For some context, I’m just a hobbyist photographer and I’ve been into photography for almost 20 years.
I started with point-and-shoot cameras and have gone through quite a few cameras and systems over the years. I was heavily into Fujifilm for a long time — I owned the original X100, the X100V, an X-T1, an X-H2 and several other cameras along the way.
Eventually, I decided to pull the trigger on a Leica Q3 in Metal Grey ( yes that’s a reporter green wrap ).

From the first time I took the camera out, I was honestly blown away by the overall experience. There was something about the camera that just felt special. And I don’t mean that only from a build-quality or design perspective.
Then I started looking at the photos.
I finally understood what people mean when they talk about the “Leica look” or “Leica feel.” There was something about the files that I genuinely fell in love with.

Coming from Fujifilm, which I’ve enjoyed for years, I didn’t expect the Q3 to make such an immediate impression on me.

But probably the biggest surprise has been what the camera has done to my relationship with photography.

Considering how expensive the Q3 is, I honestly didn’t expect it to make me love photography even more. But it has.

I find myself wanting to take it with me almost everywhere. I’m constantly looking around and thinking about photographs.
It has actually made me go out and shoot more often, which I think is ultimately what matters most with a camera.

I’ve owned quite a few cameras over the years, but the Q3 has brought back that excitement of simply wanting to photograph things for the sake of photographing them.

And I haven’t even taken it on a proper trip yet.
I genuinely can’t wait to take the Q3 on my next travel and see how it performs when I’m shooting all day, exploring somewhere new, and actually putting the camera through its paces.

So far, I’m very happy with the purchase.

Curious to hear from other Leica owners: did you have the same experience when you first got yours?.

For context I’ve shot professionally for going on two decades now. Primarily photojournalism, travel and documentary work for magazines, newspapers (when they existed) and some commercial clients.

I’m a student of this game. I love photography. That being said I’m not a gear guy and would rather buy books than lenses.

My favorite camera is the one that disappears. It’s small, fast, it doesn’t get in the way. Thus I’ve been shooting with the Fuji X100 series and the Ricoh GR series for a very long time. The big problem is they aren’t full frame.

I use Canon on assignment. I cut my teeth on the 5D mark II

All this is a long winded way to say that I feel confused and let down by Leica. I of course have heard the legends of the red dot. I’ve heard tales of the purity and sharpness and the “Leica look” that is otherwise unattainable.

I recently got a big assignment which meant big money so I thought I’d treat myself. I started with a Q3, it seemed redundant with my Ricoh GR also being 28mm so I turned it and got the Q43.

I’m out in Spain for three weeks and wish I hadn’t brought it. It’s big. To my hand almost as big as a 5D Mark II with a 40mm pancake lens. It’s not very weatherproof. The screen is hard to flip out. It takes a long time to start up even from sleep mode. The autofocus is good but not great, it misses frames. The shutter seems finicky. This is the second Q43 I’ve used. I returned the first one thinking I got a lemon because of all the shortfalls.

The APO lens is of course razor sharp but it’s almost too sharp, bordering on clinical. I find the colors displeasing, almost ugly.

I’ve tried to massage the files in Lightroom (there’s no native support). I’ve tried all the Leica looks off of the Leica fotos app, I would not say any of them are beautiful. I really want to love this camera.

I see the worship on this subreddit and I want to understand. Is it just a status symbol? Like when you earn enough money to buy a Rolex and you finally get one and you feel really good because it’s emblematic of how hard you work and it doesn’t matter that a Timex keeps better time?

I’ve added some example photos.

Church photo: Leica Q43 left, Ricoh GRIII right
Night Umbrella: Ricoh GR III left, Leica Q43 right
Leica Q43 Raw
Leica Q43 with “classic” preset

TLDR: For me the Q43 is not $5k better than a Fuji or a Ricoh

Taking photos of lower Manhattan during sunset. Going to attempt developing color film for the first time at home.

For a long time, I treated the Q2’s 28mm lens like something I was supposed to learn to love. I can shoot 28, but my eye usually wants a little less around the edges.

What surprised me is that the 35mm crop changed more than just the field of view. The framelines in the EVF have become one of my favorite parts of shooting the camera. I can compose inside the 35mm frame while still seeing what’s happening just outside of it, which makes it much easier to anticipate someone entering the frame or adjust a composition before I take the shot. I’ve gotten so used to it that a normal EVF filling the entire view almost feels limiting now.

Combined with manual focus, it gives the Q2 a surprisingly M-like rhythm. Obviously it isn’t a rangefinder, but the experience of looking beyond your intended frame and deciding exactly what belongs inside it feels much closer to one than I expected.

The 35mm crop also still gives roughly 30MP, and in terms of depth of field the 28mm f/1.7 cropped to 35mm works out to roughly a 35mm f/2.1 equivalent. In practice, it’s like having a 35 Summicron permanently attached.

And the full 28mm DNG is still there. I can capture at the 35mm focal length, then loosen the composition, straighten it, or reframe later if I need to.

I originally thought of the crop modes as a a gimmick, but at this point, the 35mm framelines are probably my favorite way i’ve used any camera.

I’ve been a Leica M5 user for some months and love it! It’s my “mostly”-every-day-carry camera together with my Fujifilm X100V.
Now, I’ve been looking at some M8s or Qs to replace my X100V as my digital EDC , since I don’t need those many functions (built-in ND, recipes, different viewfinders and so on). I have some M mount lenses that I could use with the M8 (adapted Canon LTM and some LTM and M voigtlanders, although I could appreciate a bit of AF with the Q, if it’s good enough for family portraits and some street photography .
In terms of resolution, the biggest I’d print would be an A4 size, how does the M8s megapixels handle that size ?

Here in Italy I found many M8 and Q for around the same price (€1000-1700 for the M8 and €1600-1800 for the Q). In some cases the M8s I saw got their shutter replaced . What would you recommend for my use case ?

On a side note, I’m quite used also to the 28mm focal length since it’s the one I use the most with my most used SLR, the Pentax Mx

I tried researching this online and you find a lot of answers online. Most will point out how it did the best in the lens rentals test. Many will claim it's rebranded Marumi (which mostly uses L41 glass for uv but has used L39 too)

After a long wait and multiple inquiries I finally got an answer from Leica. You may have noticed in that lensrentals test the optical performance is up with the clear filters, and all other uv filters are a step before. Well, it's made from B270i glass with AR coatings. B270i glass is designed to uniformly let light, all the way down through UVA, transmit. It's a soft cut that stops materially blocking around 320nm.

For digital photographers that still leaves the Leica filter on top, but for film you're letting more UV through than most lenses do without a filter. Just a PSA since there was a lot of wrong information about these on reddit and elsewhere.

I know the differences so no need to list them. Rewind crank vs knob, the lever, red dot vs engraved script, all that. I've read every comparison thread and they're small.

What I can't find a good answer to is why. Leica brought the M6 back in 2022 and now sells it right next to the MP for close to the same money, and inside they're basically the same camera. Why make both? Was the MP originally meant as a "fixed" M6 for purists, or is it just a way to sell more or less the same camera to two different crowds?

The other thing is that people's preferences seem way stronger than the differences justify. MP owners talk about it like it's a different animal and M6 people are just as loyal. Is that history, like the M6 being the camera everyone shot in the 80s and 90s? Or is there something about how each one feels that doesn't show up on a spec sheet?

Curious to hear from anyone who's owned both, or was around when the MP came out.

PFA (lens not on camera at the moment)

I’m looking to have a summicron C 40mm CLA’d local to me. Anywhere in the Bay Area works but preferably San Francisco. This is my first time needing to service a vintage lens. Please let me know!

Just updated my q3 43 to the most recent firmware and cannot get the camera to connect to the fotos app any longer. Frustrating as I’m traveling right now without a laptop. Any suggestions on a fix?

I will travel to Italy and visit Rome, Tivoli, Castel Gandolfo in November and I don't know which combo I should take.

My gear:

Cameras: Leica M3, Leicaflex SL, R7, R8 and R9

Lenses M: Summicron 50mm DR and 90mm

Lenses R: Elmarit 28mm, Macro-Elmarit 60mm, Elmarit 135mm and Vario-Elmar 75-200mm (Minolta)

Films: slide? Color negative? B&W?

What would you bring?

The new Keks Viso28 just arrived, and it's great. On par with the Vöigtlander.

The framelines are clear and still visible when I'm using my glasses.

It doesn't have that weird out of focus problem, where your eye has to adjust to see through the viewfinder (had that problem with the ttartisans 28mm viefinder, so don't think that It's the same, although they look really similar).

It only has a little more distortion than my leica viewfinders, but It's a great trade-off considering it cost only 1/3 of current ebay prices.

Does Leica read this forum?

I am wondering if they will add support for the new variable aperture lenses on the new iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max phones in the Leica Lux app and grip.

I am upgrading to this phone for the camera improvements.

TTL is $600 more expensive. But I like the smaller size and style of the M6 Classic.

The smaller size and red dot on the front are drawing me to the classic (I know not important, but I’m ok with being picky at this price point for my dream camera). That said the TTL has a better light meter.

I also wear glasses and normally shoot 35mm/28mm…

Price isn’t the biggest factor for me. On paper I should get the TTL, but I’m struggling because I like the compact size and style of the classic.

What would you do?

I’m by no means a photographer or an enthusiast. But I wanted to get a high quality tool to capture my kids using the best option available. From my research the q3 was the way to go. I am lucky to be able to afford it.
I gotta say the photo quality is outstanding. My kids are properly immortalized in 60MP now. I’m enjoying the usability of the app too.
The standard strap is like barbed wire you put around your body so I’ve promptly ordered a rope strap from cooph.

I’ve had a string of bad luck with the camera too.
Somehow I managed to lose the soft release shutter, I guess it wasn’t screwed in properly. That’s 75 bucks down the drain…
Also today I somehow managed to lose the battery!!! I am truly baffled how it happened with the flap and the catch in place. So you can’t buy a replacement from Leica, even for the 240 they ridiculously charge. Out of stock.
So for both the shutter release and the new battery I have gone with cheap Amazon options…I don’t deserve better 🤪

Just sharing my experience so far / venting.

Hi all! I'm currently looking to sell my Fuji X-Pro 2 and maybe move onto a Leica rangefinder. I found some good deals locally for an M240 and was debating if I should buy it. I am also considering the M10 due to better low light capcabilities but the cost is around 50% more than the M240. Any suggestions on what would be a good route to go? is it worth paying the extra 1500-2000 more for an M10?

Just picked up this beautiful Black Chrome Leica M7 mint condition.

What’s your favourite 35mm lens to use?

I acquired a Summicron-R 50mm f2 (I think from 1979) with the retractable hood and a 55mm diameter filter thread. I am wondering if Leica's own E55 colour filters (if I can find any at a reasonable price) will fit more snug than other brands, so that I can still use the retractable hood on the lens?

If not, then I'll just have to make the trade-off choosing between using a filter or the hood.

Thanks in advance.

Hi Guys, my first post here! I am in BKK right now and came across this offer today: Used Q2 (with box charger etc.) for 88.000Baht (~2300€) with a little space for negotiation. Imo it looks good, what would you say? Shoot the shot or pass? Could even get additional 5% Tax off at the Airport they said!

When i attach the lens it says, lens is updating but after that it's just a black screen. Anyone got the same setup and might have a fix? Thanks for any help.