I recently spoke of my desire, in a post on a thread hat RFF, to upgrade my Leica M8 by buying an M240 due to its advantages in sensor technology and all this confers, plus its live view ability etc.
But something happened on the way to the camera store. Or at the camera store more precisely. I had the chance to handle a pristine Leica Q. Long story short, I am now he proud owner of a new Leica Q. What I think really did it for me was auto focus (super quick and accurate) and my realization that while I enjoy MF using a rangefinder in principle (ahh they sure don't make nostalgia like they used to) my eyes are unlikely to get any better and in fact are likely to go the other way as is my ability to hand hold and extract usable images from a non image stabilized body. (I think I feel a little about rangefinders cameras the same way I feel about my sex life as I get older - memories, memories.) 😉
While I had some trepidation about a 28mm fixed lens camera given my predilection for longer lenses I have found it actually works well. And oh, my God that 28mm f1.7 lens !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For me it renders not perhaps like any Leica glass I have ever used and is more reminiscent of the Zeiss glass that was to be found on my old Contax T2 which was super - contrasty and oh so sharp. This Leica lens has those advantages plus that of having of surprisingly good bokeh - given it is a 28mm lens.
Match the above to a beautiful and traditional looking body, a superbly competent and quick AF system and a fairly simple yet functional menu system (thank you Leica - having used the monstrosities prevalent in other systems, thank you, thank you, thank you) and you have the makings of a superb camera.
The only thing I could think of to make it better would be to have Leica double the pixel count on the sensor. Oh, wait a minute, they have and they have called it a Leica Q 2. While I am not a pixel glutton, for me the real benefit of the huge sensor is the ability to crop images (in camera if you wish) to say, a 75mm equivalent field of view while retaining a workable pixel count in the final image. Then I could say for sure - Tele lens? I don't need no stinkin' tele lens! 😀
As for now - I am happy with the Q. In fact ecstatic. But one day....one day, a Q2 might just be on the cards in a few years when the price drops enough. Seriously if the Q2 is as good as the first model (and I have no reason to think it will not be) then the owners of this camera will be very happy chappies and ladies. When I was considering if to actually lay down that much money I did read every review I could lay my hands on and I struggled to find any negative comments or even reservations. I believe that will carry over into the new camera as well.
