Wrestling with the truth

How I agonised as I ummed and ahhed over how to say this, worrying whether I should pull my punches or just give it to you straight. So let’s just cut to the chase. This camera is a masterpiece. Come on, a Leica with autofocus! You’ve got to be impressed. Believe me, there once was a time when I would have considered such wizardry heresy, but that was before I got my hands on the new Leica Q3. However, my love affair with Leica is an open secret, so admittedly, I was ready to be impressed. Yet, I was unprepared for just how mind-bogglingly impressive it would turn out to be.

A brief history of Q

Whilst this is my first encounter with an autofocus Leica, the Q series project began in 2015 with the introduction of the eponymous Leica Q. The idea was: they would create a compact camera that would combine extraordinary full-frame image quality with an instinctive control system. The core of this system would be Leica’s utterly mind-blowing fixed Summilux 28mm f/1.7 ASPH lens. In my opinion, this is one of their finest lenses to date. Leica improved this winning combination in 2019, with the introduction of the Leica Q2 with improved usability, a higher resolution sensor, and weather sealing. Leica has now returned with the third incarnation of the Q series, the logically named Leica Q3.

Built back better

Leica has simply taken note of everything it learnt in the creation of its previous iterations and simply decided to build back better. What first impresses me with the Q3 is the way it feels so natural in the hand. However, its second virtue is much, much more difficult to quantify, for in some ways it’s an intangible, as its indulgent luxury invokes a certain je ne sais quoi that emanates from within. Rather like the feeling a well-fitted bespoke hand-crafted suit can make you seem to walk ten feet taller; that strange boost to one’s confidence comes from simply knowing you look a million dollars. The Leica Q3 has a similar secret sauce in ladles. And whilst that may not make you a better photographer, it will make you want to be. And who knows, in trying to live up to its sense of worth, you might just become one.

Let’s talk numbers

So, with the intangibles aside, let us go back to that which we can quantify. As one would expect from Leica, the build quality of the German-made body is simply sublime, and ergonomically speaking, it’s divine. However, so I suppose I’d better tell you quickly about the files it produces before I run out of superlatives. The camera incorporates Leica’s new back-illuminated CMOS sensor with Triple-Resolution-Technology, providing users with three resolution options: 60, 36, or 18 megapixels, all utilising the full sensor width. Suffice it to say: the new sensor is a triumph. The files just pop, zing and sing with the precision of a close harmony quartet. The colours are precise yet natural and come as close to perfection as any digital camera I’ve ever used. This kind of image quality would once have only been the stuff of dreams.

A delight to use

The user interface is child’s play, minimalist yet both intuitive and easy to fathom out, and aside from the shutter-speed dial, all achieved using just a few buttons and a toggle (Directional Pad). Although I tended to use that same toggle to precisely place the autofocus cross, improvements to the autofocus system include a hybrid autofocus system with phase detection for precise focus and fast object tracking. The Q3’s intelligent subject recognition recognises human bodies, faces, and eyes, as well as animals for subject tracking.

Eye to the glass, finger on the screen

The OLED electronic viewfinder provides an unrivalled user experience, and is large and clear, whilst the touchscreen on the rear of the camera is equally excellent: super sharp and precise, and now it even tilts! So you can use it to frame and shoot at more tricky angles; lovely for those low-angle images. I should also point out that the Q3 will also shoot video. However, not being a massive shooter of video in the day job, I’ve not really touched on its video capabilities — but it will shoot 8K video should you so wish.

A few caveats

Now, having said so many nice things, I suppose the time has come to shoot myself in the foot. It’s brilliant, but boy is it expensive — eye-wateringly so. And perhaps I should also underline this fact once more — whilst it is an amazing lens — this is a fixed lens camera.

Final thoughts

However, all things considered, and believe me, I’ve considered them. This is probably the best travel camera ever made. What’s more, were I lucky enough ever to own one, I’m super sure that in a short time, it would prove to simply be the best tool for street photography yet.