The Leica Q3 43 Is Brilliant. But I Still Wouldn't Buy It.
As some of you might know, I was recently in Vienna and I took a camera I’ve never used before, the Leica Q3 43.
I politely asked Leica if I could borrow it and they said yes. No real reason, I was just curious.
I used the Q2 a lot a couple of years back and wanted to see how things had moved on. And the 43 has had a lot of buzz around it, so I was keen.
The Focal Length:
Every Q camera before this one has a 28mm Summilux. A lot of people find that too wide, fair enough.
For years I would read comments about people wanting a 35mm or 50mm version. So where did 43mm come from?
I've read that 43mm is supposedly the closest to how the human eye actually sees… I'm not sure that holds up, but whatever haha
My honest reaction coming from someone who usually uses 28mm and 35mm. The 43 just felt like I was one step too close to everything.
When I picked up the MP or M11 when out in Vienna (which had a 28 or 35 on it) everything had room to breathe.
Going back to the 43 after that, it just wasn't clicking for me.
But I appreciate that's subjective, obviously. If you shoot wide 28 or 35 like me, you might feel the same.
Q343, Vienna
Q343, Vienna
Q343, Vienna
Q343, Vienna
What isn't subjective
The APO Summicron is genuinely outstanding.
The files are 60mp, the rendering is phenomenal, and the images I came away with are some of the sharpest I've seen.
The sensor on the Q3 43 is apparently the same as the M11 - most 60mp sensors are Sony right? Either way, the results speak for themselves.
Worth noting: the regular Q3 has a 28mm Summilux that opens to f1.7. The 43 stops at f2.
Not a dealbreaker for most people, but worth knowing.
Everything else
Autofocus is fine, not flawless.
Nothing like a modern Sony or Canon. I know I shouldn’t compare apples with oranges and all that but if we talk about AF… Sony is the benchmark.
I missed a few shots and found myself double-checking focus more than I'd like.
But I think part of that is just being so used to the M. Maybe I would get used to the AF more if I used it over time.
And I enjoyed manually focusing on the 43. The lens feels great.
UI has had a big update and it shows, navigating settings felt more intuitive than the Q2 ever did.
Battery life was solid. Made it through a full day in Vienna on one battery, just about.
No internal storage, which still feels like a strange missing link?
White balance on auto was inconsistent, same as the Q2, so I just shot in cloudy all week and kept my RAW files consistent.
My M11 is kinda the same here. Maybe all Leica files are slightly inconsistent on white balance? I don’t know.
Q343, Vienna
Q343, Vienna
Q343, Vienna
The bigger thing I noticed
Shooting with the Q made me feel a little passive. Hand in pocket, relying on AF and not really paying attention.
With the M you have to be switched on, engaged. You don't get away with being lazy.
I hadn't realised how much that focus (pun intended) had become part of ‘the experience’ when using an M.
I think the Q system is often where people are introduced to Leica. Then many move on to the M chasing that tactile, deliberate experience.
That was exactly my path. Going back to a Q after using with the M wasn’t quite the same.
Final thoughts
The Q3 43 is brilliant. The image quality is genuinely exceptional. But for me, the focal length is a dealbreaker - 28mm just makes more sense for how I shoot.
I wouldn't buy one.
If you want a much deeper dive - Leander Hoefler (who I actually got to meet in Vienna) has done a seriously thorough review on his channel, watch that here.
Hope you all had a great easter!
See you on the street,
Mike
PS. Still a few copies of my newest Zine available and shipping worldwide!
