which does cause a problem when I accidentally move the ring slightly, but I've learned to avoid that with a different way of gripping.

[LanceR]

4 hours ago, Dr. G said:

The zf is great, but even with the confirmation I found myself using magnified view with either my CV 40 1.2 and 50 f/1.  I haven’t really played around with magnified manual focus on the Q3 43, but I find that on the SL3 the magnified view through the EVF isn’t as clear as it was on my SL2-S.  I loved the zf, but as a primarily low light shooter I tend to underexpose by a stop to keep shutter speed up and pull from the shadows.  The Q3 and SL3 are much better in this regard vs the zf.  The zf files, when exposed correctly, however, are really good.  

I imagine Nikon has a patent on their focus confirmation system, so I’m not sure how soon we’ll see it on a Leica camera.  It would be really interesting on the rumored M camera with an EVF, though.

I am not sure about Nikon having a patent on the hybrid focus system, because I recall the Hasselblad X2d working in a similar way; manual focus with a confirmation of focus.

I sold my M11 last year as I struggled to hit critical focus with eyes that no longer detect contrast like they once did.  I was missing too many shots.  However, I did keep all of my M lenses.  If Leica brought an M camera with an EVF to market and a shooting experience that was similar to the Zf, I would be very interested.

[reemas]

6 hours ago, LocalHero1953 said:

I use manual focusing on the Q3 43 only when the subject is not moving (or will stay there for a while) and I want to take one or more shots without the AF delaying the shot or picking the wrong subject. Most of the time I use AF: switching between Body/Face/Eye and Field, and using AF-L (assigned to the centre button of the top dial) and the crop frame to control the AF process.

When I manually focus, I keep my fourth digit (third finger) on the focus tab, and use the soft tip of the finger to lock/unlock the tab from the AF position. I have it set to magnify and focus peaking, which does cause a problem when I accidentally move the ring slightly, but I've learned to avoid that with a different way of gripping.

Why do you use the AF-L button? Can you give an example? I would think the strength of the Body/Face/Eye detect is tracking motion. Is it to lock on when your subjects are still? Still not sure I understand why you’d lock in a mode trust is fairly dynamic.
 

Thank you!

Edited February 27 by reemas

[LocalHero1953]

53 minutes ago, reemas said:

Why do you use the AF-L button? Can you give an example? I would think the strength of the Body/Face/Eye detect is tracking motion. Is it to lock on when your subjects are still? Still not sure I understand why you’d lock in a mode trust is fairly dynamic.
 

Thank you!

For example, shooting play rehearsals, when I know a person is going to be in the same place (plane of focus), more or less, for a while, but I want to wait for a particular event/expression/body position, then AF-L avoids the need for the camera to refocus. Refocusing could go wrong if there are other people in a crowded scene moving in front of or behind the main subject, risking Body/Face/Eye tracking picking the wrong person at the wrong moment. AF-L stays locked till you release it, so you can take several shots in a row without the camera refocusing.

Edited February 27 by LocalHero1953

[Tyler Howell]

On 2/26/2025 at 7:08 AM, reemas said:

Looking for tips on how you use the manual focus on the Q3. 
 

Do you use the digital zoom? 3X or 6X? The ring is a bit firm, how do you grip it?

I use autofocus but would like to improve my manual focusing technique for when I need it. 
 

thank you!

I use red peaking and i use digital zoom, but only when shooting wide open. If you press digital zoom you can then use the control ring to change between different levels of zoom. But to be honest never use these, i set my aperture to f8 and put the focus to 3m and forget about it, only adjust if i need to or if i'm shooting wide open.

[keeping_a_balance]

On 2/27/2025 at 4:40 PM, LocalHero1953 said:

For example, shooting play rehearsals, when I know a person is going to be in the same place (plane of focus), more or less, for a while, but I want to wait for a particular event/expression/body position, then AF-L avoids the need for the camera to refocus. Refocusing could go wrong if there are other people in a crowded scene moving in front of or behind the main subject, risking Body/Face/Eye tracking picking the wrong person at the wrong moment. AF-L stays locked till you release it, so you can take several shots in a row without the camera refocusing.

This makes a lot of sense.  I was out shooting a parade the other day and face body was unusable.  Frankly Leica have it very wrong, it goes absolutely haywire with a lot of subjects.  They need to come up with an option to lock on to a face that is within a certain zone (ie when using spot or zone focusing) or even field should give you a larger area to search for people, but not the whole area of view.  Frankly my experience with other brands is limited, but Sony’s implementation is sooooo much better than leica.  

All that being said the AF on the Q343 is an improvement on the SL3 (I assume in line with what the SL3S is going on which is interesting to see).

[mfbo]

I found the auto-magnification got in the way, so I’ve defaulted to relegating it to the function button on the top of the camera (inside the round dial). When I need critical focus it’s there on-call for me.