Leica Q3 / Q3 43 / Q3 Monochrom Firmware v4

[XMan]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I am not as excited about the update as others.   I do not own an SL so it was all new to me and I am confused.  I was very happy with my Q3 and had it nicely set up but am now back to square one as my profiles have disappeared. As some have said, it is virtually a new camera and I agree, my Q3 is now a mystery to me. So I thought I would download the manual again and start from scratch. But when I did this it was the same original manual I downloaded when I purchased the camera. I have not even managed to find what the new screen icons mean.  I wonder what I am missing or what info that may well be on the www and on the Leica website I have not noticed. Maybe someone can point me in the right direction so I can take the camera out of my safe and start using it again. Fingers are crossed. 

[Robert Ardinger]

7 minutes ago, XMan said:

So I thought I would download the manual again

Try downloading the manual for the Q3 MONO as it was written for this new firmware.  

Not totally applicable to the Q3 but it has been a big help for explaining most menu choices and new Icons.

[Jeff S]

1 hour ago, XMan said:

I am not as excited about the update as others.   I do not own an SL so it was all new to me and I am confused.  I was very happy with my Q3 and had it nicely set up but am now back to square one as my profiles have disappeared. As some have said, it is virtually a new camera and I agree, my Q3 is now a mystery to me. So I thought I would download the manual again and start from scratch. But when I did this it was the same original manual I downloaded when I purchased the camera. I have not even managed to find what the new screen icons mean.  I wonder what I am missing or what info that may well be on the www and on the Leica website I have not noticed. Maybe someone can point me in the right direction so I can take the camera out of my safe and start using it again. Fingers are crossed. 

I suggest you look for ‘mathphotographer’ videos on YouTube.  He has tutorials on the entire menu structure and setup of both Q and SL bodies, along with tips and tricks, and just recently added a video on the Q platform following FW 4.0.

[Tarekith]

There's definitely some regressions in the new firmware, and it's a lot to have to relearn too for something you think you know well.  But overall the improvements are worth it for me, and the more I get used to the new profiles method of customizing the LCD when composing and viewing, along with video, it all is making more sense now.  Hopefully we see an update for the obvious bugs soon, but otherwise it's back to enjoying photography here.

[JimKnopf]

vor 15 Stunden schrieb Tarekith:

Here’s a full video tutorial from Math Photographer on the v4 update:

 

Unfortunately, this is just a click-through demonstration and not a good test of the autofocus.

The purely visual representation of a detected object doesn't show whether the camera is actually able to track movement.

The focus error rate, despite the green frame, has always been high in previous versions.

It also doesn't show the maximum rotation of the camera or object for autofocus to work, or whether children are tracked well. In previous versions, adults were always prioritized. This is very annoying for family photoshoots.

[coleica]

I have been affected by the "if you switch profiles, you will get the spinning ball from hell and your camera will be shut down" feature.  I have been fiddling with profiles all week (I don't have a life).  Noticed one thing.  My main profile (profile 1) contains my basic settings; my starting point if you will.  In this profile I have the "Leica Fotos" option turned off mostly to save battery power.  So I set up a second profile (profile 2), which is configured for portraits, and with GPS activation (which requires Leica Fotos be turned on).  With Leica Fotos "on" the camera freezes 100% of the time when I try to activate that profile (profile 2).  If I edit profile 2, and turn Leica Foto "off", then I am able to switch profiles without any issues.  In other words 100% success rate.  What does it mean?  Heck if I know!  It is one data point and it is empirical, but it might be implying an issue with the Leica Foto feature.  This is just a one point observation. 

Maybe some folks suffering from the "profile feature" can try it in your cameras and report on the results?

[Pelu2010]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

9 hours ago, Daniel C.1975 said:

Yep, I also bought two additional batteries for the Q2, I believe, sloppy 160 Euro each.

For what I do, I see no difference between the SCL4 and SCL6 battery in my daily use (despite the capacity of course). 
Hence, dear Leica, this is the single most annoying topic with this firmware-update and is spoiling a bit all the good. Fix it, please.

Thank you Daniel for explaining it much better than I did. 
I also added a powerbank while shooting. This should reduce any battery issues because there is more than enough energy /power there. This should be easy to detect so the camera should disable the prompt. 
I would also love if the way the batteries are drained is reversed. Pls first the powerbank should be drained and then the internal battery. 

[David Wien]

19 hours ago, LocalHero1953 said:

I think this firmware is a great improvement; there are a few glitches, but nothing that would remotely make me want to go back, and a lot that makes my photography better easier.

Please tell us which features of the new firmware make your photography better: I may have missed them!

David

[David Wien]

13 hours ago, Oxfordian said:

Did the Q3 come with a SCL4 battery at some point as mine came with the 6?

I looked at my battery, which came with the Q3 that I bought at an official Leica distributor in Vienna, Austria; and nowhere on it does it say SCL6!

Does anyone know how I can identify whether it is an SCL4 or an SCL6?

David

Edited 8 hours ago by David Wien

[Stephen_C]

1 hour ago, coleica said:

Maybe some folks suffering from the "profile feature" can try it in your cameras and report on the results?

I've spent the last couple of days setting up my Q3, with the new firmware, from scratch. I've recreated my three user profiles and today, as the last step, re-paired my camera with the Leica FOTOS app.

I can confirm your findings. The camera will hang if you try to change from a profile where Leica FOTOS is switched Off to a profile where Leica FOTOS is switched On, or vice versa I suspect (unless you open Leica FOTOS on your phone and allow the camera to connect). For me, that's not a problem when switching between my three user profiles (because FOTOS is off in each of those). However, if I switch accidentally to the Leica default profile I immediately experience the hang until I allow the camera to connect to FOTOS on my phone.

Ideally I'd like to be able to change the Leica default profile so that, in it, FOTOS is off—but I think there's no way of changing and saving the Leica default profile.

Stephen

[LocalHero1953]

48 minutes ago, David Wien said:

Please tell us which features of the new firmware make your photography better: I may have missed them!

David

I suspect you missed that I struck out 'better'? It was a joke.

As for 'easier', then the AF controls. Being able to limit the area within which AF looks for bodies/faces, and stickier tracking of bodies/faces meams I'm less likely to find the camera has focused on the wrong person or thing.

[LocalHero1953]

57 minutes ago, David Wien said:

I looked at my battery, which came with the Q3 that I bought at an official Leica distributor in Vienna, Austria; and nowhere on it does it say SCL6!

Does anyone know how I can identify whether it is an SCL4 or an SCL6?

David

My batteries have the designation  (BP-SCL4 or BP-SCL6) buried in the detailed small print on the side of the battery. It is not immediately obvious.

Edited 7 hours ago by LocalHero1953

[keithlaban.co.uk]

28 minutes ago, LocalHero1953 said:

I suspect you missed that I struck out 'better'? It was a joke.

As for 'easier', then the AF controls. Being able to limit the area within which AF looks for bodies/faces, and stickier tracking of bodies/faces meams I'm less likely to find the camera has focused on the wrong person or thing.

I believe you are an event photographer shooting fast moving action, it makes perfect sense for you to have moved to the new firmware. I am not and I value my existing setup and user interface, the interface and camera I paid a small fortune when I bought it. My hard won muscle memory would now be severely compromised with the new firmware.

What has compounded the problems is that Leica have changed the interface without publishing a new user guide or even an explanation of the new icons. I do hope you can understand why it makes no sense for me to move to FW 4.0 for the foreseeable future. Thankfully we are all different, it's the differences between folk that make life and this place so interesting!

[LocalHero1953]

1 minute ago, keithlaban.co.uk said:

I believe you are an event photographer shooting fast moving action, it makes perfect sense for you to have moved to the new firmware. I am not and I value my existing setup and user interface, the interface and camera I paid a small fortune when I bought it. My hard won muscle memory would now be severely compromised with the new firmware.

What has compounded the problems is that Leica have changed the interface without publishing a new user guide or even an explanation of the new icons. I do hope you can understand why it makes no sense for me to move to FW 4.0 for the foreseeable future. Thankfully we are all different, it's the differences between folk that make life and this place so interesting!

I don't intend to suggest anyone else should upgrade if the upgrade solves problems they just don't have, or disrupts a workflow that works well as it is. 

[viramati]

8 minutes ago, keithlaban.co.uk said:

I believe you are an event photographer shooting fast moving action, it makes perfect sense for you to have moved to the new firmware. I am not and I value my existing setup and user interface, the interface and camera I paid a small fortune when I bought it. My hard won muscle memory would now be severely compromised with the new firmware.

What has compounded the problems is that Leica have changed the interface without publishing a new user guide or even an explanation of the new icons. I do hope you can understand why it makes no sense for me to move to FW 4.0 for the foreseeable future. Thankfully we are all different, it's the differences between folk that make life and this place so interesting!

One has to say that you would think the least that Leica can do for a £5500 camera is release a totally updated manual in addition to the the one for the older firmware. I have the recently Q3M which basically has most of the v.4 additions already in the manual but obviously misses any tracking and colour info. Anyway this is nothing new for Leica and any complaints needed to be made directly to them   software-support@leica-camera.com

Edited 7 hours ago by viramati

[David Wien]

1 hour ago, LocalHero1953 said:

My batteries have the designation  (BP-SCL4 or BP-SCL6) buried in the detailed small print on the side of the battery. It is not immediately obvious.

I have looked there many times and not found it. But, encouraged by you, I just looked again and FOUND BP-SCL-6 buried among a sea of Asian characters!

No, I didnt see your crossing out of "easier" -- it didnt show up well on my screen.

All is now explained.  Many thanks. Season's Greetings!

David

Edited 6 hours ago by David Wien

[Daniel C.1975]

vor 2 Stunden schrieb David Wien:

I have looked there many times and not found it. But, encouraged by you, I just looked again and FOUND BP-SCL-6 buried among a sea of Asian characters!

No, I didnt see your crossing out of "easier" -- it didnt show up well on my screen.

All is now explained.  Many thanks. Season's Greetings!

David

The easiest way is to look for the power rating: BP-SCL 4 has 1860mAh and the BP-SCL 6 has 2200 mAh. Easier to spot. 

[Robert Ardinger]

8 hours ago, coleica said:

Noticed one thing.  My main profile (profile 1) contains my basic settings; my starting point if you will.  In this profile I have the "Leica Fotos" option turned off mostly to save battery power

7 hours ago, Stephen_C said:

I can confirm your findings. The camera will hang if you try to change from a profile where Leica FOTOS is switched Off to a profile where Leica FOTOS is switched On

I found this out also (see post #234, page 12 of this thread). It is pretty consistent in causing the "Circles from Hell" when going from a saved profile to the default profile. Since in actually using the camera I do not really switch to the default profile (which has FOTOS "on" (performance)), I decided for now to leave my saved profiles exactly how I want them (with FOTOS "off" on all of them) and hope for the best.  I generally do not have problems now switching back and forth from saved profiles.

 

 

Edited 57 minutes ago by Robert Ardinger

[finnurp]

Unfortunately it is harder to find the format action in the menu. Is it possible to make a shortcut:

Is it possible to totally unable video? I hate it when I inadvertedly press Fn1 instead of Fn2 to zoom and the camera goes into videomode

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Leica Q

[M11 for me]

I made the update today. But i'ts quite a lot of work to set everything right including the profiles. When you have several profiles and you get aware of a "wrong" setting, then of course I have to adapt all the profiles one after the next. So it seems that it is done now. Will export that set of profiles and store them as a backup on my Mac.

Thanks to this thread (yes I went trough most posts) I understood all upcoming issues and could immediately understand how to fix.

It seems to be a good upglade with interesting new functions. 

Still there are still a bunch of change requests and also clearly bugs. Looking forward to version 4.0.1 or better version 4.1 . . .