Farewell beloved Q3

[Alexander108]

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I got my Q3 in April 2024 and it was a revelation. The Q3 brought my Street photography (for me personally) to the next level. I took it to Prague, London, Barcelona, New York. What a joy to use. The tilt screen helped me with the perspective I wanted. The OIS helped me take pictures with motion blur with up to .4s hand held. The ease of use, the shooting experience is just great. I love touching the Q3. The feeling of Quality made in Germany. The outstanding 60MP sensor that allows for considerable cropping. The lens that is ever so crisp and sharp. The colors. What a great camera.

Yet, I just packed it in the box it came with and brought it to the post office.

A friend of mine recently asked me: what would you do: get a Q3 or an M11? My clear advice was: go for the Q3. Such a charm to use. But he ignored my advice and bought the M11. Maybe he already owned an M6 with a couple of lens. But c'mon! No autofocus! No image stabilization! No Auto aperture (which I never used on my Q3). No tilt screen (that I used a lot). But he went for it and once he got it we met. He showed me his old Summicron lenses. This body that was ever so slightly smaller than the Q3's body. 

But he made me start thinking. And watching videos. Wasn't Alan Schaller using a Q3? Didn't I clearly see that? No. I was mistaken. He always shot with Ms. He made a video on the Monochrom and that this blew his mind. And for that matter: many b/w photographers minds. I kept watching M videos on YT from great and not so great Youtubers. And then I started looking in this forum and asked for advice. And more advice. And even more advice. And then, after spending hours on ebay and other sources I came across a (kind of) reasonable priced 5y old M10 Monochrom. And I bought it plus a 35mm Summicron. 50y old Canada Version that cost me twice as much as a preowned Canon EF 35mm F/2 IS USM. 

The UI of the M10M is not even close to the Q3. But the first pictures I took were utterly stunning. I expected that I would not be able to nail the focus of the majority of my first 50 pics. But to my surprise focusing was not an issue. Candid street photography went as good as with the Q3. I limited the camera to ISO 12500, and the pictures with that high ISO were just amazing (technically).

Now I am in the joyful expectation of the next member of my Leica family. I just decided to get an additional M11 to get a colored M experience. Hence, you find me in the M forum and not participating in the Q3 forum.

It was a joyful and great time with the Q3. But the Messsucher got me. 

Thanks for spending the time reading my little story.

Alexander

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[Dazzajl]

Congratulations on your new found love and hope you shoot many many glorious frames with both cameras

[bobtodrick]

Good for you.  I find the Q fits my needs very well (always been a wide angle guy) but I do miss my M4 with its trio of lenses (35/50/90)…and once you get used to rangefinder focussing it is by far the best manual focus system.

[mhasman]

Similar experience here, only shorter time with Q3. I was waiting for Q3 release, badly, got it as soon as it was available, used for about 2 weeks - and found nothing I would not be able to get from Canon R. Even like Canon colors better as more realistic and natural. Returned, got M11 Monochrom instead. Sooooo happy with it in any single aspect - camera and lenses quality, usability, photos. Definitely reinventing photography for myself with M11M. Such of fun! 

[Markey]

Very different from my perspective.

I`ve been using M `s since the eighties and currently have an M246.

Bought a Q3 43 in the last couple of weeks and totally blown away both with the versatility and the end result .

I use it along with the 246.

Seems an ideal combo so far.

[Olaf_ZG]

You will return here, don’t worry 😉 

[Elliot Harper]

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I have exactly same struggles years ago when starting with a Q2.

guess what I have now: 3 M’s, 2 Q’s and a SL3-S

[Alexander108]

vor 2 Minuten schrieb Elliot Harper:

I have exactly same struggles years ago when starting with a Q2.

guess what I have now: 3 M’s, 2 Q’s and a SL3-S

Do you still shoot with your Qs? With more lenses at my disposal I found it difficult to select the Q3. 

[Elliot Harper]

1 hour ago, Alexander108 said:

Do you still shoot with your Qs? With more lenses at my disposal I found it difficult to select the Q3. 

When I’m out with family I use Q3 /43

when I’m out alone I usually take a M with one or two lenses.

when there is a big friend and/or family gathering I use SL3-S

[ianforber]

I bought a Q2 about 5 years ago. Great camera. I then thought an M camera would be a great idea so I bought an M11 with 35mm and 50mm lenses. 18 months later I realised I was struggling to decide which camera to take out and returned with images that were no better/worse with each camera. I sold the M11 and kept the Q2. I remain very happy although it’s about time I wasted some money on more unnecessary kit so watch this space!