Photography News issue 26

Camera test 43

Photography News Issue 26 absolutephoto.com

Lens performance The Q’s fixed Summilux 28mm f/1.7 lens has a smooth-operating aperture ring, in 0.3EV steps with an A setting for program mode when A on the shutter speed dial is also set. There is no locking button to keep it on A. The lens hood is fixed and no problems were experienced with flare or ghosting even with the sun in the frame the DNG Raws processed in Lightroom CC with default sharpening. Image quality from f/1.7 is impressive, but there is a tiny amount of softness under critical inspection. Quality from f/1.8 picks up, fine detail looks really good and the lens really starts to sing, giving excellent image quality in the centre and the edges from f/2.5 onwards until f/11 and f/16 where again there is slight softness that is improved with some unsharp mask. All told, and as you would expect, a very capable lens.

Full-frame image

F/2.5

F/4

F/5.6

F/8

F/1.7

F/1.8

F/11

F/16

Verdict Ultimately, as with any camera review, the buying decision boils down to two big questions: is the Leica Q any good and is it worth the money? Well, the camera is without doubt very good and image quality is excellent. Yes, it has its quirks (character?), and some of them are annoying but despite this, I really enjoyed using it. Leica does sometimes put function above form and some more forethought from an end user standpoint would have made it an even better product. There is no escaping the fact that Leica cameras rarely rate highly in value for money terms because they are expensive. So if you want a full-frame, fixed-lens compact, you could save cash and buy one of the Sony RX1 series. But the thing is, the Sonys do not have the kudos, feel or the engineering quality of the Leica, so in that context £2900 is not bad value at all. If you have the mindset and the budget, you are very unlikely to be disappointed.

If the light conditions are dire, ISO 6400 and even 12,500 give detail-rich images

Left The Leica Q offers a very capable high ISO performance and you can shoot at ISO 3200 and even beyond to get critically good, low noise pictures.

ISO performance These ISO images were shot at twilight on a tripod-mounted Leica Q. The base exposure for the ISO 100 image was 1sec at f/8. The DNG files were processed in Lightroom CC with no noise reduction. Noise starts to appear at ISO 800, but it’s very fine and

Full-frame image

How it rates

ISO 200

ISO 800

20/25

Features Has enough but lacks the frills of rivals Performance Deeply impressive Handling Goodmixed with less good stuff Value formoney Rates highly despite its hefty price tag Overall

easily removed in Lightroom. More noise is evident at ISO 1600 but isn’t oppressive and fine detail remains well rendered. For critical use, ISO 1600 is usable and even ISO 3200 is acceptable. If the light conditions are dire, ISO 6400 and even 12,500 give detail- rich images, but noise levels are high. The difference between ISO 12,500, and H1 and H2 is very marked and the noise levels are high. The Q is an impressive performer at high ISOs up to 3200 and images clean up nicely with modest noise reduction in Lightroom.

25/25

22/25

ISO 1600

ISO 3200

89/100

Any product with the red dot isn’t going to be cheap, and this is a very fine camera and the price is good Pros Image quality, ISO performance, lens, feel Cons Menu system, handling quirks, limited customization, handgrip

ISO 12,500

ISO 25,000

ISO 50,000

ISO 6400