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The Q sure feels like a game changer to me. It was too easy for me to place my order as this checks all of the boxes for me. I will always own an M and I cannot see anything taking it's place but this will be such a nice addition to my setup.

Great review David!

Thanks for the thorough (and enjoyable: great images!) review David. The Q seems to begin to address many of the shortcomings of the current M246 (low pixel EVF, not-so-great high ISO performance, shutter lag when using the EVF to name a few of my nits).

I am wondering if the Q has the ability, when you magnify the EVF view 3x or 6x, to choose where in the frame the magnified view is. This would be pre-exposure. Another one of my nits with the current M240.

Thanks very much again!

Panasonic makes some great cameras in collaboration with Leica (ex: the D-Lux), but the Leica Q does not seem like a tie-in with Panasonic, for the M-type body if nothing else.

I had the Monochrom and new Noctilux for about 6 months, and while it's a great combo, the primary reason to carry such a heavy and expensive piece of glass is the f0.95 aperture. But that aperture has an extremely small DOF, and unless you dedicate yourself to working with that constraint, you'd be disappointed. My Q doesn't arrive until 3 days from now, but already I have in mind that it will be much like the X Vario I had, at the low end of its zoom range, and somewhat like the Nikon ‘A' but with much better sensor, lens, and processing engine. For someone accustomed to shooting at the 28 mm effective focal length (ex: Nikon ‘A' or X Vario un-zoomed), the Q should be a dream come true.

Thanks for an awesome review, it indeed looks like what I was waiting for all these year, and I placed my preorder today at Leica Philippines, to my surprise the first they had received, the official launch here is next week on Friday 21st

Image quality on both M240/28 Lux and the Q will be quite good and fairly comparable. I haven't done any head to head testing yet, but I did just wrap up a workshop in Berlin where I shot with both cameras side-by-side. The results in LR are mixed together and match up very nicely.

The real advantage of the M is the flexibility to use other focal lengths, like the 50 APO that you have. On the other hand, the Q offers fast AF and macro capability.

I am not one for pre-post quality evaluations. In my mind, every file requires at least some basic post processing, just as even the finest quality food ingredients require some seasoning by the chef.

No, this is a pure Leica product. My understanding is that Panasonic's involvement was limited to specific components, such as AF and OIS.

Interesting idea on the electronic shutter. The leaf shutter is so quiet and introduces so little vibration, I'm not sure if there would be any advantage here.

As far as the ad-hoc connection, this is already available. A QR code on the camera's LCD is generated when using “Host” mode WLAN setup. Scan the QR code with the Q App on your phone or iPad and it sets up its own connection. Very simple.

I had the M9 + Noct combo for three years. Setting aside the price aspect, the Noct is a great lens at f5.6 and an amazing lens at f.95. However, at f.95, the Noct is very hard to focus and even more difficult in low light… the depth of field is so shallow (focus on the bridge of someones nose and their lips are out of focus) that for me focus success was very hit and miss.

But if you use the Noct with the M240 and the not-so-great EVF (too low resolution, in my opinion, a better EVF is the one for the T), then you will greatly increase your odds of low-light focus success with the Noct.

I also once bought into the CCD in the M9 being better than the CMOS in the M240. After using both and the M240 for 18 months, I think overall the M240 files have a little more “play” in them… less susceptible to banding, particularly in well saturated skies.

I did use the lens profile for the 28mm Summicron-M ASPH in Lightroom, since the Q hasn't been added to the lens database yet.

Thank you for the nice feedback. I do basic edits to taste in Lightroom after applying a preset to my images upon import. I probably spend a minute or two per image.

I'm not quite sure what you mean “change from right to left”. Could you elaborate?

I am worry about sales of 28mm f1.4 asph, f2 asph or f2.8 asph.

While there are likely several compact cameras available with fixed 28 mm (effective focal length) lenses, the one I remember best was the Nikon Coolpix A, which I used for some time. It did a good job for me, although I thought the images were slightly sterile or ‘technical'-looking. This new Q (which is on the way to me now) should improve greatly on that other 28 mm experience, having a full-frame sensor, a Leica lens, and a processing engine that produces a better overall look.

While controlled ISO testing like this doesn't directly impact “taking pictures” per se, it does let users or potential users understand the performance envelope of this camera vs. other cameras. I suppose the same argument could be made as to why car reviewers measure 0-60 times and lateral acceleration, among other benchmarks. They are a good measure of relative performance. Personally, I do prefer going out and shooting actual pictures. If you read my Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246) Review, you'll see I have no shortage of real-life pictures taken in a variety of situations.