I’ve always been curious about what the "Q" in the Leica Q stands for. After some use, I’ve come to a conclusion: it stands for "Questionable."
Don’t get me wrong—this is a beautiful and intriguing camera. However, there are several puzzling choices in its design and functionality that make it difficult to recommend. And in use, some aspects of this device even render the camera unusable. Brace yourselves, Leica fans; I’m about to ruffle some feathers.
First Impressions and Physical Design
The first thing I noticed when unboxing the Leica Q3 was how terrible the ergonomics are. The body has no contouring or shape to aid in comfortably holding the camera, and the slick material makes things even worse. There’s nothing substantial to grip onto, and this issue is so glaring that you’ll rarely see a Leica Q without some form of added grip—be it a handgrip, a thumb grip, or both. Here’s the kicker: these accessories don’t come included. At this price point, you’d think Leica would build better ergonomics into the camera or, at the very least, provide these grips in the box. Instead, they charge $200 for a handgrip and another $200 for a thumb grip.
Another odd design choice is the battery system. There’s no battery door. Instead, the battery pops into the bottom of the camera, blending seamlessly with the base. While it looks sleek, I’ve had the battery pop out twice under unknown circumstances—possibly from brushing against a belt loop or bag. Thankfully, I noticed it both times before leaving the area, but losing this $200 battery could easily happen if you’re on the go.
Then there’s the flip-out screen. Leica didn’t provide enough clearance around the screen to easily pull it out. The edges are just as slick as the rest of the camera, so you struggle to get any type of grip. To address this, Leica added a groove at the top of the screen, but the EVF partially blocks this groove, making the entire process feel awkward. Moreover, if you want to tilt the screen up, you first have to pull it down, adjust it, and then tilt it back up. The questionable part about this design choice is that the screen has the same clearance around all of its sides. So why not add grooves along the sides and/or bottom for easier access?
To their credit, Leica did get some things right. The lens is a standout feature, with a fast f/1.7 aperture and a fantastic focus lever that locks in place to prevent accidental adjustments. This makes switching between manual and autofocus seamless while also making it difficult to accidentally make an adjustment, unlike the little switches that have become almost standard on most modern lenses. Add in the fact that the lens has a nice little lens collar for quick and easy adjustment into macro mode.
Functionality and Performance
When it comes to some of the physical design elements, while I'm not a huge fan, I can at least understand them. Also, some of these choices, I could imagine, are in order to maintain the aesthetic that the Q series has become known for. But for me, where this camera truly falls apart is with the camera’s core functionality.
Autofocus: A Major Letdown
Let’s address the elephant in the room: autofocus. Many might argue that you don’t buy a Leica for its autofocus, but here’s the thing—if a camera offers features like face and eye detection, they should work properly. On the Leica Q3, face and eye detection are inconsistent at best and disastrous at worst. The camera arbitrarily places boxes around anything it thinks is a face, including mailboxes, windows, and chairs. Worse, it randomly selects one of these “faces” as the primary subject. If someone enters or exits the frame, the camera resets its selection, unselecting your subject in the process. For anyone trying to photograph moving subjects—like kids, in my case—this is a nightmare. The only workaround is to use old-school methods like moving the focus point manually or focus-and-recompose, which feels like a step back to the DSLR era.
Buffer Issues and Odd Behavior
The Q3’s buffer also has its quirks. There’s no indication of how much of the buffer is cleared—just a generic “buffering” notification. On top of that, I encountered a frustrating issue where the camera wouldn’t let me take photos until the buffer was entirely cleared, even when there was plenty of room left. This problem mysteriously disappeared when I turned off the 120 Hz EVF refresh rate, only to remain gone when I tried to replicate it later to document it. But weird anomaly aside, the fact that you have no idea how many images are left to buffer makes documenting a fast-paced subject difficult because you can't plan around the needed buffer time.
Shutter Limitations
The camera’s leaf shutter is limited to 1/2,000th of a second, which severely restricts the usability of the f/1.7 lens in daylight. While you can switch to the electronic shutter, its slow readout speed results in noticeable rolling shutter effects with any movement. This slow readout speed also causes severe banding in lighting that has any type of refresh rate.
Even worse, the exposure preview misleads you. For example, if you’re shooting in aperture priority at f/1.7 with ISO 100, the preview might show a properly exposed image, but the actual photo ends up overexposed due to the shutter speed limitation. This forces you to constantly review your shots or add an ND filter—an annoying extra step for what’s supposed to be an everyday carry camera.
Image Quality and Highlight Handling
The Leica Q3 features the same sensor as the Sony a7CR and Sony a7R V, which are among the best sensors on the market. As expected, the image quality is excellent. As expected, the image quality is excellent. However, the way Leica implements this sensor causes highlights to blow out much faster than on comparable cameras. Combined with the shutter speed limitation, this makes it difficult to shoot wide open in bright conditions without compromising your images or needing to resort to higher apertures or ND filters, which seems like a weird thing to have to consider to take images in regular daylight.
What I Liked
- Solid build
- Fast yet small f/1.7 lens with nice features
- Leaf shutter is quiet
- Nice build quality
- Image quality is great aside from faster highlight clipping
What I Didnt Like
- Autofocus is underwhelming
- Face and eye tracking is almost useless
- 1/2,000 shutter speed is limiting
- Ergonomics are terrible and require expensive add-ons to fix
Final Thoughts: Who Is This Camera For?
The Leica Q3’s design and functionality left me scratching my head. As a compact, everyday carry camera, it faces stiff competition from other brands that offer similar aesthetics with far better performance. If Leica’s goal was to create a luxury camera, they succeeded—but luxury doesn’t justify basic functionality issues. And at this price point, I expect the camera and its features to actually work. Unfortunately, the Q3’s quirks make it difficult to trust in real-world scenarios.
Oh my, your well thought out article will surely enrage the members of the Leica cult. Just kidding. I don’t own a Q3, but have used Leica M’s for the past 12+ years, so nothing that you so well documented in your article is new to my experiences with Leica on the M side. But in all fairness, throughout all these years I have come to notice that the Q’s and M’s are not designed to be used like those mirrorless from other companies. They are slow, awkward to hold, and of dramatically challenging focusing process. They do force you to be that very slow, deliberate photographer that takes time to work on a subject before pressing that shutter. Can they be used for quick photos out on the street? Yes, of course, but developing that expertise level where accurate focus and exposure come together in a seamless way, does take time, and lots of time, which considering where tech is in 2025, could prove highly frustrating. But Leica has no incentive to change those things, or at least they are not in a hurry, specially when customers continue to give them their money despite all those things you pointed out.
I am so enamored with this camera that it is my goto for almost all situations.
I even created www.leica-q.com just for us
:)
Although a slower lens according to rumours the imminent Fuji compact GFX fixed lens camera could well undercut the Q3 by a couple of thousand.
Although Fuji also isn't known for Sony levels of AF, and GFX has generally been half a step behind that, it won't be a performance camera. The slower lens even suggests it might be one you stick in manual and zone focus.
But some higher end competition might give Leica pause for thought to design out the creases it doesn't really care about because people will buy it just for the sake of buying a Leica.
This may seem shocking to you, but as a longtime Q2 user, I think I’ve used the auto focus functionality twice. It’s just not a feature a typical Leica photographer would rely on, though I’m sure some people do. I want to very selectively focus when I’m shooting. The last thing I want from a Leica is autofocus.
It sounds like a Fuji X-Pro 1!
No it doesn’t. It is not at all like an xpro.
Im a pro Sony user and would like to have a Leica camera for "pleasure" photography. I've always seen Leica as a Manual focus camera. With all the wonderful Leica and Voightlander lenses, I would focus 95% manually. I like manual focusing with my Sony RX1R ii. Outside of work, I like to slow down my photography
You don't buy a Q for autofocus and eye tracking. It's best used in manual focus IMHO.
After owning one for 16 months now, it's the camera I want to pick and and use the most.
Just put some duct tape over the battery to make sure it won't fall out. Yeah. That'll work.
Between the poor AF and very limiting shutter speed, this camera would infuriate me to no end. And, it's $6300 for a fixed lens, so it's not even versatile and adaptive.
You took some really great pictures with this camera, which is surprising since you didn’t really bond with it. Might be worthwhile for you to give the camera another look when Leica releases the next iteration.
I guess you said it all when you declared that you are a wedding photographer. I have no interest in wedding photography and this camera is eminently unsuited to being a wedding photographer’s primary camera.
I own a Q3. First Leica that has interested me, after 50 years of Canon and more recently Fuji. I love the Q3. I don’t use eye tracking. If I want to track someone, I use the non eye tracking. On a 28mm lens, it works very well. The battery cover: I really don’t understand what worries you about it, but then with the very good battery life of this camera, I don’t access the battery anyway. I just charge via USBc and if the day will be long, I carry a small charging brick. Re the ergonomics, I bought an RRS l bracket with grip. Never comes off the camera, lightweight and works well.
When you opened with the line about ruffling feathers, I guess you declared your agenda up front. If anyone wants to hear a rounded view on the Q3 perhaps consider looking up Hugh Brownstone’s reviews.
Honestly, I don’t think you have invested the time to learn the use case of this camera before publishing a click bait review
The fastest shutter speed is 1/16000 sec not 1/2000 sec as you stated. You need to access the menus to get the wider shutter speed range (or simply use Aperture Priority) - and up to 60 mins for long exposures too. It's all in the manual...
He mentioned that already. It's all in the article and video.
I’m not part of a “Leica cult” but this just hasn’t been my experience. OK I don’t use the video option or the tilting screen. Not much anyway. But the autofocus works fine and images are amazingly sharp. I haven’t needed face recognition much as this seems a bit of a gimmick - the focussing assist is sufficient. The body is sleek but a half case with a grip for a lot less than $200 does what’s needed. I also use aperture priority but don’t have a problem with unrealistic preview on the screen. The histogram is also a good exposure guide. I also like how the 60mpx allows comfortably for cropping that still produces images that can be printed large.
Apparently I’m part of a *cult*. So fwiw…
1. I have 3 Q’s (Q2M, Q3 and Q3-43), 2 M11’s, 4 SL’s and 3 Hasselblads with the same battery system. Have never, ever popped a battery accidentally. Since 2015. And there’s a 2nd catch to prevent the battery completely coming out.
2. Yes the accessories are stupid money. Leica is a luxury brand and charges luxury prices. It’s a deliberate strategy to make money. There are cheaper options though that a 12 second google search will find.
3. It’s a leaf shutter. With a few exceptions 95% of currently available leaf shutters max out a 1/2000th. Including the Fuji X100 series and Hasselblads X system lenses. Maybe some research before purchase?
4. Why did you not use the highlight weighted metering option if you found the normal metering too hot. It’s a Leica function specifically to address your *issue*.
5 Agreed on the AF. Doesn’t bother me as I use it within its capabilities but it should be better. I use MF occasionally. If I wanted MF I’d buy an M. Actually I did buy an M. For tracking I much prefer the regular non face tracking mode which is pretty reliable.
6. I have no more issues with the rear screen than any other camera. But I also don’t shoot in gloves a lot. That would be a pain. Without though it’s pretty seamless for me. Oh, there is a groove along the bottom. How did you miss this?
I get the Q has real issues. I could list half a dozen pretty easily. I get that it’s definitely not for everybody. It it does seem, however, you have made some pretty basic errors here (screen groove, leaf shutter, metering options). Not sure why you’re having the battery pop out. Maybe a fault?
Jason, I did not realize some of the shortcomings of the Q3 until reading this and watching the video. Leica has always been about a unique shooting experience, but some of these design choices seem unnecessarily frustrating. The autofocus limitations, shutter speed restrictions, and ergonomics could make it hard to justify as an everyday carry for some photographers.
That being said, a good friend of mine shoots with the Q3 Monochrome, and I am in awe of the depth and detail it produces. Without a color filter array, it captures pure luminance data, resulting in incredible sharpness, enhanced dynamic range, and superior low-light performance. For photographers who live and breathe in black-and-white, it offers something truly special.
Paul Tocatlian
Kisau Photography
www.kisau.com
I have the Leica Q2 monochrome as there’s no such thing as the Q3 like you commented. It blows out the highlights terribly and you need to use color filters for it to look good. The reason you will want to use color filters is you have no color channels for editing in post like when converting a color image to black and white. The main benefit of the monochrome cameras is the low light sensitivity. The problem is with a color filter on they act as ND filters and the camera ends up being worse then a standard color digital camera in low light. It’s a beautiful camera and it’s cool that it only shoots black and white but it has no benefit honestly.
This has not been my experience at all. I have two sony a6100’s and a Sony a7iv. And my Q3 is almost just as good with eye/face in continuous autofocus. The Q2 monochrom I have is also good due to it being a monochrom sensor and using a contrast based autofocus system. Not nearly as fast as the Q3 though. The Q3 with the latest firmware is very fast and sticky. Also using the wireless remote through an iPad to view what you are shooting wirelessly is incredible.
As an owner of this camera my biggest gripe is the exposure preview issue, which makes it difficult to shoot in full manual mode. The autofocus is good at daytime but useless at night.
Your review is reasoned and well thought out. While it seems you didn’t particularly like the camera I love the photos of your children you took with it. Makes me miss my little one running around the house being my favorite model.
i've been using the Q3 for about a year now.. I've shot it all over the world traveling.. and use it weekly to shoot small venue burlesque and live music in new orleans.
i have been shooting Sony and a Fuji X100V for years.. really liked the look and feel of the Fuji but really hit a wall with its focusing and low light performance. The leica price was hard to swallow.. its outrageously expensive... but.. once you realize its a 60mp sensor (like the sony acr) + a truly fantastic high end lens.. its not as expensive as it initially looks. for the nay-sayers that say "its only 1.7, not 1.2 etc..) the sharpness and character of this lens is really special. especially when you convert the images to black and white.
-i bought a generic case/grip on amazon that makes it fit in my hand better.. and protects the battery better.. I've had no issues with the battery popping out. the case has saved me a few times when I bumped the camera and even dropped it. it doesn't add too much weight or size.
- 1/2000 is pretty good.. and when I need more.. i throw on an ND filter.. like you'd do with any other camera..
- e shutter works fine outdoors with sunlight.. like all e-shutters .. indoor lighting produces banding.. that's just how it is.. not a problem only to leica.
- focusing.. its good and bad:
- standard focus point focusing is very good.. probably equivalent to a Sony A7r3/A7r4.. the A1 and A7r5 are better... but its very very usable even on fast moving subjects as long as you can get the focus point on it. it would be even better if there was a joystick on the back to move the focus point. but its very usable.
- focus tracking: terrible.. if there is more than one person in the frame etc, it gets distracted, I've given up on it.
- eye focusing: very good if you're doing portraits.. but not great if people are moving or if people are moving in and out of the scene.
- interface:
its a super simple interface.. but works really really well.. after a year I rarely even have to look to change shutter, iso, and f-stop.. its really nice. menus are simple and to the point.. you can get to the options you need, doesn't have a lot of fluff.
its not a camera for everyone.. 28mm isnt for everyone.. but for a small select few of people.. its really a fantastic and unique camera.
www.instagram.com/darrellmillerphotography
I own every iteration of the Q. I’m aware of their limitations but there is something so satisfying with the images I get from them.
That said I reckon they are cameras of the “take your time” and “take it slow” type that I would never use in a run and gun or wedding situation.
I’m sure there are much better tools for that situation.