WHY IT’S WORTH FORMING A ‘Q’ FOR THIS LEICA

Everyone from point and shoot photographers to professionals has a new high spec, high resolution wide angle lens camera from the premium brand to help make their full frame photography even more unique…

Described as “well crafted and inspiring” by Leica UK MD

Farah Ahmad Perez, the third generation of the manufacturer’s popular ‘Q’ family, originally launched in 2015, has arrived. The Leica Q3 retails for £5,300 and marries a full frame sensor to a fixed focal length lens, set within a classic looking magnesium die-cast body.

Designed to be suitable for use by anyone from point-and-shoot photographers up to professionals, according to Leica Akademie tutor Robin Sinha, an articulated rear touch screen features alongside an updated viewfinder. We further get new ports, a new processor and a light sensitivity range up to ISO100,000. At its heart is a 60 megapixel BSI CMOS sensor first introduced on the Leica M11 last year, which on the new Q3 is coupled with a fixed 28mm f/1.7 ASPH lens. Such a high resolution means that even in the camera’s 90mm crop mode, photographers can still generate a 6MP image. The lens features its own optical image stabiliser to help ensure blur-free results.

New Features By Request

Undoubtedly the biggest talking point here is the Q3’s new tilting screen, a 1.84 million-dot touch display introduced at the request of its customers, according to Robin. Of course we also get an upgraded eye-level OLED viewfinder offering a 5.76 million dot resolution, plus the inevitable tweak to auto focus, with phase detection and contrast AF now working in unison to deliver “a more versatile focusing system” that Leica claims is now 5x faster.

Form a ‘Q’ here: A classic looking magnesium die-cast body for the Q3 houses a huge 60MP BSI CMOS sensor first introduced on the Leica M11

Videographers haven’t been forgotten, with the ability to record up to 8K on the Q3. Filmmakers will also relish the fact that here’s more support for professional codecs, including H.265 and Apple ProRes, while a new HDMI port and USB-C port should help streamline workflow. A case in point: the latter can be used for shooting tethered, as well as for simply charging the camera’s battery.

Designed to deliver perfect looking JPEGs straight out of the camera, features including Leica Perspective Control https://leica-camera.com/en-GB/ photography/cameras/q/q3-black

(LPC) promises to correct any instances of converging verticals, while Leica Dynamic Range (LDR) helps image makers retain a good amount of detail in the shadows without blowing-out highlights. In terms of handling, the camera weighs a reassuringly chunky feeling 743g with battery inserted, the latter being capable of 350 shots from a full charge, which is according to industry tester CIPA.

Announced alongside the camera is an update to the Leica Fotos app, now in Ver4. The revamped app is claimed to be 10x faster than the previous iteration, while offering new ‘Leica Looks’ that can be transferred to the likes of the Q3. The latest app also adds video functionality support.

As well as the above, and useful for anyone looking to make add-on sales, Leica has introduced a range of accessories for the Leica Q3. These include a very eyecatching cognac coloured leather half case, among other colours, that conveniently still allows for access to the camera’s battery and memory card when attached. Also looking to be potentially useful is a wireless HG-DC1 Leica Charging Pad.

In conclusion, the Leica Q3 is ideal for photographers who want to achieve high quality results and bags of detail, while its compactness allows them to go relatively unnoticed. While it’s very much the enthusiast’s dream, it will also work well as a secondary camera for professional photographers wanting to take advantage of the Q3’s many core attributes detailed above.

Key features of the Leica Q3: 60MP full frame sensor and bright/fast 28mm f/1.7 lens set within a die cast magnesium body