LEICA Q3 43

That’s right over the last 12 months I’ve had my hands on the Leica Q3 43, I’ve taken plenty of pictures with it so I thought I’d share my first few impressions of it.

I’ve used the Q2m and I really enjoyed that camera, the quality of the images that come out of it are fantastic with unbelievable low light performance, but I didn’t enjoy the 28mm so much, don’t get me wrong I got used to it, but I’ve always been more of a 35mm to 85mm man. So when I got my hands on the new Q3 43 I just couldn’t put it down, now I know I shouldn’t say this and I never thought I would, but I love the black and white images I can get out of this camera, I would say they are close to the Q2 monochrom. The focal length is just right for me, just in that sweet spot of the focal lengths I’m used to shooting at, for me it makes taking portraits a breeze.

I know it’s a subject that gets people talking, and that’s the introduction of a tilt screen, some people think Leica should never have added it but I have to say I really like a tilt screen, I enjoy shooting from waist level as I feel it’s a little more discrete because most of the time I’m looking for candid images on the street, it’s something I really missed on the Q2M.

I really liked using this camera, the 43mm lens is a focal length I really like, anything from 35mm to 85mm is my favoured range, I’m happy shooting wider but I always find myself hovering between 35 and 85. Being a Predominantly black and white photographer a monochrom Q3 43 would be a camera I would lust after, although the black and white images you can get from this camera are very good, with a monochrom version you get that phenomenal low light performance, we’ll wait and see if Leica make one.

The auto focus is good, way better after the updated firmware, no where near as good as a Sony or Canon but it’s good compared to older versions of this camera, plus you could always go manual and use zone focusing. There is also a selection of looks from Leica you can add from the app, of course I just stick to the black and white high contrast and only use them for fast uploads to social media, I shoot raw and edit for this website and prints.

As I do like to use two or three focal lengths I think I prefer a camera I can change lenses, but if money were no object I would have a Q3 43 Monochrom if and when they make one.

All images in this post are shot with the Q3 43, raw and edited in Adobe Lightroom. Do you own one? what do you think of it?