It took me a good 3-4 years of photography to know about the existence of LEICA- or so I think.
Anyway, I had never thought of buying any, until Leica came out with a revolutionary camera, a high end premium compact camera. I remember owning the Fuji X100S back then but here was a camera that costed 4 times as much, but I was in LOVE and I wanted it badly.
As luck would have it, I won that year’s Sony World Photo Awards for Bangladesh, and I ended up selling my Sony A7R and the 24-70/4 Lens to get hold of a Leica Q(thanks to Leica Cyprus who gave me a great deal).
Fast forward to 2017, and I am on way to say goodbye to this little gem of a camera! Why you ask? In the current mix of things, I feel shifting to the M-system is a better option.
So, here’s my journey with the Leica Q over the past 18 months or so:
The day my Q arrived in Bangladesh- through a friend in America. Most of my cameras have a long history of friends and strangers helping me to acquire it.Unobtrusive? I’d extend it to being an extremely friendly camera! the 28mm f/1.7 lens is stellar.One might think that with such a wide lens, there’s no hope of a shallow DOF- well, they are wrong!This is SOOC, the colors are indeed quite punchy!I love photographing my family and the compactness of it does makes thing quite easy!The optional 35mm and 50mm crop modes are quite useful, and I remember using the 50mm here on my cousin. Though the files are quite small in resolution, it never bothered me to be honest.A stranger breathing his last breath on the streets of Chittagong- the camera can be a perfect companion for reportage work.A cow dies while being taken to the cattle market ahead of the Eid ul Adha, an annual festival of animal sacrifice.A cow dealer sleeps amidst his cattles. These men travel hundreds of miles to sell their catlles. The portability of the Q came into play once again, and the QUITE SHUTTER does help!My grandma had fallen sick all of a sudden and we rushed her to the hospital. After an hour or so, she was feeling much better and it was just Gastritis and not a heart attack like we thought. On our way back, I took this photograph of my grandma, mom and my wife, shot at ISO-12500. I cant imagine any other camera letting me keep this memory.Focusses quite close- perfect for this kind of street portraits.I am primarily a people photographer and I did use the Q quite a lot for portrait work on the streets.I am primarily a people photographer and I did use the Q quite a lot for portrait work on the streets.Everytime I am at the airport, all my camera equipments are in the bag, except the Q which is always on me!When I went to India to get my mother operated, I packed quite light- the Leica Q and the lightweight combination of Sony A7R2 with Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 for portraits. Luckily, the combination worked quite well for me!I am sure even the cat didnt hear the shutter sound here! Old Hyderabad, India.Another SOOC, the EVF helped me immensely to expose it the way I wanted.Another lucky encounter on the train during Halloween, glad that my Q was out!A morning walk with the wife and the Q. Colombo, SrilankaPerfect for hit and run!Some folks keep telling me about how the Q has a distinct look to its files in monochrome-I’d say I do agree!Again, another photograph helped immensely by the EVF. I also shot this in B^W.The drizzle was light and the colors looked even better!
My reviews are never about technical stuff, but they are about things related to the experience of taking photographs. I can’t tell how much I’ve enjoyed using this little gem of a camera! If I could, I wouldnt have sold it. But, with a heavy heart, I have to. Because I have decided to take a leap of faith and move into the Leica M system(and I can’t afford both).
Oh, and I have been asked this quite a few times: “Is the Q worth the amount of money?”. I’d always say YES!
If you have an interesting idea for a guest post, you can contact me here. This review was initially published here.
