Leica Q3 camera review 

I am a first time Leica owner and the Q3 was my camera of choice. It is superb, well built and the image quality is stunning. i use Canon and Sony for work and the image quality coming out of the Q3 is superior. I purchased the camera as a personal camera, never to be used for business, just pleasure, documenting daily life, special events and holidays. Prior to getting the Q3, I never really used my other cameras for holidays at all. Their size and form factor was just not comfortable, plus I always felt like I was on a job. The Q3 travels with me everywhere, and I mean everywhere. I will admit that last year I was very skeptical of Leica cameras, having a belief that they were for rich kids and the image quality was no different to a cheaper canon or sony. I was wrong, these cameras are different, they are special and I now realise that the price is proportional to the quality. The lens alone delivers stunning image quality. My other cameras have lost their shine, they honestly do feel like plastic cheap cameras now where the Q3 is different. Its metal, its robust and it looks good. Thank you Christopher for a wonderful video review.

Is this beginning of the era Chris tests out eye watering price tagged Leica lenses? I would love to see how SL , M lenses do

Thank you for reviewing this camera!! Looking very much forward to the lens review coming up!

Great review as always! I have the Q2, and while it’s overpriced I will never sell it (unless I buy a Q3 😆. It is my daily documenting life camera and it’s frankly wonderful.

This is the review I was waiting madly. Thank you thank you for reviewing this camera in your very unique way! I come here to see your all amazing camera gear reviews. Thank you for taking the time and sharing this phenomenal review with us. What is missing in this review is Lens Testing like you do regularly. We would like to see how $6k 28mm 1.7 lens does on so called free Leica Q3 body with 60mp Sony sensor 😊

Thanks for the informative and un-biased review Christopher! I can't quite spring for this one right now, but I am looking forward to getting my hands on the D-Lux 8 in July!

Is this your first Leica test/review? Congrats! You're review is the most unbiased compared to other influencers whom become enamoured by the big red dot. Thankyou

Reminds me of the time I had a Sigma dp1. Really pleasant pictures when you make it work and lots of fun.

I have got a Q3 few days ago. My gift for my 60th anniversary! The 28mm 1.7 lens itself it’s worth the price. I do have several primes for my Nikon Z8, but the quality and the character of this lens is something special! In such a compact and beautiful body. I don’t need a fast autofocus or too many custom buttons. For that I use the Z8…

The review that I have been waiting for!!!!

I have one of 250 Q2 007 editions ever made and I do use the camera, but only sparingly. It is rather noisy compared to other full frame cameras and at high iso. Very dark scenes are best shot in RAW and converted to black and white. The Q2 has less controls than Q3 but sufficient. With two programmable buttons that can be loaded with up to eight [or is it six?] different functions each plus the physical controls similar to old film cameras, these are very easy and satisfying cameras to use. The lens! It is claimed to be 28mm but in my experience has the field of view of other full frame cameras that are 24mm. Basically with these cameras you are buying the lens and getting the body free; just check out Leica 28 or 24mm removable lens prices

Finally really using my Leica Q3 for our Europe trip starting in London… did bring my A7R5 just in case… today is Day 3 and have not touched my A7R5 yet… I find a lot easier taking strangers in street photography with Q3 and I do realise few people taking notice of the red dot

It’s a great compact camera which you can use to shoot pro level advertisement photos. Main thing is the lens quality & the leaf shutter for strobe sync outdoors, tethers into captureone as well.

A friend loaned his Q2 & I was smitten by the lens, the body not so much - a very slow processor. But, the common wisdom is you are buying the lens, with a free camera attached. So, looking forward to your lens review!

Thanks, Christopher!

Thanks for posting this! Spot on! I love mine. No not as good as my R5 but a lot more fun. I did brick wall test. Tripod 3 meters from the wall F8. Not that impressed with the sharpness (except the centre of the frame. Looking forward to your review of the lens!

The images you shot with it look great

Basically a $6000 A7CR with worse autofocus and a fidget lense. Still a great review!

excellent review! Just bought a Q3. thanks!

The featureset is something I'm super interested in - I just can't justify the expense. Here's hoping the next generation of Ricoh GR will come to save me sooner than later.

I've watched at least 100 of your reviews. Love your channel. What a work! The first time I held a digital Leica, I thought: they're just not top of their game in many of the technologies that make and shape a camera. They're phenomenal, but not equipment-wise... it saddened me. Really did. It sounded like a small pistol if you used it in the street. Quirk number one.

I love it!

I've never seen anyone using Leica. But this review just confirms it doesn't justify the price and it is just EXTRA ordinary. If I'm paying such premium price I expect many thing to be superior than the competitor, like fantastic AF or amazing IQ which is harder to achieve in other brand cameras. In the case of Rolex and other swiss watches at least they are status symbol. But this one doesn't give any such exclusiveness feeling. It looks like Louis Vuitton of camera..

Great video as always! For a similar look, the Zeiss Distagon 25mm F2 has almost the same performances as the Summilux 28mm F1.7. Just pair it with a mirrorless camera without OLPF and you'll save a bunch of money 😜

I appreciate ever single video you make! How can you get your hands on the M11 monochrom for testing!? I'd love to see your results on that.

Leica is like having an Omega or Rolex. Are there less expensive alternatives that do the same thing? Of course there are, but German engineering speaks to some. This is the only review I’ve seen that pointed out slow boot up and photo review. I appreciate the independent review.

Watched the video with headphones- that music man, dearie me! Nice vid though. The Q3 is dynamite

Great review, a very personnel story, but revealing of the Q3’s imbedded ‘quirks’ which may, rightly put some off. (As if the price alone doesn’t deter you from…). I found it a very useful review - I look forward to your review of the 28mm lens, which has remained unchanged for 3 generations (or more), of the Q series. Haha, and sounds like they ‘cheaped’ out on the speed of the processor !! With the size of the files that sounds like a source of continual frustration !! Again, great review, thks !!

Hey Christopher!!! Nice video!!! Could you make a vídeo about the Nikon 105mm f1.4E ED, I'd like to know if still worth buying, How it's sharpness goes wide open, There's no review on youtube about this lens the same way you do.😉✌

"Quite well weather sealed" is a bit of an understatement. The IP52 rating is one of the major selling points of this camera.

That wine glass on 5:21, my mother has the exact same somewhere at home, i dont know where she got it but.. it doesnt matter, i just recognized that style of glasswear (also regular glasses n such).. :D as for the Leica... i personally never saw the appeal of that camera with its price, but recently i started to remind myself - others dont see the appeal to spend 4500.- on a camera body (EOS R5) either and rather spend 1500 on a iphone pro something of a rather... :)

Wow! we'll be getting GFX reviews next! I just think a R5 with that pancake 28mm is probably a better idea

I love the slightly cool WB.

If the price point wasn't the SOLE issue...I would love to have this body as my every day shooter!

Does anyone have a 10' pole I can borrow?

For point and shoot primes. I prefer 35 ie 28 or 50.

Ayeee thanks but why no corners in the quality test? 😅 EDIT: Nevermind, I see there's a separate lens review! Didn't expect that since the lens is stuck on the camera but it helps.

Nikon Zf review please.

This is a nice unbiased review. I like your objectivity. Personally, I am biased against Leica. There is a mystique about them that totally does not warrant the extreme prices they charge. The new revolutionary Sony a9 III with global shutter, 4k 120, no more flash sync limit, 1/80,000 shutter speed, shutter half-press pre-burst capture, and more, is the same price. Granted, without a lens, but then again, having a fixed lens is also a downside to this camera. It is not flexible (and the digital crop doesn't count). Besides its inflexibility, it is simply slower and has worse performance, with fewer options. If people want "simple" photography similar to what they can get with this camera, they can buy a full-frame camera from 10 years ago (which will probably perform similarly) and simply not touch the dials. It will be a whole lot cheaper, though it may not have a red dot to show that they're rich.

Thanks!

I love my Q2 for it's simplicity and compact size. It's small enough that it goes with me just about everywhere. The Q3 builds upon everything that was good in Q2 and adds even more goodness. Sure, there are many other cameras that offer more features at much lower price points, but if you enjoy the process of making images, there is nothing better than a Leica!

That is a lot of money for what is really quite a basic camera, think I'll stick to my R3

❤❤

You would have thought they’d put in a fast processor at this cost.

2:32 every review comments on the difficulty of pulling out the touchscreen but if you pull first from the top to release and then the bottom to position it is effortless

The price of this makes the Sony A9III look even more attractive lol

3 sec boot up for 6k street camera

Most reviewers: “completely unbiased” then proceed to give glowing biased review… Christopher: “completely unbiased” proceeds to burn bridges with Leica 😂. Great review.

Gold-tinged excrement 🥰

I've seen a couple of reviews of this popping up. The colour science looks fantastic. For the tiny size, it's a great little portable camera and that lens give rediculous sharpness. Shame I can't justify it for any workflows, cause it wouldn't make me money. But really this is an artistic camera for daily documenting or creative photography. Great size for a coat pocket too.

Was considering getting one for Xmas or something, but the slow performance is kind of off-putting. They really dropped the ball in the processor department.

I buy Leica so I can sit in Morroco Tangiers at my favorite restaurant and gaze at my Patek Phillipe watch smoking my Peterson Spigot Pipe with Navy Cut tobacco while Sipping Freshly Made Morrocan coffee . I plan one street shot with a super model than drive my 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL to my beach front house...where I Crack a bottle of 1945 Mouton Rothchilds.

I'll never understand why you've tried any full-frame camera and don't want to try Fujifilm's gfx 100 mk2 medium format system

I think I will get the Sony a93

The Q3 has amazing low light image quality at high iso, just as good as my Nikon Z6 which is a low light king. Testing High ISO imagine quality on the cameras jpeg engine only does it a massive disservice.

No Lens Test?

How so the start up of this camera is slower than my Fuji X-T3? As a luxurious street photography tool, it's simply unacceptable.

Tried the Q2 and had to return it. Amazing image quality, but the price is unjustifiable.

For that price, oh boy… I‘ll take the Xpro3 with the 18mm 1.4 any time.

Crystal Pepsi!

I love Leica, but that is limited to M-system and SL-system... One reason I feel dubious about Q-system is that, I just somehow can't get rid of the notion that it just feels like luxurious Panasonic with the red Leica tag on.

maximum reasonable price for this camera is 2-3k, but not 6k.

Top of my list of lottery win purchases. Beautiful bit of kit that I would happily have on me at all times, but JFC it's pricy

Because of this review, I canceled the camera upgrade from Leica Q2 to Q3. I am staying with my Leica Q2.

A poseur’s camera if ever there was one.

This is the "less is more" point & shoot camera for $6000. Less is everything what todays cameras can do, even a $ 1500 camera can do much better. The new Sony A9III is the same price. Most people who buy this Leica think they would be a "legend" or a "master" photographer, the only thing they forget, buying a Leica, not include photographic vision.

La verdad tengo una Q3 y cada disparo te hace sentir algo especial y uso Sony para trabajo pero la Leica tiene te enamora y no hace falta editar es un pecado .

Why the hell isn't this an interchangeable lens camera?

5300GBP?? I was just thinking what I can get from Sony for that amount of money - even if I want something compact. If I care, I use my camera, if I don't care I use my phone. That simple. Leica has always been a spoiled childrens' toy, I can't take them seriously. But another good review Chris, thank you!

Great video as always. Hey Canon, loan this guy a 200-800. I'm not buying one until I hear his review. 😊

$9,990.00 in Australia :-(

You don't buy a Leica for the best performance there are way better option out there when you just want a workhorse that gets the job done. Leica is a luxury camera for people that want something different. For me its like buying a Porsche 911 there is really no reason to get one, most other cars at a fraction of the price are way more practical but driving one around there is just some feeling about it you don't get with a normal car.

This being in the same price range as the new Sony a9 III is kinda insane... Especially when people are actually buying Leicas'

Looks like a Fuji X100 copy, but not as nice looking.

$6000 "no expense spared" luxury product.... Takes a few seconds to turn on because of the underpower processor.

There's nothing quite like watching someone trying to justify their Leica purchase as "so ergonomic" or that their sensors have "special science" that makes them worth what they tell other people they paid. Much less what they actually did 😂

Somebody please explain to me, why anyone would buy this camera? What is the reason to spend 6k euros/dollars for a camera that has a fixed lens?

The only thing that’s bothering me and which doesn’t suit the premium feel of Leica is the slow processor. There’s no way to justify that for that price in 2023.

I’d drop that , a lot

And there are people complaining that the A9 III is overpriced....lol

No IBIS?? Wrist strap or misery. If you think about it, Phone software could easily be applied to a real camera body. We get crazy depth of field, excellent auto focus, edge to edge sharpness..we'd all buy a 400 dollar camera that fit in our pocket with the features we now have in phones. I bet It's coming..

Leica is what apple haters say the iphone is, while the iphone is a very competitive phone feature wise, not just an expensive luxury sheise that depends on brand loyalty to sell any unit. Edit: Just in case, i use a Xiaomi phone.

These cameras are a huge game changer and they will help you become a better photographer. I have just received my Q3 and have owned a Q2 monochrom for some years now. These cameras are without a doubt my all-time favorites, an absolute joy to use, with image quality that blows you away, and a superb build quality that no other brand offers. My Canon R5 and it's pro range lenses, Fuji Xpro 3 and it's pro lenses or the pro-Nikons I have owned in the past do not remotely compare to the joy of the user experience of these cameras or the image quality they produce. If you write these cameras off because you think they are just 'rich kids toys', or are 'unnecessary'....you're doing yourself no favors and are missing out on something truly amazing.

$6K for basically an X100V on steroids. Yikes.

I’m not sure 100% but…. I’m pretty sure that it has a Sony sensor

All you need to know about Leica is they released a monochrome only point and shoot that still costs more than a professional flagship mirrorless body from any other brand. That's who they are.

Good but maybe not for me. 😊

3 second start up is criminal for a 'street' biased camera.

What's interesting about this camera is how it uses a Sony sensor.

"Contains paid for content"

EXTREMELY overprized tarsh.

this camera is a joke.. u can buy several better cameras at this price.. pathetic company, but good review as always!

I'd buy a Sony A1 or Nikon Z8 instead of this...!

I didn't like the review because this camera has a scary deformation on the lens that is completely corrected via software and I would have expected you to do this kind of test with the grid and you didn't disable software corrections

Ridiculous comments, people have no idea about Leica, they are just jealous they can’t afford one, so that’s why all this negativity has been created…get a life out there!

This camera has laughable specs. Any Camera in this price range kicks the hell out of this one. Not a surprise what people say about it's "fangroup".

Another example of an overpriced, underperforming camera for a niche market.

Only Leica fans will appreciate its lack-luster specifications. I can see no justification to pay $1000 let alone $6000. Just my opinion of course.

just my 2 cents: a totally overrated camera - the lens is still the awkward original which can't b e used for RAW shooting because of its monstrous distortion of about 13 % !! (according tiodiglloyd...)thats the point were all discussion are ending. Basta! ps. and the so ed Leica Pop is a dilletanic approach of some German nerds to render pictures over saturated: the colors are "bunt", not "farbig" (there is no English description of the difference...). and I am not willing to pay such a high amount for a crappy jpg tool...

The tech inside is generations behind the pack, anyone paying $6k for this is doing so for the name, can't make any other argument. Panasonic has better AF than this.