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I had the first opportunity to use the Q3 43 in a proper job last night, documenting the sound-check for an Espen Erikson Trio with Andy Sheppard concert.  Pairing the the Q with 2 SL2s with 24-90 / 90-280 zooms was a dream combination for me.  I definitely couldn't have done the whole shoot with just Q (and this would have been the same if I'd been using an M), but having this lovely 43mm APO lens has made a difference to the process and the outcome.  The separation and the way the lens draws are outstanding! 

Some examples below.  There's a link to a set of images Q3 43 & SL2) on my website at https://www.ctribble.co.uk/galleries/PERFORMANCE/Espen_Eriksen_Andy_Sheppard/ and a fuller set can be seen at https://ctribble.myportfolio.com/jazz if you're really interested😊.

I'd be interested to see examples of other users' practice in the area of performance or event photography.

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Posted (edited)

I’ve used the Q3 43 for play rehearsal photography where the SL2-S and its zooms could be seen as a bit overpowering in a small space. I find it works well, and good enough to replace the SL2-S for such cases, though I find shadow recovery to be not quite as good. I wouldn’t have used the Q2 in such circumstances, both because of the low light performance and the far less effective  AF. 

I’m on my phone at the moment but will post some images when I get home. I’ve posted quite a few here already. 

Edited by LocalHero1953
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3 hours ago, LocalHero1953 said:

I’ve used the Q3 43 for play rehearsal photography where the SL2-S and its zooms could be seen as a bit overpowering in a small space. I find it works well, and good enough to replace the SL2-S for such cases, though I find shadow recovery to be not quite as good. I wouldn’t have used the Q2 in such circumstances, both because of the low light performance and the far less effective  AF. 

I’m on my phone at the moment but will post some images when I get home. I’ve posted quite a few here already. 

I agree. I’ve found the “friendliness” of the little Leica (or me when using it) makes people more comfortable, I like the expressions and body language I get from them. 

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Posted (edited)

These are of the early music performance group Arcangelo in Trinity College Chapel. I had taken shots with the SL2-S during rehearsal, and during the first half of the performance from organ loft, but had a seat at the edge of the performance space in the second half, where the Q3 was unobtrusive and quiet. 

ISO 25,000

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ISO 12500

ISO 25000

ISO 25000

Edited by LocalHero1953
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And I've posted this one previously. I did not have much space to work with in this rehearsal space.
University dance society annual show rehearsals ISO 8000

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1 hour ago, LocalHero1953 said:

These are of the early music performance group Arcangelo in Trinity College Chapel. I had taken shots with the SL2-S during rehearsal, and during the first half of the performance from organ loft, but had a seat at the edge of the performance space in the second half, where the Q3 was unobtrusive and quiet. 

ISO 25,000

ISO 12500

ISO 25000

ISO 25000

Thanks - I will have to start using the higher ISOs!  I've tended to default to max at 6400 with the SL2 (which still does a very good job!). Lots of new potential to explore.

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1 hour ago, chris_tribble said:

Thanks - I will have to start using the higher ISOs!  I've tended to default to max at 6400 with the SL2 (which still does a very good job!). Lots of new potential to explore.

I should have added that all these have been run through Lightroom's AI Denoise (typically 35-50%).

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48 minutes ago, LocalHero1953 said:

I should have added that all these have been run through Lightroom's AI Denoise (typically 35-50%).

Paul. That’s interesting.  My experience is that I’ve rarely felt the need for higher than 6400 with the SL2 and had set that as a limit with the Q3 43. A small amount of luminance noise suppression (15%?) is usually plenty. If the image is correctly exposed (I use highlight weighted metering for stage lighting) they’re more than good enough for web and poster printing, and make great A3+ prints.  Interesting times!

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10 minutes ago, chris_tribble said:

Paul. That’s interesting.  My experience is that I’ve rarely felt the need for higher than 6400 with the SL2 and had set that as a limit with the Q3 43. A small amount of luminance noise suppression (15%?) is usually plenty. If the image is correctly exposed (I use highlight weighted metering for stage lighting) they’re more than good enough for web and poster printing, and make great A3+ prints.  Interesting times!

The shots I posted were actually in a minority in the sets I took, which were mostly at less than ISO 25000. The ISO gets pushed up with faster shutter speed for action, and with smaller apertures for greater depth of field (and sometimes I forget to reset afterwards!)

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11 hours ago, chris_tribble said:

Paul. That’s interesting.  My experience is that I’ve rarely felt the need for higher than 6400 with the SL2 and had set that as a limit with the Q3 43. A small amount of luminance noise suppression (15%?) is usually plenty. If the image is correctly exposed (I use highlight weighted metering for stage lighting) they’re more than good enough for web and poster printing, and make great A3+ prints.  Interesting times!

Thinking about this........I need LR's Denoise to clean up recovered shadows, not well exposed highlights. It's just a hazard of stage lighting: some parts are beautifully lit, others are in deep shadow and I want to bring them up (the shot of the whole chapel in post #5 was one of those). It's a pity there is not enough control to just mask off the areas where you want it to work. Topaz Photo AI can do that, but the overall process is slower, and I don't find the denoising itself to be as good as LR - though I find Topaz is better at sharpening.

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Posted (edited)

@LocalHero1953 All good points.  I’m still discovering the potential of this new tool. One thing it sadly won’t do is to ignore pure blue LED lighting - the biggest hazard of modern stage lighting IMHO

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… if the Q sensor could deal with that hazard it would be neat!

 

Edited by chris_tribble
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An example of the problem in the hair here… The highlights weren’t blown, but the blue light effect is still unpleasant IMHO…

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Posted (edited)

Yes, now the problem is to see in the hair.
If that happen frequently you may do some tests on a dummy to verify if there is a way to reduce blue saturation.
Maybe with dedicated white balance? A lens filter?
Google may find some useful hints?

Chris

Edited by PhotoCruiser
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Posted (edited)

It’s ugly in monochrome too.  The trick (which I forgot to implement) is to ask the lighting guy to NOT use blue LEDs during the sound check. I kicked myself after the shoot!  I had the same issue years ago with Tomas Stañko and Marcin Wasilewski. There are some examples in the set here: https://ctribble.myportfolio.com/jazz-archive. If you scroll past the first half dozen images (shot on monochrome film), there’s a set where the blue light effect issue even affected the monochrome renders (admittedly, this was using a Canon 50D - my first digital camera).

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… and the blue light problem persists 20 years later!  A bit off topic, but hey 🙂

 

 

Edited by chris_tribble
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Posted (edited)

My guess is that this deep blue color tricks the exposure metering and blow out the blues, if this happen only with blue but not other color the it's probably this.
Have you tried to use spot (or centered) exposure metering on the strong blue parts just to see if exposure is correct then?
However, it would not be very helpful as then there rest will be underexposed and lifting depths will lead most likely to too high iso noise but may reveal the reason for that.

As a long year "illuminator" in the 90's you may discuss this with the Illumninator, to either use a different blue gel or slightly other blue on color mixing lamps, or to not point the lamp directly on the person.
Chris

 

Edited by PhotoCruiser
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On 3/8/2025 at 2:21 PM, PhotoCruiser said:

Yes, now the problem is to see in the hair.
If that happen frequently you may do some tests on a dummy to verify if there is a way to reduce blue saturation.
Maybe with dedicated white balance? A lens filter?
Google may find some useful hints?

In Photoshop add on top layer a warming photo filter

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