The Leica Q2 Monochrom Review - Monochrome Mad 

I agree!! We both knew even before you did that where your heart was. And let’s face it, you got some fantastic images from your Fuji gear. The Q2 Monochrom was a natural evolution for you and your passion for tones, shadow, light and texture.

@@paulreidphotography Also, let's not forget the wonderful impact your one-on-one sessions and now your Mentorship program is having on my Photography Journey Paul 📷🖤👍👍‼️ Your instructional insights and guidance are every bit as influential on my evolution as my Leica Q2 Monochrom🙏🙏😎‼️

Wow - A Q2M and you - a match made in heaven! Thank you for sharing your joy with us! I am about to get a Q2M. Currently I use Leica SL2-S, and I once owned Leica, Q and Q-P, but the EVF on Q or Q-P is not as good as the one used on Q2, so I sold both.

Thanks so much!!!! And thanks for always watching the videos!!

Thanks so much! I really appreciate it

Thanks so much!!!!! Glad you’re loving yours

Fantastic!!! I’m glad you’ve found your ideal camera

Thanks so much for watching this one!! I really appreciate your positivity and nice comments

Thanks so much!!! Oh to have both!!!

I know I spoiled myself but I use them both all the time !@@paulreidphotography

Thanks so much!!! I really appreciate it. I do think I’d be ok with the QP you know.

Thanks for posing!! Ha haaa

Ha haaa!! Glad you enjoyed the video!! Have fun with the Q2M

Amazing!! Keep shooting with the gear you have. The inspiration is more of a win than a new camera

I’m glad you love the Nikon. I’m from the darkroom days and the files made sense for me immediately. Although with film it was the opposite way round. You were better exposing for the shadows. The flat files is also similar to a film negative if it was printed without any manipulation. I guess sometimes a camera just makes sense to some and other cameras make more sense to others. That’s great because we have so much choice these days.

Awesome!!! It’s a fantastic camera

Thanks so much! You have an amazing festive period too

Thanks so much for watching!! I really appreciate it

Thanks so much for watching this video! I really appreciate it

Thanks so much! I think I’ve got that familiar with the 28mm now that even with an M I hardly ever use anything over a 35mm

I've had a Q2M for almost two years. I love it. BUT... Last week I went to Tamarkin Camera in Chicago. I used an M11 Monochrom in the store for about 30 minutes. That camera is very, very special. I predict once you get that camera the Q2M will become I distant memory :)

I actually have for some time considered switching to an M11M! I just can’t quite pull the trigger on it

@@montysphotos Perhaps, but the Q2M felt just right in my hands. My M11 (color) is terrific, but has a different feel.

Let’s face it!! Whatever the benefits. The benefits of inspiration trump any gear

Lumix are great little street cameras. I have the GX85 and GX9. The 20mm is fine, with exception of slower focus, thus I went with Leica 15mm and also a 14mm Lumix I bought earlier on. Olympus 24 and 45mm work wonders as well. Now I am reaching back to Nikon again, as I took advantage of the big sale going on, and got the Z5 + 40mm lens.

Fantastic!!! The important thing is just to enjoy the moments! The moments you have that camera with you and your love for photography

@@lorenschwiderskiupdate, update. Since Xmas I’ve fitted a ‘new’ Samyang 12/2 manual lens. Am I having fun!✌️

Thanks so much!! Yeah o know what you mean! Insurance is a must!! You’re right when you crop then you crop in on the grain and everything! I try my best not to have to!

Thanks so much!!! I really appreciate this and it’s why I still put videos out on the channel

Thanks so much. Glad you’re enjoying the channel

So glad you enjoy your Q2M

There’s a bit of a learning curve with the Q2M! But it’s worth sticking with

I’d be equally as happy with an M10M!! I use the Q2M in a very M like fashion at times. Thanks so much for watching the video

Fantastic!!! And thanks so much for watching the video and your kind comments

I still think using the Q at base ISO could give comparable results when edited correctly to a monochrome sensor camera

@@paulreidphotography thanks, I've found the Q1 a truly fantastic camera. I'm catching as many tutorials as I can get for transforming in bw those files, if you have suggestions where to search, thanks in advance. 🎉

@@mikelecss I will see if I can put some kind of tutorials together at some point as well as some sort of preset that goes with the tutorials. I think why my editing is good isn’t through skill but a darkroom mindset.

@@paulreidphotography I like your point about the darkroom mindset! Exposing our mind to a process makes our perception goes in a specifi direction, it's so true! By the way, if you think you can arrange a video on the topic with some starting point preset I think it will be userful to many, since the monochrome cameras are so few at the moment ahah and expecially many will still prefer the option for color. Since I am the kind of person that goes all-in in something, I will not have the concern if I can choose ahah

I really still think that at base iso on the Fuji you can get comparable results when edited with a monochrome mentality

Hi mate!! Thanks so much for watching. The photos are always edited in Lightroom from the RAW file. Thanks for subscribing!! I appreciate it

I just use a uv filter! So glad you are enjoying the Q2 Monochrom

Thank you so much!

Thanks so much for watching the videos! It means a lot. I will have this T-shirt for sale soon. I’ve just been doing quality testing on them! Namely washing them lots! Wearing them lots! And tumble drying the life out of them!

Thanks for your comments Loren! I really appreciate you watching the videos

So pleased you enjoy the Q2M. Thanks for watching the video

There’s not a massive difference between M10M and Q2M. Less megapixels to play with on the 246. All in all though it all comes down to what will inspire you most

Thanks so much! Yeah so most modern cameras are actually amazing at the base iso!! Maybe up until 400 you could pull out detail without the old noise creeping in. I’m going to work on some Fuji stuff over the following weeks as I also own three Fujis of various generations. The oldest being an X PRO 1. I’m going to see what I can get from those cameras in comparison

Yeah something about the Q2M made all the difference with my photography! I’m not sure what would have happened if I didn’t come across it.

@@paulreidphotography I'm still looking for an idea how to describe it. Well, I have nothing against color photography. I like looking at other people's photographs. Color images too. But I can't do anything with it for myself, for my interests, for my practice. I don't feel anything when I photograph with color film. In the past, I simply threw a Neopan into the camera and adapted my working method to the film and the later film processing. It got to the point where I used a Neopan 1600 in my first camera, a Praktika BC-1, and then used it all these years. Even later in a Zenza Bronica SQ-A and a Zeiss ZM. This film became my "handwriting". When I had my first digital cameras, I just never managed it. I always tried to expose as ideally as possible and then somehow flailed my arms wildly in the digital post-process to find a „signature“. That somehow led to me concentrating less on the subjects and more on the technique when taking photographs. A lot of it was just a question of "how much do I need to underexpose so that I have more details in the highlights and can still get the rest out of the shadows". And yes, of course I have Lightroom and I used to develop a standardized process for my color RAWs to convert to monochrome, which was my ideal. But it never felt real. The Q2-"m" has reduced all of that significantly. The Q2-"m" IS its own film. But at least I am just a amateur. But please, nobody should tell me how much I spend of my money. Other people buy a stupid car for 40,000 or a stereo or a watch for 10,000 euros. But if they have to spend 4,000 on a used Q2M, they feel cheated.

@@paulreidphotography by the way… I really like your photos. Can you remember that Magnum Photos had lots of years ago „Magnum in Motion“? A slideshow in a player with voiceover? Interviews, sounds of the scenes, etc? I would really appreciate to see more of your photos on RU-vid: Like an exhibition.

Thanks so much! Glad you enjoy your q2M

Thanks so much for watching

Ha haaaa! Sorry! The Q2M has a certain magic

Thanks so much!!!!

That is a good point! I had to do a lot of messing about to get something that works

I honestly just don’t know!! I think I’d be more likely to get an M11M

@@paulreidphotography I hope you'll be able to have both : )

that's what Leica hopes for ! @@paulreidphotography

Glad you enjoyed it

Glad you enjoyed it

The flip screen does help indeed! I do love how sleek the Q2 and Q2M are without it though. Maybe if it was implemented better like say a Fuj flip screen it would be better

Thanks so much! That’s what this channel is really all about

Ha haaa! Good plan!

So coming from a film background I never had the luxury of colour channels for manipulation. These days Lightroom can mask anything so it’s very easy to develop an image without colour channels. The RAW files are flat. If they’re not edited correctly they will remain flat. I don’t use filters. It’s all post processing. Thanks so much for watching the video. I appreciate it

@@paulreidphotography Great to hear you can get these results without filters. I have no patience for them and that is one of the things holding me back from a monochrom camera. So will give a Leica monochrom some real thought.

So I don’t use any filters. I played with them for about a week. I do use my exposure compensation if any highlights that are being blown are relevant. If they’re not an area I wish to retain the info in the highlights I would just let them go

I feel whatever gear helps your inspiration is the main thing

@@wokboarder it certainly is. It’s in my website store!!

Not quite the flexibility with using colours in post I’m afraid.

It was absolutely developing chemicals. Check out my two videos about platinum palladium printing.

None are straight out of camera. 5 mins?

Yeah I dabble with colour using film at the minute

Thanks so much!! The 28mm question. That could be true. If it is then I guess I’m a 24mm shooter. It is pretty wide. I do use highlight weighted metering. However it’s not magic. I use exposure compensation quite a lot

@@paulreidphotography Aye, the exposure comp with the metering... but I guess with the spectacular dynamic range of the mono body, you can safely underexpose and still pull a ton of detail out of the shadows. My Nikon Z7ii has that metering mode; as you said, not magic, but on a busy street, the machine thinks faster than I do, so it's my crutch, and I'm thrilled to see Leica has it too. Thought I'd ask about the 28mm lens though - you've got a shot at 6:15 of this video with a woman's hatted head in front of a poster with a circus girl on a swing, and there looks to be a smidge of that distortion/elongation one might expect from a 24. As an Alan Schaller fan, that's a plus for me. I guess I've got a year or so to hmm and haww about it... they haven't even announced the Q3 Mono yet, but we all know it's coming, and since the Q3 stuck with the same lens, I'm guessing the Q3M will too. Thanks for your response!

Ha haaaa! £24.99 when I actually sort out a shop on here

I would like one also

Fantastic!!! I just love mine!!

Thants very kind words!! I really appreciate your positive comments. I still love film today!!

All Lightroom with just contrast tools

Thank you. @@paulreidphotography

I love 28mm

Thanks so much

Lightroom work. With only light to work with it’s all work with contrast, shadows, blacks and highlights and whites

Thanks so much! Some day!!

That’s true indeed. And don’t worry if you can’t. Whatever camera you enjoy using is the camera to use. I’m using film too at the moment and those cameras cost much less. Digital wise, anything from the last 4 years is going to give incredible quality. Just pick one you love and use that.

Agreed!!!! Thanks for watching the video

Thanks so much!! It’s people like yourself and your comments that keep me doing videos on RU-vid