Leica Q2 Monochrom has been released for quite a while
It is the newest camera in the Q series with full frame and an unchangeable lens
It is also the fourth generation of Leica Monochrom
Why is Leica so into making monochrome cameras now?
Why does black and white photography attract so many photographers?
After a few weeks of using it,
We have shifted away from our initial excitement about it because...
Well, let's talk a bit more about this camera
Welcome to Colorbee Photography
I am Brian from Melbourne
It looks almost exactly like Q2
The exterior design of Leica's cameras has always been low-key while exquisite
Q2 Monochrom is extremely low-key
Q2 Monochrom got rid of all extra colors that are on typical Leica cameras
including the iconic Leica logo in the front with the red dot design
the yellow focal length meter and the red auto exposure button
The camera's body is colored black and white
I was wiping my eyes when I picked up the camera
and I was scared that I became color blind because of looking at my phone for too long
MONOCHROM is engraved subtly and hidden at the top of the body
It is low-key showing off the Leica pride
The camera body coating is matte
Thus, the fingerprints don't show up while using it
It is equipped with a Summilux 28mm/f1.7 with auto focus
switching between manual and auto is really smooth
It also has a subtle damping feeling
It also gives the photographer pretty accurate feedback while using manual focus.
The lens has a macro capability. It is up to 17 cm.
While switching to macro mode
The largest aperture is to f2.8
That makes sense
Macro shooting needs to have smaller aperture anyways to ensure proper depth of field
autofocus and macro
This could be why a lot of Leica M users want Q2
Don't worry
The new released Leica APO 35mm summicron is also with 30cm macro function
But the price...
Q2 monochrom camera body has the IP52 waterproof and dust-proof design
It can handle most applications of the daily use
It has the same operating menu as Q2 and it also has a touchscreen.
Menu is clean and easy to use.
It is easy to use even without a user manual
Overall, this is a simple, low-key, grab-and-go
camera for fun daily use
Leica Q2 from 2 years ago gained a really good reputation
It is still really popular today
Leica is so confident with its new monochrom Q2
because of the beauty of black and white photography
Now, let's get to the main question
Which one is easier? Black and white? or color photography?
please comment below to share your thoughts
Leica's first generation Monochrom is based off the M9 camera
It went throught M246
then M10 Monochrom, and Q2 Monochrom is the fourth generation
Leica has been getting addicted to producing monochrome cameras
Monochrome photography is not just getting rid of the color
It has a special cmos sensor
and it physically got rid of the color filter and low pass filter before producing pixels
thus, every pixel on the sensor
gets the brightness information directly
This gives two main advantages to Q2 Monochrom
First, the light doesn't need to go through cmos and be wasted
so this allows lower noise while shooting with high ISO.
Secondly, the resolution will not get lost due to the interpolation
The image looks even better in detail
These two advantages are exactly what I experienced
The ISO range for Q2 Monochrom is from 100 to 100,000
It has one of the widest ISO range among all Lecia Full Frame Camera
Without the colour filter
Therefore, the highest ISO can reach up to 100,000
Let's talk about the image quality taken from monochrome cameras at high ISO
There are huge differences between the smear effect from digtal camera
and the grain effect from the film camera
For my personal experience
The photo taken from Q2 Monochrom at ISO 12,500 is still acceptable
and easy to handle any low-light conditions
When the ISO drops below 3200
There is no big differences between different setting modes
That's a good news for high image quality lovers
As a photographer
I am not keen on shooting under low-light environment
However, I use high ISO quiet often and think it is still useful
Especially for this camera
This camera is good at
street and family photography
It is important to be quick
How to make sure the photo is still on focus during the quick shot
A tip for you
You can reduce the aperture to f5.6 or f8
Then you can get a reasonable DOF
Usually from 2m to infinite when outdoor
0.8m to 2m when shooting indoors
So I never worry about losing the focus
At the same time, I set the shutter speed at 1/250 s
So these settings work under any conditions where need quick shoots
I put exposure on auto setting
Between 100-12500
High ISO does not mean I have to shoot under low-light environment
However, it is more flexable to shoot under different light conditions
Monochorme Camera does not need interpolation
So the image quality is finer
This makes the digital zoom in this Q2 usable
Digital zoom is just crop the orginal photo
The orginal 28mm lens can crop and equivalent to 35 mm
50mm and 75mm
It still have 30M pixels after croping to 35mm
The number of pixels is more than 24M A7III
So I can use 35mm as a prime lens on this Q2
4.7M pixels when using 50mm
6.6M pixels when 75mm
If you shooting with DNG format
Just keep those 47.3M pixels and do the crop later
Digital Crop is commanly used
Like Olympus 2x and Sony 1.5x
However for the sharp lens and the powerful CMOS on this Q2
It makes me feel safe to do the cropping
It can always gives you a
sharp and high quality photo
Shoot with Q2 one button crop mode
You will understand a very basic photographic knowledge
The Perspective effect only depends on the position of the model and the background
It does not depend on the lenses you use
If you use 28mm lens and crop to 75mm
It has the same perspective effect as 75mm lens
Excellent ISO and sharpness
Makes me feel this Q2 is a beast in this field
However
这是一台不走寻常路的黑白相机
This is a Monochorme Camera
Can only shoot on black and white
Lots people say black&white photo looks more classy
and has a big number of people love shooting in that style
So what are the difficult points and the fun while shooting black&white?
Black and white photos are among the easy to start
It can make the photography process easier
Because from a technical perspective
Without color
Some of the technical problems that have plagued people just don't exist
For example, how to match the white balance under different light sources
The purple edge of a large aperture lens in backlight shooting
There is also a patch of colored noise in the dark when shooting with high sensitivity
Without these annoying technical problems
Photography becomes very simple and pure
And in terms of the subject matter
I think it looks easier
I agree with a sentence, I forget who said it
Black and white is easier to form a unified style
We are not professional photographers
And will not shoot a certain subject for a long time
Or to a particular project to shoot
Generally to see what take what photo in the street
If all black and white photos are used for expression
It's easier to create a visual unity
Let the audience to achieve artistic recognition
That is why people feel that black and white photography has niubility
What is the purpose of photography? Let's think about it.
Expressing beauty, conveying information, recording feelings
From these three aspects
I think black and white photography is difficult
Without color, photographer is like the loss of a tool
Without color, the key element of emotion is missing
In photography as an art form
I think the word "nice"
There is a huge difference between colorful and black-white photograph
Because color is a beautiful thing
Believe it or not, the photos that you think look good on your phone
Try a decolor
Does most photos become bland or even a little boring
Without color, "good looking" can only be
expressed through the level of texture and line
Have you noticed these factors
Light is the key
If the photographer does not know how to use light
Cannot bring out the texture of the object
It was lifeless
If you know how to use light
Black and white photography becomes like a sieve
After filtering and refining the colorful world
And then photographer composed
it is presented to the audience
After a period of use
Black-white camera is quite loose to use light
Usually we don't like hard light
Like today's weather
it is possible to turn hard light into a sharp carving knife by black-white photography
We could reconstruct the whole image by shadow and strong contrast
in the soft light
No more color interference
let the audience focus on the mood of the picture itself
Or to present the beauty of geometry in a more pure way
To sum up, should we buy this camera?
Black-white photography is not a mystery
It's just different ways of expression
Like oil painting and sketching, they are not the same expression
Of course you don't have to deify black and white photography
What eternal classic
It was just over half a century ago.
These master photographers had no choice
Only black and white film is available, right?
If you feel photography is no longer interesting
You can try one
Try to have more fun
in black and white photography
It forces the photographer to shoot through black, white and gray
Like the red fire hydrant, the yellow courier is unable to shoot
Change your mind
If you are new guy
Don't be afraid. This camera could be your savior
You don't have to worry about toning or high sensation
Let you find some peace in the busy world
That's what it is.
Okay
Today we briefly introduce the Leica Q2 Monochrom camera to you.
If you have any more ideas
Leave a comment below
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