The Leica Q is from 2015 it took a long time for Leica to find the right way ...
Leica M user and even screw (Leica II, standard and IIIc - photo below a sharkskin model with its 50mm viewfinder) since 1974 along with Japanese SLRs, more suited to the motor sport photo. The Leica has always been the perfect camera for me: M rangefinder, silent, shutter speed, precision, optical quality ... even if some Leitz lenses did not have the expected level of quality.
When the digital arrived after the Kodak DCS, Nikon first, with the D1 proposed a suitable product then Canon the following year with the EOS1D in 2002. The two major brands have shared the professional market. The Leica disappeared from the reporters' bag. The German brand has tried things: digital backs for their outdated and confidential DSLRs then the M8, followed by the M9. Meanwhile the others had progressed a lot. Fuji who never lost sight of the photographers had released the X-Pro, new names known for their consumer products such as Sony, Panasonic, arrived with the intention of reach the pro market. The M became an obsolete choice and especially overpriced. The release of the M10 in 2017 and the M10-P so close to the original M offers vintage fans the opportunity to acquire a very beautiful object. The more fortunate can also set prestigious lenses hoping that the focus is as accurate as a well-configured autofocus.
But let's go back to the Leica Q. More precisely the Q-P which I acquired at the beginning of 2019.
I find with this camera the spirit of the M4 : simplicity, shutter speed, discretion and image quality. In a picture what matters is the lens, here we have a Summilux lens - Aspherical (they are all now!) 1.7 / 28mm which seems in perfect agreement with the sensor 24X36 which delivers images size 6000X4000 pixels, so 24 MP. It goes to 12800 Iso, but from 1600 iso there is grain ( not noise! ) That can be easily reduced in post-production, or not ... In fact it is the charm of this camera that offers high quality images in which you have the feeling the delicacy of analog photography
For doing comparative tests with cameras equipped with recent sensors. The dynamics is important, the sensitivity of 100 iso is real and it is not always the case. Some manufacturers are cheating on advertised sensitivities. It is not uncommon to find differences of up to 2/3 IL, with identical values.
There is a stabilizer, Wi-Fi that works, a screen a little touch, it is sold with a second battery, the viewfinder is nice. The AF is fast and never fail ... except on black and shiny cars ! It is possible to switch to focus manual and find the missing charm of the best Leica lenses..
