Federico Zaza (Instagram | Wedding and Portrait Site |Workshop & Formazione) shared his review of the latest Leica Q3 43 camera (now in stock):
Breaking Point: Leica Q3 43 – Field Test
Leica Q3 43 Street Review
This is a field test conducted over a few days with Leica’s newest gem. The test was primarily carried out over three days of street photography and some portraiture.
Build, Ergonomics, Controls
Excellence, simplicity, elegance, and minimalism — all qualities already encountered with the Leica Q3 and its 28mm lens. Nothing changes here: the excellent build quality remains, as does the IP52 weather sealing standard. The menus are simple and straightforward, and customizations are intuitive. As always, Leica’s interface is the best on the photography market. For instance, to set a desired function to a customizable button, you simply press and hold the button and decide which function to assign to it.
Operation
Although it operates similarly to the Q3 with the 28mm (which is a heavily distorted 24mm lens corrected digitally to achieve an effective 28mm field of view — 26mm if you use Capture One), the fact that it is a much longer focal length introduces some issues. In fact, an additional customizable button is missing, which would allow for quicker transitions between face/subject recognition and other modes. The AF module works well but unfortunately does not allow for subject prioritization using AF point proximity detection, as seen in other brands. In chaotic situations, where there are many people (more than 3…), switching between subjects becomes very slow. It’s better to use a single point or object tracking. A pity. The image stabilization system is very effective, excellent.
Battery Life
With about 400 effective shots per charge, this is a negative point, especially considering that competitors offer much better performance. Furthermore, a battery charger is not included in the package. An extra battery and an external charger are essential. Not acceptable for a compact camera priced at €7,000. Thanks, but no thanks.
Viewfinder & Display
The display is excellent, always aligned with the camera body. Superb resolution, great brightness, and most importantly, outstanding color accuracy (complete sRGB space coverage). Truly remarkable. The viewfinder is also very good. However, there is a significant drop in frame rate and resolution during burst shooting and focusing, especially in continuous focus mode.
Sensor
Stunning. Simply stunning. Unmatched image quality, incredibly high. Great signal-to-noise ratio, extensive dynamic range, and excellent colors, though perhaps a bit too saturated this time. The files are extremely flexible, and it’s fantastic to be able to shoot at 61, 36, or 18 MP.
Autofocus System, Burst Shooting & Buffer
The AF module works quite well, aside from the concerns mentioned in the “Operation” section. Its consistency and precision are good. Care must be taken to ensure the focus point coincides with an area of sufficiently high contrast. Less positive notes come from the buffer department. Shooting at 7 fps with 14-bit RAW at 61 MP, even when using a card with 300 MB/s speed, there were VERY noticeable slowdowns after a while. A slightly larger buffer would have been welcome. The maximum burst rate is 7 fps if you want to maintain 14-bit color depth per channel. Increasing the burst speed forces a reduction to 12-bit per color channel.
Lens: The 43mm — The most special ‘normal’ lens.
A bold choice, the 43mm focal length. An apparently unusual focal length, but extraordinarily versatile. Suitable for street photography, portraiture, and travel photography. The quality is nothing short of excellent. However, there are a couple of concerns. The first is that, once again in this iteration of the Leica Q3, we have a digitally corrected lens. In fact, in Capture One, it’s possible to recover a small amount of space outside the 43mm frame, effectively bringing it to about 41-42mm. At €7,000, I would expect native, optical correction without the need for software intervention. The second concern involves software manipulation of the bokeh. The transition between the in-focus and out-of-focus areas doesn’t always appear completely natural, which feels a bit odd. I had the same impression with the Leica Q3 and its 28mm lens. However, the macro mode and manually dampened focus ring are extraordinarily convenient and effective. Exemplary build quality.
Image Quality
Overall, excellent. Extraordinary colors — though perhaps overly saturated. High tonal delicacy. The lens is extremely sharp and detailed. Excellent backlight resistance. Some doubts remain about the need for digital distortion correction, especially regarding the strange transition between in-focus and out-of-focus areas, although this is only noticeable in a few situations. The quality remains very high when using the crop to equivalent focal lengths up to 75mm. So, using Capture One, you can achieve a 41/42mm, a 43mm, a 60mm, and a 75mm. Excellent versatility. The crop to a 90mm equivalent is usable in situations where no other option is available, but the quality loss is already significant. Beyond 90mm, the quality drop is frankly excessive.
Conclusions
In summary, this is a camera many Leica users have been waiting for. For years, there had been a strong demand for a Leica Q with a 50mm equivalent, and finally, it has arrived. The result is very, very good. The best image quality ever seen in a compact 35mm camera. Fun, enjoyable, fast, and with decent usability. The shortcomings are tied to the fact that, nine years after the first Leica Q (which launched at €3,900), we now have a Q3 that costs almost twice as much and still hasn’t addressed all the original Q’s flaws. The lens is still digitally corrected, there’s still no dual memory slot, and the buffer can pose a serious operational problem. At €5,000, you could overlook these issues, albeit with some difficulty. At €7,000, they become harder to swallow. Especially since a Sony A7Cr doesn’t have the same limitations, even with its 61 MP. This remains a fantastic camera with a series of non-critical but irritating flaws considering its market positioning. At this price point, I’d expect more attention. In short, it’s a great camera, but it falls short of the promises I would expect from a fixed-lens, non-interchangeable camera priced at €7,000. Also frustrating is the lack of an external battery charger and the absence of a lens hood that accommodates a filter. The latter exists in Leica’s catalog but costs €250 as an optional extra.
Strengths
- Extraordinary image quality.
- Extremely malleable and workable files.
- Industry-leading signal-to-noise ratio.
- Exceptional color quality, even at very high sensitivities.
- True pixel binning with the option to shoot at 61, 36, or 18 MP and 14-bit RAW per color channel.
- Very wide dynamic range.
- Good AF module.
- Lens with indisputable qualities.
- Very pleasing bokeh.
- Excellent macro capability of the lens.
- Beautifully dampened manual focus ring.
- Certified IP52 weather sealing.
- Fun and enjoyable to use.
- Extremely effective stabilizer, even better than the Q3 with the 28mm lens.
- High video capabilities.
- High-quality rear display and viewfinder (though see the cons).
- Simple and intuitive interface. No need to read hundreds of pages of manuals.
- Central shutter.
- Flash sync with all shutter speeds, up to 1/2000s.
Cons
- Digitally corrected lens distortion.
- Colors are too saturated.
- Missing an additional customizable button for smoother operations.
- Face and subject detection not tied to the chosen focus point, making it difficult to quickly select the subject in crowded scenes. Better to switch to other AF modes.
- AF struggles slightly in low light or with low-contrast subjects.
- Buffer too limited.
- Noticeable slowdowns after a series of bursts, even with 300 MB/s cards.
- Significant drop in resolution and refresh rate in the viewfinder during burst shooting and focusing.
- Lack of a dual memory slot or internal memory.
- Limited battery life.
- High cost of batteries and charger. The latter is not included in the package.
- The included lens hood does not allow simultaneous use of a filter. The only option is a €250+ optional hood.
- Overpriced.
See the original review post for more sample photos.
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