Leica Q2 Review
Having previously owned a Sony A7iii Full Frame Mirrorless camera and a Canon 750D APC DSLR before that, the Leica Q2 is the latest camera to occupy a spot in my camera bag and is what I am predominantly using for my photography. Having bought the Q2 back in May of 2022, I have now had it for well over half a year and think I am in a position to give my honest thoughts on it as a tool for photography and a desirable piece of technology.
I won’t go over the entire Leica Q2 spec-sheet here (this can be found from a quick Google search), but the important points are that it is a 47 Megapixel, Full Frame camera with a fixed 28mm f/1.7 Summilux lens that comes in at an eyewatering £4,750 (from London Camera Exchange at the time of writing this review).
Comparing this to the likes and size of a Sony A7RV with a similar quality 28mm lens attached, this camera is a veritable point-and-shoot - and that is exactly what appealed to me. The proposition of a 47 Megapixel Full Frame camera that could easily fit into any bag and whose images could be cropped-in to supposedly negate the need for a more narrow focal length seemed to me the perfect solution to the cumbersome Sony A7iii and four lenses I was lugging about at the time. It was for this reason I traded my A7iii and accompanying lenses all to pickup this one little Leica. I’ll comment at the end of my review if this was all worth it (spoiler alert: it wasn’t entirely).
I’ll split my review into four main topics, build (including design and ergonomics), features, image quality and the accessories I use. I’ll cover each topic in detail and provide some sample images throughout. This is by no means a scientific review, I won’t be providing benchmarks or image sharpness analyses, simply my thoughts on what the camera is like to use and what kind of images you can expect to get from it.
Build, Design and Ergonomics
Starting with the design, the Leica Q2 is a minimalist and modern take on a classic 35mm film camera design that is elegant and understated. The camera body is crafted from Aluminum, giving it a solid and premium feel, something that has been unmatched in any other camera I have used up until now. The control layout is intuitive, with all the essential exposure controls within close reach.
Product images credit: https://leica-camera.com/
Every dial, button and ring feels well-made and gives a nice, tactile feel when twisted, clicked or turned.
One problem I have, and I do not believe this to necessarily be the fault of the design, is the ergonomics. With such a small and flat body, and with my unreasonably large hands, I find the Q2 to be somewhat difficult to hold for longer periods of shooting. The camera features a thumb rest (indented into the body on the back-right of the camera) which does marginally help to improve handling and control. The Q2 also features a texturised rubber material that helps with grip and matches the minimalist look and feel.
Overall, the Leica Q2 is a well-designed and impeccably built camera that offers a premium shooting experience. The ergonomics are lacking, though I believe that to be inherent in Leica’s attempt to make the camera small and portable. To aid in making the camera more ergonomic you can see the ‘Accessories’ section of the review to see what I have found to help, the most useful of which being a half case with a built in metal grip.
Features
Photography
As with most modern cameras you’ll find on the market today, the Q2 offers a range of shooting modes, including manual, aperture-priority, and shutter-priority, which allows for creative control over the images. Additionally, while not best in class by any means, the Q2 features a decently speedy and accurate autofocus system that helps to capture sharp images even in low-light conditions. I’ll be clear that the autofocus system on the Q2 is by no means comparable to any of the systems found in the latest Canon or Sony mirrorless offerings and will not be up to the task if shooting sport or action photography. However, for general street and lifestyle photography, it is more that fast enough.
The Leica Q2 also comes with a built-in optical viewfinder, which provides a bright and clear view of the scene. The viewfinder has a resolution of 3.68 million dots, which again is not up to the standards of the highest resolution or frame rates out there, but is good enough for most shooting scenarios.
The Leica Q2’s auto-focus system struggles to focus on fast moving subjects.
The Q2 features a variety of crop modes (35mm, 50mm and 75mm equivalents) that provides an on screen, or in viewfinder, border for framing your shots at the narrower focal lengths. Once shot, the image will then appear ‘pre-cropped’ to the chosen focal length in Adobe Lightroom. The process is non-destructive, meaning that the full 28mm image is preserved should you wish to remove the crop in your edit. While handy, this is unfortunately a feature I have not made use of as a Capture One Pro user - I am eagerly awaiting an update that enables this feature from Phase One.
Videography
While the Leica Q2 is capable of recording 4K UHD video at 30 frames per second, with decent contrast and sharpness, there are limited camera profiles in body and a complete lack of any flat picture profiles for post processing and colour grading.
The Q2 does also feature a built-in microphone, which is about the quality you could expect from any built in camera microphone (which is to say, not great). The Q2 does also have a serious lack of ports, stemming from its minimalist design, which means there is no option to fit a 3.5mm headphone for audio monitoring, or any external monitors for video.
It is clear that the majority of people buying this camera are not buying it to shoot video. This is first and foremost a stills camera, with the 4K video being a ‘nice to have’ for use as a B camera or even for the odd talking head using an external mic.
Image Quality
There is a term given to the distinct feel of the images taken on Leica cameras coined by many as the ‘Leica Look’. It is difficult to put a finger on what the Leica Look is and even harder to tell if it isn’t just placebo. I could take a photo on a Sony A7iii, tell you it was from my Q2 and you may say, “Ah yes, you can tell, it has that Leica Look”. I can’t comment on the Q2 providing the Leica Look, as I find the term as meaningless as saying an image has a Canon Look or a Sony Look, all images can be altered, all RAW files can be made to look as if they are from another camera. What I can comment on is that there is a remarkable amount of resolution and detail stored in the RAW files chucked out by the Q2. The 47 Megapixel files capture huge, sharp images that preserve details well, particularly in the shadows. I tend to under-expose using the Q2 as it does struggle more with highlights, however what appears to be portions of images lost into the deep abyss of shadows manages to be saved through some straightforward editing.
The Leica Q2 preserves lots of detail in the shadows. Exposing for the brighter part of images tends to produce better results.
Despite the wide f/1.7 aperture, I find the Q2 to struggle somewhat in low light when compared to my old Sony A7iii. While colours and contrast looks good, comparing noise levels of photos taken at ISO 6400 on both the Sony and the Leica, the Sony’s images edges out on top in terms of cleanness. While the images from the Q2 are perfectly usable, for the lens and sensor combination, I’d personally like to see less noise and better general low-light performance from the Leica.
Overall, the Q2 performs exceptionally when it comes to image quality, with files presenting plenty of dynamic range and preserving vast amounts of detail in the shadows. You can see some sample images at the bottom of my review.
Sample Images
Accessories
There are plenty of first- and third-party accessories available for the Leica Q2 both for altering the styles of shots you can get and for improving the protection and ergonomics of the camera. Here is a list of accessories I have purchased for my Q2 and why I think you would do well to pick them up for yourself if you own a Q2.
Leica Q2 Thumb Support
Link: Leica Thumb Support Q2- Black | Wex Photo Video
Great for addressing the aforementioned ergonomic issues; the thumb grip provides a bit of extra purchase for one-handed shooting. It does occupy the hotshoe, so worth bearing in mind if you will be attaching accessories such as a flashgun frequently. Also worth bearing in mind that there are third-party alternatives available for much cheaper than this, although when it comes to reselling, I imagine this will hold its value much better than a third-party option and is also made with incredibly fine tolerances, especially for the Q2.
LIM’s Q2 Leather Half Case with Metal Grip
Link: LIM'S Genuine Leather Camera Half Case Metal Grip Dovetail - Etsy UK
A great alternative to Leica’s own half cases which do not provide any additional ergonomic grip. The LIM’s half case on Etsy comes with a built-in metal grip and dovetail plate for mounting directly onto compatible tripods. This is my favourite accessory for protecting the Q2 and for drastically improving the ergonomics and handling - I highly recommend.
Peak Design Neck Strap / Wrist Strap
Neck Strap Link: Peak Design Leash - Black | Wex Photo Video
Wrist Strap Link: Peak Design Cuff Camera Wrist Strap - Charcoal | Wex Photo Video
You can go for one or the other, I personally prefer the neck strap to carry the Q2 around without having to place it back in a bag constantly. As with all Peak Design straps, these can both attach using the proprietary tabs, which makes swapping between the hand strap and the neck strap quick and easy.
Leica SF 40 Flashgun
Link: Leica SF 40 Flashgun | Wex Photo Video
A rather obvious use-case, the Leica SF 40 Flashgun is useful for use as a fill flash or for nighttime photography of subjects. I myself enjoy the fill flash look for subjects, including for portraits, products and event photos. This flashgun allows use of TTL and Auto flash modes on the Q2 and is not as large as the SF 60, making an ideal pairing for use with the small Q2.
Match Technical Rubber Lens Cap
Link: Match Technical Lens Cap for Leica Q and Q2 Cameras MT-LC-SR-01 (bhphotovideo.com)
This Match Technical lens cap is a great alternative to the lens cap that comes in the box with the Q2, which is heavy Aluminum that is easily dropped and dented and has a felt inside that wears with use, making it fit less securely to the lens over time. The Match Technical cap however is made from soft rubber, which is light, fits snug to the lens and can be hooked onto your neck strap to keep the cap on the Q2 at all times and prevent it from being dropped.
Tiffen Black Pro Mist 1/4 Filter 49mm
Link: Tiffen 49BPM14 49mm Black Pro Mist 1/4 Filter: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo
Not perfect in all scenarios, but this Pro Mist filter diffuses bright spots and highlights in images, providing a more cinematic, 35mm film style look to images. Great with natural and artificial lights alike, this filter gives the shots from the Q2 a more analogue feel, which works with my style of shooting and editing. The 1/4 strength provides subtle halation, but for a more dramatic effect, stronger variants are available (weaker variants too for an even more subtle effect). One note is that these filters will ‘bake in’ any effect it may cause, meaning that once you take the photo, if the effect doesn’t work as desired, there is no recovering the image. It is important to be intentional with its use, sometimes editing after the fact can be safer and just as effective.
Billingham Hadley Small Pro Camera Bag
Link: Billingham Hadley Small Pro Camera Bag - Black FibreNyte / Black Leather – Billingham Bags
This is my first Billingham bag and I have been exceptionally pleased with the quality of the product and how protective it is for my gear. The Hadley Pro Small fits my Q2 with the LIM’s half case on, my SF 40 Flashgun, my Sony RX100VI and my phone and spare AA batteries with room spare for other bits such as camera batteries and SD cards.
Conclusion
The Leica Q2 is a fantastically specific piece of camera equipment and will appeal to a very small group of photographers. The 28mm focal length, while versatile and paired with a 47 Megapixel sensor can be cropped in to feel like a narrower focal length, is ultimately a limitation in the kinds of photos you can take. Since owning the Q2, I have begun to miss the compression effect of a telephoto lens, the bokeh of a 85mm f/1.4 and the abstract nature of photographing at 50mm. I have regretted my choice of equipment when trying to capture fast moving subjects and cursed the gear envy that led me to purchase the Q2 in the first place when photographing family events; being far away from subjects and not being able to zoom in to get a closer shot.
What the Q2 has done is make me a more thoughtful and intentional photographer. Making photos with the Q2 is like making photos with one arm tied behind your back. It forces you to get creative, to move around a scene to find new and interesting ways to make an image look different.
“Making photos with the Q2 is like making photos with one arm tied behind your back. It forces you to get creative…”
With all this in mind, the Q2 is a beast. To pack a Full Frame sensor, a f/1.7 lens and features such as 4K filming (even if limited) into such a compact body is incredibly impressive. For the size and portability the Q2 achieves, there is no parallel in terms of quality, both of build and image.
So who is the Q2 for? The Q2 is for any photographer who needs a spark to ignite some creativity into their photography. For anyone who wants a ludicrously high quality and portable camera to document day-to-day events and trips, and for anyone with the budget to begin with.
Will the Q2 be my last camera (or at least until it breaks)? Absolutely no. While I love the Q2 and have no plans on getting rid of it anytime soon, I miss my old setup (a Sony A7iii with a range of prime and zoom lenses) and the variety and choice that came with owning an interchangeable lens camera.
The Q2 can’t do it all, in fact, it can do very little - it can just do very little incredibly, incredibly well. For the time being, I put all my eggs into one basket, so to speak, having sold all my previous gear to pay for the Q2, which means I am stuck with it for the foreseeable. I don’t regret picking up the Q2, it has been a joy to use and with it I have made some of the best photos I think I have ever taken, but as and when it becomes feasible to purchase another (interchangeable lens) camera, I’ll certainly be looking for one, and one that can focus quickly, shoot fast moving subjects or just simply have the ability to zoom…
The Leica Q2 has taught me to be a better photographer and I am looking forward to using the new skills I have picked up with a new, more versatile camera.
