Leica Q3 Review: Solid upgrade for the perfect travel camera

The Leica Q3 is the third iteration of the company’s fixed-lens full-frame camera. The original Leica Q was released nearly eight years ago, on 10 June 2015. It was a real surprise, with many novel features and was a big success for Leica. The Q2 arrived on 7 March 2019; it was the same basic concept with a raft of useful updates.

Looking back to the Leica Q2

It is just four years ago since the Leica Q2 came with (at the time) stunning specs:

• New full-frame 47MP image sensor
• Weather-sealed, dust and splash-proof
• New, faster Maestro family processing engine
• Same Summilux f/1.7 28mm ASPH lens
• New OLED EVF 3.68MP (same resolution as Q but clearer)
• Extended ISO range from 50 to 50,000
• Video Recording C4k24p/4k30p/FHD120p/FHD60p/FHD30p/FHD24p
• Higher speed autofocus
• Higher capacity battery (the same as that in the Leica SL)
• Faster top electronic shutter speed (1/40,000s)
• New three-button user interface (similar to that on the Leica CL)
• Touchscreen functionality on the LCD
• Improved digital zoom with frame lines for (28), 35, 50 and 75mm
• Improved Wifi and Bluetooth

It was a big list! The Q2 has become a hugely popular travel camera and is in use today with hundreds of photographers, sometimes as a second device but often as a first camera. It’s so good that I know several professional photographers that use it as their primary camera.

I’ve just been to the LSI (Leica Society International) Spring Shoot in Rome, where I think there were more Q2s visible than M cameras and L cameras put together!

The Q2 was such a success that Leica then brought out the Q2 Monochrom.

If you’re interested, then you can find my links to my reviews of the Q2, Q2 Monochrom and other stories at the foot of this article.

Moving on to the Leica Q3

So, Leica has now released the Q3. I’ve had one for several months now, and in this article, I’ll discuss the improvements (or otherwise) in relation to the Q2.

Changes:

• New 60MP BSI Back Illuminated CMOS Sensor (similar to that in the M11)
• USB-C and Mini HDMI connectors
• PDAF Focusing
• Tilting LCD
• Improved Bluetooth and WiFi
• Small, Medium and full-sized DNG and/or JPG files 60.3, 36.5, 18.6 MP
• Reliable Geotagging in conjunction with Leica Fotos
• Rear button layout change
• Long exposures are possible (with any combination of ISO and shutter speed). Long Exposure NR can be disabled.
• One additional function button
• USB-C charging
• Optional grip enabling induction charging
• Higher resolution EVF with 5.76 million dots, magnification 0.79
• Higher resolution display 3-inch 1,843 million dots
• Digital Zoom now has 28, 35, 50, 75 and 90mm frame lines
• “Leica Looks”

The body

The Leica Q3 has the same wonderful 28mm f/1.7 Summilux lens as its predecessors. This is certainly a case of, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

However, there are changes to the rear of the body

Tilting LCD

Leica has been doing its research, and the most requested new feature was a tilting rear monitor (although it doesn’t twist).

This will save you dirty knees when photographing that toadstool and allow you to take photographs over the heads of the crowd at any event or concert.

It has been very nicely implemented: Most of us will have the screen behaviour set to EVF Extended (so that menus and reviews come up on the rear screen LCD and the EVF is used for framing and shooting). If you pull out the tilting LCD, then the camera assumes that’s how you will be framing, and the LCD switches on. When you push it back in, it reverts to EVF Extended. Excellent!

USB-C and mini HDMI connectors

There is a new port cover on the left-hand side of the camera (looking from the back). This contains a USB-C port and a mini HDMI connector. The door itself is plastic, and it is hinged on two rubbery strips attached to the camera body so that it pulls clear. It seems to me that this is a much better solution than a hinged door (however tough) because if it breaks, it won’t be part of the camera and should be easily replaceable.

Rear button layout change

This is a bit more controversial. The three buttons (Play, Function, Menu) on the left-hand side of the rear of the body have been moved to the right of the screen (to make room for the flippy LCD). Instead of three buttons, however, there are just the Play and Menu buttons, with an improved four-way switch where the FN button used to be.

I’m not really convinced by this. I can see the rationale, but it was good to be able to use both hands on the rear screen, and the large function button on the left was extremely useful. But it only takes a day or so to get used to it.

One additional function button

There is an additional function button on the back of the camera at the top, This might seem like a replacement for the old function button on the left, but now you can also configure the set button with a long press.

Optional grip enabling wireless charging

I haven’t tried this (Leica didn’t send me a grip), but I understand that you have to be careful to place the camera correctly to get it to charge (as with other devices, really). As far as I’m aware, this is the first full-frame camera to feature wireless charging.

The hardware

New 60MP BSI back-illuminated CMOS sensor

The new sensor, which is similar to that of the M11, is a real step forward. Leica is not very forthcoming about sensors, but as I understand it, this is a modified version of the sensor in the M11. BSI sensors are much better at low light, and this is something I’ve had a look at (see the image quality section below).

The only downside of the new sensor is that it has a slower readout time than the one on the Q2. This will result in more of a ‘rolling shutter’ effect when using the electronic viewfinder; it also results in a slightly longer blackout time between shots when you fire quickly. For most people, this will be something they don’t even notice, but for someone who shoots bursts of photos, it might be an issue.

Phase Detect autofocus

Both Leica and Panasonic (in both the SL, S and Q cameras) have been using Contrast Detect AF in the past. This works well, but the difficulty is that if an image is out of focus, the camera doesn’t know whether front or back focusing and has a tendency to hunt back and forth. Phase detect requires specialised pixels, but it can detect where the plane of focus should be and head in the right direction without hunting.

This is a real step in the right direction. At the moment, the focusing performance of the Q3 doesn’t seem a great deal better than that of the Q2 (which was very good), but this is something that should be capable of improvement in future firmware updates. Leica has finally bitten the bullet and used the best method of autofocus.

Improved Bluetooth and WiFi

The Q3 features hugely improved WiFi and much better Bluetooth than the Q2. As a result, the connection with Leica Fotos is much faster. Downloading images over WiFi to your phone or tablet is really fast. In fact, it’s much faster than a cable connection (and, of course, far more convenient).

Small, medium and full-sized DNG and/or JPG files

In common with the M11, you can choose three levels of file quality — the sensor’s native resolution is 60MP, creating 9520×6336 pixel files; it can also output 7416×4928 (36MP) or 5272×3498 (18MP), both with DNG raw files or JPG.

Personally, I’m not very convinced by this. I feel the best way to preserve space is to do proper culling, but I do understand that lots of people like the opportunity to create lower-resolution files. Very little detail is lost using the lower resolution.

Long exposures possible

With the Leica Q3, any combination of ISO and shutter speed can be used, and long exposure NR can be disabled. This makes the Q3 very suitable for night photography, especially when you consider the excellent high ISO capabilities of the camera.

USB-C charging

This option is so convenient. It means that when you arrive in Fuerteventura for ten days and find you forgot to pack your charger, it’s no drama. In fact, I find it more convenient than the traditional charger — I have a USB block by my bed to charge my phone and watch with an additional USB-C cable so it can charge the camera overnight as well.

It also means that you can charge the camera from a power brick when away from an electricity supply.

The optional grip allows wireless charging

The optional grip connects to the camera and allows wireless charging. Sadly I didn’t have a grip, so I couldn’t test this feature. Leica will also be selling an induction pad to go with the camera.

Better EVF, 5.76 million dots, magnification 0.79

I have to say that I never had much problem with the Q2 EVF, but this is even better; it’s clear and bright and incredibly detailed.

Higher resolution display 3-inch, 1.843 million dots

The display quality is really good, clear and bright, with excellent viewing angles and real detail.

Digital Zoom

This now offers 28, 35, 50, 75 and 90mm frame lines

There are now five digital zoom levels:

Focal length	Pixels	Resolution (MP)
28mm	9520 x 6336	60.3
35mm	7616 x 5072	38.6
50mm	5328 x 3552	18.9
75mm	3552 x 236	8.4
90mm	2960 x 1968	5.8

The extra sensor resolution makes the digital zoom even more usable than on previous Q cameras. I have to say that I wasn’t really convinced until now. However, I shoot only DNG, so I am not committed to the lower resolution in post-processing.

The 35 and 50-mm options are particularly useful.

I was thinking that 5.8MP for the 90mm really isn’t very much, and then I remembered that we decorated our Cornish house with A2-sized images from the Olympus E1 back in 2005. That camera had only 5MP, and the images look great.

As with the Q2, at the longer focal lengths, the display shows frame lines representing the crop. For many purposes, this is perfect, but I think it would also be great to have the option to show the crop full screen (both in shooting mode and in replay).

Leica Fotos

Leica Fotos works extremely well with the Q3: WiFi download of larger DNG files is incredibly quick (much faster than using the cable provided).

Geotagging is now accurate and consistent. You don’t need to have the camera connected to the app for it to work; just to have the app loaded on your phone.

“Leica Looks” can be chosen in Fotos and transferred to the camera – they are:

• Contemporary
• Classic
• Blue
• Selenium
• Sepia

More will probably be added later if this is successful. The Looks can also be accessed through the JPG settings on the camera. This isn’t something I’ve really examined since I tend to shoot DNG and make changes in Lightroom rather than letting the camera do the job.

Fotos has really come along since the early days. I’m still trying to figure out how to incorporate it into a completely digital workflow, but it’s really good for creating quick content for social media and also for connecting to Lightroom Mobile. But for me, it’s worth its presence for the Geotagging alone.

Focusing

In single-shot mode, the focusing is very precise and quick, just as it was in the Q2. Eye detect seems to work pretty well too. Continuous focus and tracking are still behind the competition, but at least now that Leica has finally embraced PDAF (Phase Detect AF), we can expect real improvements in firmware going forwards.

Image quality

This is where the Q3 really shines. The new sensor has an incredible dynamic range and excellent high-ISO characteristics. It’s hard to measure the dynamic range improvement (it’s obvious, though), but I feel that the new camera offers about 1.5 stops improvement in noise at high ISO.

Here are some comparisons at 100, 3,200, 12,500 and 50,000 ISO. Q2 left, Q3 right

If you want to look more carefully at the differences in image quality, then you could not do better than to check my friend Sean Reid’s site, which is well worth the subscription.

Conclusion

The Leica Q3 offers some solid advantages over its predecessor, including an excellent new sensor, PDAF focusing, a tilting LCD, much improved Bluetooth and Wifi, variable-sized DNG files and excellent Geotagging in conjunction with Fotos. The new EVF is sparkling, and the digital zoom has somehow come into its own. The only slight downside is the increased blackout time when shooting fast. The image quality is right up with its big brother, the M11, and it would make a great companion with the M11 or the SL2 for lots of serious photographic assignments.

The Q has always been the perfect travel camera, and the Q3 has built solidly on that heritage. I’m sure that a very large proportion of the current Q and Q2 users will find the improvements well worth the upgrade, especially the USB-C charging and the much improved low-light quality.

More images here

Springtime in Suffolk

Summer is just beginning, but it’s been a lovely (if wet) Spring, with the sunshine splashing through our windows. Here are a few images to try to catch the spirit of it

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Review of the Leica Q2 Monochrom

and two articles on the original Q2:

Hemingway

QinChina

Read more from Jonathan Slack

Visit Jonathan’s website here

Sie können diesen Artikel auch hier auf Deutsch lesen

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