It is time for another retrospective after spending 30 days with my Leica Q-P.
Ergonomics
I applaud my decision to try out both Q and Q-P side by side when I first visited the Leica store, in Sydney, December 2018. It seemed at first the $AUD 1,000 hefty price difference did not justify the subtle differences between two cameras. Both cameras were technically identical. The differences pointed were in the looks, and in ergonomics, particularly ergonomics of the shutter release button.
I did not realise what this meant until I held both cameras in hand shooting pictures in the store. I immediately realised Leica Q-P was a better fit in terms of handling. Firstly, it had a better grip, it was less slippery. If you are using the leather case with Q this would be less of an issue. But more importantly Q’s SR button felt like too flimsy, wobbly and easy to hit, whereas Q-P had this reassuring tactile feel. That was turning point for me to buy the Leica Q-P.
It turns out I was right. I probably shot over 1,500 pictures with Q-P. As I was getting used to my new camera I took many bad pictures . But I’ve never missed a shot.
I think ergonomics of the shutter release button is the single most important factor in controlling your camera. Even the slightest wobbliness can ruin your best effort to catch the decisive moment.
The leather strap
The fine leather brown strap that came in the Leica Q-P package is so well designed. The buckles are coated with durable charcoal colored plastic so that they doesn’t scratch your camera.
The length of the loop is a bit too tight for a tall guy like me. I normally wear it diagonally, as this gives me the most comfort with minimal swings. So the small loop did seem like a disadvantage at first but I quickly realised it gave me better stability as it forces me to close my elbows, hence I have better control and minimal camera shake especially in portrait mode. So this is no longer a limitation.
The allure of f/1.7
Leica Summilux 28mm f1.7 ASPH lens gives great performance in portraits and close action photography. It is a light magnet, designed to give you best performance when combined with the full frame sensor.
But f/1.7 is no magic bullet whether you have the best lens or not. You get best results from a wide aperture under certain conditions, such as low light, and close action street photography. f/1.7 absorbs even the tiniest cluster of photons, so you should constantly watch for overexposed clipping zones in your composition.
Tip 1: I turned off LCD and I use EVF while shooting. This saves power too but more importantly I can control my camera better. To do so choose ‘EVF-Extended’ under the menu option ‘Display Settings/EVF-LCD’.
Tip 2: Remember Histogram is your best friend. Until you reach to a stage when, like your spouse, you can figure out your camera’s behaviour without much thinking, you need to get into the habit of using Histogram. This will make you understand your camera better. This is one of the best tools in modern digital photography, allowing you to establish a symbiotic link with your camera.
Tip 3: In order to overlay histogram on your live EVF image, go to the menu option ‘Photo Live View Setup’ and set Histogram on. I also set Level Gauge on, but turn off the rest. I don’t use Grid. Clipping is very aggressive to my taste, triggering even when exposure is not that high. So I turned them off.
If you shoot landscape pictures in a bright day while your aperture is wide open, you will get unimpressive results. Bright white areas will be overexposed and clipped, and colour depth will be lost to invading excessive light.
Leica Q-P’s default choice of aperture is somewhere between 1.7 and 2.0. This will work OK in some situations but not always. Under strong Sydney summer daylight, even under thin overcast days, I tended to notch the ring a bit further down in the aperture scale and found that somewhere between f/4.0 and f/5.6 even up to f/8.0 gave me good results in terms of dynamic range. I think refined photography requires manual control anyway, and Leica Q-P is perfect for that. The aperture ring works like a silk yet reassuring. So you’d better drop auto and start switching to manual controls as much as possible to get the best results.
Auto ISO
I set the Auto-ISO range as 100-6400. But beware, in night photography with f/1.7, and at 6400 ISO you still need to stabilise your camera really well even with shutter speeds as high as 1/30 s. In 6400 a minor blur can sneak in around far away light spots unless you use a tripod. I suspect 3200 ISO is probably better in capturing dark city scenes at night. Note I am yet to do experiments in this area. These opinion may be refined based on those.
The hood cap
I dropped the hood cap couple of times and have some scratches. But hey, I take them as badges of honours. My tip is to leave your right pocket empty without coins or mobile phone, and stick your cap there while shooting.
Protection
Look after your camera and the lens. I have a clear filter on the lens, and the hood mounted all the time. I put the hood cap most of the time, unless I have to take several shots in a short time. I don’t take pictures without the camera secured with its strap around my upper body. I use a high quality Billingham bag to carry my camera, which has very good protection against impact, rain and moisture with strong, wide and loose cover and excellent air circulation. I use a leather protector mounted at the bottom half of my camera, but I air my camera by removing it at night to prevent mould developing. I also keep a small set of lens cleaners in my bag.
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