Linköping in a mirror – Leica Q

My Leica Q has found a new home. I sold it the other week, after long considerations. Why, you may ask. I did praise the camera a lot on earlier posts – and I still do in some ways. The problem for me was that I had too many options – a luxury I couldn’t afford. The Q isn’t a cheap camera, and if you own one – you should use it. That is at least why I buy cameras. I know some belive that people buy Leicas beacuse it is a sign of status – that may be true in some cases, but I have never seen that with my own eyes.

Linda – Leica Q

I loved the Q in many ways, but I found that it didn’t have a given place in my camera bag. I have a Fujifilm X-T2 as the ”modern workhorse” and a Leica M240 as my ”slow and fun camera”. The X-T2 is no Leica, but it has most of the features that the Q has. I must say that the picture quality between the Q and the X-T2 (depending on the lens) is not huge. For my needs the Fuji is more than enough. If I was traveling with more than one camera – the Q often had to stay at home…on the other hand if I traveled with only one camera I often took the M240. The Q was with me in my everyday bag for half a year, but I often found that I was missing the M…

Longboarding in Stockholm – Leica Q

I have realized that I am a 35mm shooter, after a year with the Leica Q. The Q has a great 28mm lens, with a possibility to crop to 35 or 50 in the camera. The ”in camera crop” works nice – but the lens is still a 28 mm lens. In my mind this must be almost like having an APS-C sensor – wich I have in the X-T2. The difference is that I can change lenses on the Fuji.

Flea market in Linköping – Leica Q

I also never really got that Leica feel from the pictures the Q produced. The pictures were perfect – but almost too perfect. When I looked at a picture from my M240, I can often say that it is an M-picture from the soul of it. When I looked at the Q pictures, that feeling wasn’t there. They were technically perfect, but not with soul. I shoot for fun – and for me the soul is more important than technical perfection.

Dad – Leica Q

After adding things up I descided to put the camera up for sale. It took a week, but I belive I found a good new home for the camera. The new owner drove 300 km to pick it up, and then 300 km back home again. Afterwards I had mixed feelings – a little sad to see the Q leave, but selling the Q made things easier for me. Two totally different cameras to choose from – one workhorse and one for fun. The Q is a great camera – but just not for me…