I’ve had the Leica Q since 2017, I bought it used on B&H for $3,500. It’s been to a few different countries, several different states and in some situations it should never find itself in (the ocean). Needless to say, I’ve put this camera through its paces. So much so that I had to have it repaired because of my stupid choices that costed me over $1,600 to have it fixed. Was it worth it? You’re damn straight. Below, I tell you why.
The Leica Q is a beautiful machine. It’s not lightning fast with its Auto Focus and the battery isn’t made by Tesla. However it does have the same appeal to me as it did the day I bought it. The black and whites that come straight out of the camera as jpeg on medium contrast are so unique, punchy and wonderful.
The tactility of the camera is so satisfying, it feels like you would expect paying so much for such a tool. The 28mm focal length is a perfect length for my taste in photography (I like to stay pretty close to the subject). I’ve used a 35mm and 24mm for several years and this falls right between them. If the Leica Q had dual card slots I could definitely get away with only shooting it at weddings.
So??? You’re stuck with one lens. This is what I think of as finding strength within the weakness. If you shoot on one lens consistently, you learn how to use it better than most would with a bag full of options. I understand that the fixed lens can shy people away and that’s okay, this camera isn’t made for everyone! I’d definitely say it was made for me though.
When I was in South Africa I shot a ton of models and landscapes. I never leave without the Leica Q and thankfully this was no exception. My Sony A7iii bit the dust half way through my 70 day stay so I resulted in using the Q for the majority of my time there. I never hard a problem using this camera and fell even more in love with it when it’s all I had. This was right around the time that the X100V showed up on the scene (a camera I was dying to have since I’ve had every other X100 model, something about fixed lenses just does something for me). Unfortunately I could not get the camera store there to let me buy one since they had a list of people waiting on it. The reason I bring up the X100 series is because so many people like to compare them. While the X100V is an amazing (weather sealed) camera, the images are sharp and crispy, the tiltable screen makes my type of shooting easier and film simulations are super cool, the image quality doesn’t beat the full frame 28mm on the Leica unfortunately.
Final Thoughts:
Leica made an amazingly expensive product for face value. I suggest you rent one before you buy it because I really think it’s a love it or hate it camera. I’ve had some friends pick it up and put it down and some HAVE to have it. The images are astounding, the lens is superb, it handles low light well, it’s full frame, the body is strong, it feels great in the hand and Leica prides itself on its quality and on its ability to fix your camera correctly. I love the camera, I’d like to have the Q2 apart from the file sizes that I don’t really need (but that’s going to be a while for me until the price drops)