As I said in my last post I was invited to the Leica Store in Las Vegas to check out the new Leica Q2. I was able to spend sometime going over it’s new features and comparing it to the previous version that is remaining on sale for the foreseeable future. The new Q2 is a refinement of Leica’s bestselling camera. At first glance they appear to be the same camera but the few differences makes this camera truly remarkable.
The headline feature is the upgrade of the sensor to 47.3 million pixels. That’s some big files. The dynamic range is a full 14 stops with 14 bit color which explains the image quantity that the Leica Q has been so famous for. When thecamera digitally crops the image to get the other focal length equivalents the resulting image sizes are as follows: 28mm-47mp, 35mm-30mp, 50mm-15mp, 75mm-7mp. The lens is the same 28mm f1.7ASPH, 11 elements in 9 groups with 3 aspherical elements. The camera is now sealed against dust and water spray so it can almost go anywhere where with the active user. Although it’s not a big video machine it will shoot video up to 4K at 24fps and full hd at 24,30,60,and 120 FPS. Autofocus metering modes are single zone, multi-field, face recognition, and subject tracking. The mechanical shutter is 60 seconds to 1/2000 with an electronic shutter that goes to 1/40000 of a second. Continuous advance is at 3/5/10 frames per second. The on/off switch is more like the M10 switch. The viewfinder is a new OLED design at 3.68MP. Thankfully the diopter has been redesigned and now locks in place after the adjustment. The back buttons now resemble those on the Leica CL. The battery is the same as in the Leica SL giving about 350 shots on a charge. Hopefully that won’t change with this summers revision. The FOTOS app has been updated to work with the new Q2.
In use the camera feels exactly like the previous version. To me focus seemed a little faster but I didn’t do any scientific tests. The Leica Q is Leica’s best selling camera, yes it outsells the M series. The new Q2 really is an even better camera. I heard that at the Leica flagship store in Los Angeles there were over 150 people at the Q2 release party. I passed on the original camera but my name is on the list for this version. It’s only March but the Leica Q2 is the leading contender for camera of the year.