Leica releases the $9,700 Q3 'everyday carry camera'

Leica has always been an innovative luxe brand. Leica brought us the first practical 35mm camera that used standard cinema 35mm film and the standard 2:3 aspect ratio. They have always been expensive. Even back in the 1950's they sold for $350 which is the equivalent of around $5,000 AU in 2023. 

The latest M11 cameras cost $14,490 for body only while an accompanying 35mm f1.4 lens will set you back $9,700. On the other end of the scale are the Leica compacts - currently the Leica D-LUX 7 coming in at $2,290.

Lolling in the middle, but still at a considerable price of around $9,790 – is the Leica Q range.

The Q range is billed as a high quality, compact, fixed lens every day carry / low profile street photography camera.

Changes from the Leica Q2 are that, even though it does retain the same Summilux 28mm f/1.7 ASPH fixed lens – it now has excellent macro abilities with a minimum distance of 17cm. More importantly, the sensor has gone from 47.3MP to a new 60 mega-pixel BSI CMOS sensor, which now also unlocks 8K video capabilities.

While the fixed 28mm f/1.7 may seem wider than the usual standard 35mm of street photography, there is an interesting 'digital zoom' feature where you can have camera lens crop lines superimposed in the viewfinder. Eg 35mm / 50mm / 75mm / 90mm. The trade off of course is the camera has less megapixels per crop which are respectively 39MP / 19MP / 8MP/ 6MP.

Technical details are:

• Full-frame BSI CMOS Sensor with Triple Resolution Technology (60MP / 36MP / 18MP)
• Summilux 28mm f/1.7 ASPH. fixed lens with integrated macro mode
• Hybrid Autofocus System (Phase Detection AF + Contrast AF + Depth from Defocus + AI)
• Tiltable 3" display and 5.67MP OLED viewfinder
• Fast and convenient connectivity with the Leica FOTOS app
• USB-C and HDMI ports
• Up to 8K-Video and multiple video formats including .h265 and ProRes
• Made for iPhone and iPad integration
• IP52 ingress protection

You can read more about the Leica Q3 here.

Or to visit the Leica Q3 Australian page here.

Or watch this interesting video review by Paul Reid