The Leica Q is announced officially

[Uhooru]

<p>Yeah, Lex, Mark's look ok, but I'm not blown away by the look. Again, don't know if its processing or the camera. BTW IMO he is a good photographer, I like his work a lot.</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>I think Mark is posting mostly straight from the Leica Q stuff for now. His usual b&w processing style (I think he's said he always processes from the raw files with his Leica M's) is reminiscent of the look of T-Max 100 or Neopan with a yellow filter - very clean, clear, snappy, not overdone.</p>

<p>Yeah, I like Mark's style. I'd like to tag along and watch him working. I'm getting the impression he zone focuses and stops down for DOF on many candid snaps. His timing is perfect, and he carefully treads that gray area between fearlessness, voyeurism and empathy. He has a knack for catching folks spontaneously, off guard without seeming exploitative or unsympathetic. It's the look of a casual glance between strangers.</p>

[ray .]

Here are a couple more reviews:

 

http://www.slack.co.uk/2015/Hemingway.html

 

http://www.reddotforum.com/content/2015/06/leica-q-typ-116-review-a-full-frame-mini-m/

[Uhooru]

<p>That Steve Huff guy is seriously frothing at the mouth about the Q, but that's not unusual. But really $4200 for a fixed lens camera? </p>

[ray .]

C'mon Barry it's not like it's a junk Fuji....... : )

[Karim Ghantous]

<p>BTW, OIS is a feature. Stefan Daniel said that it's left off by default, because: you don't usually need it; and there are image quality compromises at the edges of the frame. It will be most useful with hand-held video.</p>

<p>I think that the Q will become an interchangeable lens system. Just like how the X became the T. Simple as that. In this game, you have to cannibalize yourself. Remember when the iPod (5th gen.) got the video playback feature as well as a price drop? Apple just went like hell. And they never looked back.</p>

<p>But the M system will always be with us. DSLRs are already obsolete, but the RF system cannot be replaced (yet) with an electronic equivalent.</p>

[mike dixon]

<i>DSLRs are already obsolete, but the RF system cannot be replaced (yet) with an electronic equivalent.</i><P>

Meanwhile, out here in the real world, a majority of serious hobbyists and most professional photographers are still using DSLRs, and people have been mounting RF (and other) lenses on mirrorless cameras for years.

[Robin Smith]

<blockquote>

<p>DSLRs are already obsolete, but the RF system cannot be replaced (yet) with an electronic equivalent.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Got to agree with Mike. If anything, the rangefinder is obsolete and has been since the early 1960s. I like rangefinders, but they are not the wave of the future.</p>

<p>As has been said, the Q's price is not so bad when your consider a 28 Summicron is $3800 and the new 'lux $6,000, and you have AF and OIS in the Q too. Still too rich for me: but I can see the way Leica are thinking.</p>

[Tony Rowlett]

Here is another review I thought was nice. It includes a .zip file with four .dng files you can download and process yourself.

 

http://lavidaleica.com/content/hands-leica-q-type-116

[steve_george3]

...and the review tht Tony sent us also predicts that the Q will, in some way, become the basis of a system. Not for a

while, though, I think. First, we'll need the siver version of the Q, then the one with engraved brass top and bottom plates,

finished in either chrome or black lacquer (and maybe titanium?). Then the one without the unnecessary rear screen

(there's nothing you can do on-screen you can't do in the viewfinder, except touch focus, thereby leaving greasy

fingerprints all over the screen). I'll wait for that one, myself.

[ray .]

Ha ha Steve! : )

[pensacolaphoto]

<p>I view the Q as a "Leica point $ shoot camera for travel", with a modern sensor. Most Leica camera users have great Leica mount lenses, and they want to use these lenses on a new Leica with a modern sensor and modern circuitry. Adding this Q luxury point & shoot camera will not help with using the lenses.<br>

I hope that the Q is a proto type camera for a new M with FF and exchangeable lenses.<br>

I will ask Oliver Kaltner about it when he allows me a phone interview with him. He is now in Japan. Maybe he is visiting the company that is producing the sensor for the Q?</p>

[DB_Gallery]

<p>Leica was at Look3 in Charlottesville over the weekend, had lots of great gear to loan out including the Q. I liked it a lot, felt light and well built, same thickness as a film M. But the lens is huge-a-loid, like a Mamiya RF lens. It's very sharp too, so much so that I found a good bit of moire in shots of people's clothes. <br>

I also tried the M240 out, a marked improvement over the M9, files look fantastic and had tons of room to move tones around in a very natural film like way. I found a mint one for 4K and bought it today...</p>

[Ed_Ingold]

<p>The Leica Q is a bargain compared to the $7500 Hasselblad (nee Lumix) pocket camera. $4200 for a fixed lens camera seems a bit over the top for me. What is keeping them from putting an M lens mount on a camera with an EVF? Nothing, that is, except unwanted competition with their rangefinder cameras.</p>

<p>The Q appears to have exceptional image quality and a reasonable ISO range. However it's too large to fit in a pocket and too limited to appeal to most enthusiasts. If I want simplicity, I walk out of the house (or away from the car) with one lens and a camera. The difference is, I have a choice. That lens can be engraved with the Leica name, whether the camera says Sony or M9.</p>

[ray .]

I once had a Minolta CLE for about 10 seconds before I sold it. Took it to the city with me and made about 4

exposures, then thought, "Why the heck use this when I have my M7?" I'm sure my preference for

carrying an M has something to do with the fact I've had one in one form or another since 1980 starting

with an M2, but there's something about the size shape and weight of it that feels right. In comparison any other camera that has something it doesn't have also gives something up. I don't see that changing.

[jason]

<p>I wish Leica all the success.<br>

It seems a great camera.<br>

Maybe still no competition to i-Phone.<br>

Price and portability factors.<br>

Strangely I have noticed 3 things about the Leica Q.<br>

The f-stop is f1.7.Leica has never used such an aperture.<br>

Very Japanese!<br>

2. No built in flash. <br>

3.All the images seen so far in color look flat!<br>

Sadly at a price few can afford, esp. for a point and shoot.</p>

 

[Allen Herbert]

<p>"Maybe still no competition to i-Phone".</p>

<p>Perhaps not....love my iPhone to bits.</p>

<p>But still there is a joy in using in a finally crafted product which starts with M and finishes with M.</p>

<p>Not a Q or X but M.</p>

[Allen Herbert]

<p>Enjoying using my Fuji Pro decided its going to be keeper along with my humble x-al....those Jpegs.</p><div></div>

[eyal_hirsh]

<p>The Q is the first camera I will save up for. No choice, really, ha ha.</p>