I Purchased an $8,000 Level-and-Shoot Digicam and Do not Remorse It. Here is Why

Again in November, I spent £6,000 (about $8,100) of my very own cash on a Leica Q3 43. Over the past six months, it has been with me on a number of travels throughout Europe, and I’ve shot over 25,000 pictures with it, together with every thing from road pictures, journey, landscapes and even main editorial options. I’ve acquired some ideas on these sorts of premium compacts and hopefully some strong buying recommendation for any of you, whether or not you are contemplating this digicam or one other compact just like the ever-popular Fuji X100VI. 

Let’s dive in. 

I purchased the Leica Q3 43 with my very own cash at full retail worth, which on the time was simply shy of £6,000 — properly, simply over, together with the second battery I additionally ordered. That is an enormous amount of cash, particularly at a time when the purse strings are tightening and making huge purchases — particularly non-essential ones like this — are tough to justify.

So, why did I would like it? 

Effectively, quite a lot of causes, and I am hoping that any photographers on the market will perceive these, Leica followers or not. Lately, I’ve discovered myself being a bit over-encumbered with gear that I’ve acquired in my 13 years taking pictures professionally. Too many baggage, tripods, lenses, lens adapters — no matter — and I more and more wished to take a extra stripped-back method to a lot of my pictures. 

For years, I’ve used the Sony RX1R as a compact, “take anyplace” digicam after I do not wish to take a bag filled with equipment. It is a beautiful little full-frame premium compact that takes stunning pictures with its fastened 35mm lens. Nevertheless it’s 12 years outdated now, and it is exhibiting its age, with gradual, unreliable autofocus, comparatively low decision, and crucially, there isn’t any viewfinder, so it’s a must to shoot utilizing the primary display screen and also you appear like a vacationer. I’ve spent years fruitlessly hoping that Sony would change it, however the place Sony left a spot, Leica stuffed it. 

The Q3 43 is, in some methods, its non secular successor. It has a beautiful full-frame sensor with an especially high-quality fastened lens. It takes beautiful photos, and I can carry it with me just about on a regular basis, holding it slung round my neck, able to shoot every time I see a chance. 

It has a set 43mm lens, which can not swimsuit everybody, however it’s perfect for many of my work. I often flit between 35mm and 50mm focal lengths, so 43mm is a perfect candy spot between the 2 that I’ve by no means discovered limiting within the many pictures I’ve captured with it. I attempted the 28mm model of the digicam and did not get on with its wide-angle view.

I wrote not too long ago about the three kinds of cameras photographers have to have, which embrace a workhorse, an on a regular basis carry and a extra inventive possibility, and whereas the Q3 43 has completely been all three for me, it is the second level the place I really feel it is had the largest affect for me. It isn’t a digicam that I’ve needed to make any allowances for when carrying it round. I do not want a giant pictures backpack, only a small sling or messenger bag. Generally I’ve even gone out with it slung round my neck with no bag in any respect. 

I completely love having a digicam with me all the time. It is true that one of the best digicam is the one you might have with you, however it’s doubly the case if the digicam that is all the time with you is really one of the best digicam. Positive, it isn’t as small as my Sony RX1R, however it’s smaller than my Canon R5, and it has been an amazing companion on photowalks round Stockholm, Edinburgh and Barcelona. It is a pleasure with the ability to shortly raise it up and fireplace away. 

It helps that it is easy to function. I shoot largely in aperture precedence, twisting the devoted aperture ring on the lens after I wish to alter the depth of discipline. I preserve it largely at ISO 400, and the digicam is all the time fairly good at giving me the proper shutter pace for no matter scene I am capturing. 

At night time, I’ve to crank that ISO exhausting, particularly for the reason that digicam does not have a stabilized picture sensor like my R5. In truth, on a technical degree, the Q3 43 does not form up tremendous properly, with each its burst fee and autofocus system being slower than rivals. Its topic detection can be greatest described as “hit and miss.” 

However that is why I like this digicam. I haven’t got to dive into the infinite abyss of the settings menu to determine totally different autofocus choices. I simply preserve this digicam at single-point focusing, half-press the shutter to concentrate on no matter I would like after which recompose to take the shot. Or I will focus manually. It is a extra fundamental capturing expertise that encourages me to suppose extra concerning the shot I am taking and fewer concerning the settings I am utilizing to get it. 

Then there are the built-in coloration profiles Leica presents, which I completely adore. I shoot nearly every thing utilizing Leica’s Chrome look, which does issues to colours and distinction that I am obsessive about. I largely pair this with a heat white stability and, extra not too long ago, a PolarPro Gold Mist filter, which provides my photos a heat, filmic vibe that I like. This filter nearly by no means leaves my digicam and is, for me, vital.

In truth, I now shoot most of my pictures in JPEG and use them with nearly no post-processing. That is in stark distinction to my method of working with the R5 — I solely ever shoot in uncooked on that digicam, and all my photos undergo some degree of labor in Lightroom. Do I want Leica provided choices to tailor these profiles additional in digicam? Completely.

I deal with the Q3 43 as a basic point-and-shoot compact digicam. I take advantage of fundamental settings to shoot shortly and creatively, leaning on in-camera colours to reduce my time caught enhancing. It is provided me a distinct method of working, and I’ve totally loved each second I’ve spent with this digicam to date. 

To be honest, it isn’t simply the Leica Q3 43 that might offer you this. Fujifilm’s X100VI stays a social media darling because of its compact dimension and customizable movie emulation modes, whereas the Ricoh GRIII is lauded by road and journey photographers for its mix of high quality and pocketable dimension. I did think about shopping for the X100VI as an alternative of the Leica, however I will be trustworthy, there may be one other aspect I am maybe much less pleased with admitting.

I wished a Leica. 

I do not like to consider myself as a standing image type of individual, and whereas I’ve no need for a Rolex, a yacht or a Lambo in my drive (OK, perhaps a bit), I’ve all the time daydreamed about lastly proudly owning a digicam that sports activities that iconic crimson dot on the entrance. I nervous that it would be a novelty that might shortly put on off, however it hasn’t — I nonetheless discover myself excited to choose it up and take it someplace. It additionally helps that the strong metallic building of the Q3 43 makes it really feel infinitely extra premium than the light-weight, arguably fairly plasticky really feel of the X100VI. 

It provides me a artistic buzz that I do not actually get from my Canon R5. To lean on an analogy I’ve used earlier than, the R5 is a employee’s van; sensible, it ticks the bins for what they should do a job. An expert instrument for getting issues finished. Nevertheless it’s not the automobile they fantasize about driving down the coast. The Leica is the fantasy automotive. A basic Ferrari, maybe. It technically does many of the identical issues, however it does it in a really totally different method that makes you’re feeling notably totally different while you use it. 

It might have been some huge cash to spend on a digicam, particularly one which I strictly talking did not want. It helped that Leica within the UK presents interest-free credit score, so I really unfold the associated fee over 12 months, relatively than dropping the money . Nevertheless it’s cash I used to be — and nonetheless am — joyful to spend. 

It is given my pictures a lift I did not even know I wanted. Within the six months I’ve had it, I really feel I’ve developed extra as a photographer, and I’ve taken photos I am extremely pleased with. I can not wait to see what the following six months with it would deliver.