Greetings from a new Q3 owner from the Welsh Marches

[jlnevill]

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I've finally took the plunge after almost 40 years of photography and bought a Q3, and joined this forum. 

My expectations were high and after 2 weeks of ownership I can say they were exceeded.

I love the build quality, 60mp sensor, its dynamic range and the lens' micro contrast. The menu system is simple, intuitive and easy to set it up with my profiles.

I use DNG exclusively with C1 and dabble with Darktable, although the colours are bit off (pinkish) in the latter. I have created a .dstyle to correct this and provide a similar rendering to C1.

The only negative I've found is the battery life. The only solution is to use ECO mode, EVF Extended and reduce the power off / sleep times.

I'm using firmware v3 with Fotos and an iPhone 14 Pro and noticed that once I've paired the camera I can kill the app and Geotagging continues to work....I guess it's talking via BT.

Anyhow, I look forward to reading and contributing.

[ruskkyle]

Welcome!

I’d love to see some of your work from Wales with the Q3. I’ve owned mine for a year now and it’s a super versatile tool. Enjoy.

[LocalHero1953]

Welcome to the forum!

My solution to battery life is to have a spare battery. Since I have the SL2-S, I can use the same batteries - I included a spare for that when I bought it, then found myself with another spare by an accidental purchase. Together with the Q3 43 and its spare I now have five🤷‍♂️, one more than I really need.

The Leica double charger charges quickly 

[jlnevill]

I've only done a few local test shots with the Q3 in order to understand how the sensor / lens performs. The shadow recovery is superb. Much better than my Fuji XT's. I'll be taking it on a motorcycle tour of Southern Ireland in May. It'll be both refreshing and challenging, since I usually carry an XT5 and 4 Fujicrons.

I  got a free 2nd battery with the purchase and carry a power bank (Nitecore NPB4). 

Originally, the Q3 had firmware 2.0 and the start up time was slow, so I relied upon sleep rather than switching it off. With firmware 3.0, I can turn it off, as the start up time seems faster and this helps.

BTW, here's my .dtstyle for Darktable, for those who may wish to dabble. This is intended for Q3 DNGs only. Any Qs feel free to ask.

Leica Q3.dtstyle

[JNK100]

1 hour ago, jlnevill said:

I've finally took the plunge after almost 40 years of photography and bought a Q3, and joined this forum. 

My expectations were high and after 2 weeks of ownership I can say they were exceeded.

I love the build quality, 60mp sensor, its dynamic range and the lens' micro contrast. The menu system is simple, intuitive and easy to set it up with my profiles.

I use DNG exclusively with C1 and dabble with Darktable, although the colours are bit off (pinkish) in the latter. I have created a .dstyle to correct this and provide a similar rendering to C1.

The only negative I've found is the battery life. The only solution is to use ECO mode, EVF Extended and reduce the power off / sleep times.

I'm using firmware v3 with Fotos and an iPhone 14 Pro and noticed that once I've paired the camera I can kill the app and Geotagging continues to work....I guess it's talking via BT.

Anyhow, I look forward to reading and contributing.

As others have said, I would definitely suggest a second battery. I also turn off WiFi and BT.

[Stephen_C]

10 hours ago, jlnevill said:

The only solution is to use ECO mode

If you're not using the FOTOS app turn that setting off completely: it provides a significant improvement in battery life.

Stephen