Leica Q3 Camera Review

[SECTION]INTRODUCTION[/SECTION]

There have been numerous attempts by Leica and indeed also by Zeiss, the two big names of German photographic heritage, to bring their cameras up to date with modern sensibilities and requirements. The success of these attempts has been somewhat variable, but Leica has definitely hit the spot with the Q range. The cameras have been more affordable, although still expensive, but critically have maintained the standards required in terms of quality of construction and of performance. There are some areas in which the design is still lacking in elegance, rather offering instead a solid quality that to be fair may well outlast any elegance by a long margin. However, quality counts and we expect it of Leica. Let’s have a close look now at the new camera and see if the lens is up to the higher resolution needed for a 60MP sensor and if there are real tangible improvements that merit the purchase of the new model over the old.

Leica Q3 Features

The IP52 weather-sealed body weighs in at a solid 743g, including the battery. Dimensions are 130 x 80.3 x 92.6mm, hardly compact but fitting the hands well. The optional grip improves handling but needs to be removed to gain access to the battery and SD card compartments. The grip is also needed if use is to be made of wireless charging. On balance, this reviewer’s preference is to forget the grip and keep the improved access to the battery and card. Others will disagree, and options are there for this very reason. As on the M11 and the Q2, the battery has its own integral door and a slight push will release it ready to place in the charger. There is only one SD card slot. Depending on the tripod head used, it is more than likely that it will not be possible to remove the battery whilst on the tripod, and certain that the SD card will be inaccessible.

The general design is minimalistic and there are few controls. However, hit the menu button on the back of the camera and a selection of all the most useful settings becomes available. There is also a four-way controller, play button and some unmarked buttons that allow access to, for example, the crop feature, ISO, display options, etc. The crop feature is an extension of that on the Q2 and uses a digital crop to provide fields of view of the full lens (28mm) and 35mm, 50mm, 75mm and 90mm. This is shown in the viewfinder as a series of bright-line indications, a concept that will be familiar to users of rangefinder cameras. This also means that, for example, the 90mm setting is shown as a very small central area within the overall 28mm view. It also reinforces the optical fact of life that perspective is not changed by changing focal length but is controlled by the distance of the camera from the subject. The OLED EVF is 5.76MP and is superb, especially with its higher frame rate of 120fps.

Connectivity is via WiFi, Bluetooth, or cable connection. HDMI (Tyle-D) and USB-C sockets are provided, plus a Leica FOTOS cable for direct connection to iPhone or iPad. The Q3 has a totally immersive design to meld with Apple products via this direct cable connection or via Bluetooth and the Leica FOTOS App. 8K video, ProRes, H.265 and 10-bit colour are all part of the video spec.

The lens is fixed and is a Leica Summilux 28mm f/1.7 Aspherical and this is covered in detail later in this review.

Leica Q3 Key Features

• 60MP full-frame CMOS sensor
• Maestro 4 Processor
• Digital crops equivalent to 35mm, 50mm, 75mm and 90mm
• Mechanical leaf shutter 120s to 1/2000s, up to 10fps
• Electronic shutter 1s to 1/16000s, up to 15fps
• ISO range 50-100000
• Sealed against dust and moisture to IP52
• Video to 8K 30fps/4K 60fps/FHD 120fps
• SD Memory Cards: UHS-II, UHS-I, SD/SDHC/SDXC
• 3-inch monitor, 1.84M dots, touch panel
• OLED EVF, 5.76M dots, 120fps
• DNG and JPEG formats
• Macro focusing range
• WiFi
• Bluetooth, 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands
• Optical IS for stills and video
• Fixed Summilux 28mm f/1.7 lens
• 11 elements in 9 groups, including 3 Aspherical
• 350 shots (CIPA), battery BP-SCL6
• Wireless charging option
• FOTOS App for connectivity
• Updates via FOTOS App
• 743g with battery

Leica Q3 Handling

In terms of speed of operation, the Q3 is definitely faster than the Q2. The inbuilt IS is around the same as before, offering something like a 2.5-stop advantage. This is still not as dramatic as many cameras now on the market, but enough to be useful. How much of a benefit will vary from photographer to photographer and also quite possibly change from day to day, depending upon how steady we are.

There are a few niggles still, and needing to remove the camera from a tripod to change the battery and/or card is one of them. The camera is also still front-heavy, so it cannot be placed on a flat surface for stability without propping up the lens in some way. The screw-in lens hood needs quite a firm final turn to reach its final hard stop, but it does at least fit with precision. The lens cap is also very tight and not the slick fit that might be expected. It does fit securely though.

Otherwise, it is a matter of aligning with the design ethos of Leica cameras. The provision of the hand grip may be a preferred option for some, although as mentioned that needs to be removed to change the card or battery. Unless of course the wireless charging pad is used, in which case it is necessary.

The idea of cropping the image in lieu of having interchangeable lenses is probably a viable one, but only because the sensor has 60MP to play with. There are already options to limit that resolution using the full 28mm lens and we can select a full 60MP, or a reduced 36MP or 18MP. There may be many situations where 60MP is not necessary and reduced file sizes could be more convenient. It is but a small step in logic to apply this to cropping the image, although the full 28mm field of view is still shown, with bright lines to indicate the tighter focal lengths. By the 90mm setting, we have reached a file size of 6MP, so there is a price to pay. There is also the question as to whether there is any advantage to this system over simply cropping the image in Photoshop or a similar program. If the cropped image filled the frame on the camera, then it would aid visualisation, but as it is not until the image is played back then maybe not. A moot point.

However, generally, the Leica Q3 is fast and responsive and once attuned to its logic slick enough to use. The icing on the Leica cake will of course be the quality, so let’s see if that expectation is fully realised.

The previous EVF was a delight to use, this one, at 5.76MP, is even more sublime. The AF is fast, whisper quiet and highly accurate. The metering has no vices. In terms of handling, everything is up to spec and up to speed.

[SECTION]PERFORMANCE[/SECTION]

Sony Alpha A6700 Performance

The performance section is where we look at the image quality performance of the camera. Additional sample photos and product shots are available in the Equipment Database, where you can add your own review, photos and product ratings.

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Leica Q3 Sample Photos

Lens Performance – The Leica Summilux 28mm f/1.7 ASPH would appear to be exactly the same lens as on the Q2. The question then is whether or not the lens can support the increased resolution requirements of the 60MP sensor. To find out, the Imatest process was re-run completely. The lens still comprises 11 elements in 9 groups, including 3 Aspherical. The lens hood screws into position using an external thread and has a definite end stop so there is no chance of it being either over or under-tightened. There is also a conventional 49mm filter thread.

The aperture ring is click-stopped at one-third stop intervals and offers no choice in this respect, it cannot be de-clicked. There is increased resistance at the A point to reduce the possibility of the ring being accidentally put into the A setting, or accidentally moved out of it.

The distance scale has the AF setting and this locks in place until released by the rather large and cumbersome release catch. Focusing is down to 0.3m (1 foot), with distances marked clearly in white for metres and orange for feet, now clearly visible rather than the dull green on the Q2 Reporter reviewed previously. There is a useful depth of field scale.

The clever bit comes in when the lens is switched to macro and a new macro-scale slides neatly into view. Focusing is now down to 0.17m (0.6 feet). Very slick.

Central sharpness is excellent from f/1.7 right through to f/11, and still very good at f/16. The edges are very good from f/1.7 to f/8, good at f/11 and fair at f/16. The actual figures are higher than with the Q2, as we would expect, and the resultant images are well up to an excellent standard even with the increased resolution of the sensor.

Distortion is well controlled at -0.36% barrel. If any further correction should be deemed necessary then there are software solutions, but it is unlikely that these will be needed.

CA (Chromatic aberration) is also well under control, so much so as to be virtually banished. Even the most severe subjects should be free from colour fringing.

Bokeh is very smooth and satisfactory, even though 28mm lenses are not really renowned for enhanced out-of-focus areas.

(Below you’ll find images demonstrating the aperture range of the lens alongside CA and MTF charts.)

Leica Q3 Lens test images

The one area where things slip a little is in terms of flare. The usual severe lighting test reveals a magnificent colour display as the lens flares quite badly. Having said that, in normal use flare is not an issue and it is entirely possible that the flare could be induced deliberately by the photographer for various creative effects.

Vignetting is reasonable for a wide-angle lens of this type and is unlikely to be an issue. Any slight corner darkening can even be an advantage for some subjects, concentrating our eyes on the main subject.

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Leica Q3 ISO test images

ISO Noise Performance – The ISO performance of the Q3 is actually rather impressive. Up to ISO 400 images are noise free. The first mild signs of noise come in at ISO 800 and 1600, but these settings are still totally usable. ISO 3200 sees increased noise plus some softening of the image. This progressively increases and ISO 12500 and 25000 are quite noisy, with darker areas totally blending into each other. ISO 50000 and 100000 are very noisy with a real loss of detail. However, all through the range the integrity of the box boundaries on the test chart is well maintained.

Leica Q3 White-balance test images

White Balance Performance – Presets are available for a limited range of options – Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten and Flash. Auto works extremely well for a wide variety of lighting and is particularly useful in mixed lighting. Shade comes into its own in shadowy woodland, avoiding excessive purple in the images. Cloudy is an excellent approximation of the Cloudy or 81A filter used as a warming filter on film.

Leica Q3 Digital filters

Digital Filters – There is quite a list of digital filters, split into groups. Film styles are Standard, Vivid, Natural, Monochrome and Monochrome High Contrast. Scene Modes are P-A-S-M (Program/Av/Tv/Manual), Full Auto, Sports, Portrait, Landscape, Night Portrait, Snow/Beach, Fireworks, Candle Light, Sunset and Digiscoping. The range is nowhere near as wide as some other marques, but still useful enough to have on board.

Source: Photography News
Leica Q3 Camera Review
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