The Leica Q and a Model
by Riswan Christianto
When I bought a Leica Q (see review here), what I had in mind was to replace my Sony RX1R (review here) which I mainly used for travelling and family photos for its being small and compact to carry with professional results.
I have never used it for a studio shoot or for a model, including portrait. However, that changed when I was trying to play around during my shooting session. The in body crop frame in 35mm and 50mm were quite easy to use and helpful. The details give me some confidence to shoot even more and put the M body aside for a while.
I enjoyed it so much to my surprise, and during the processing in Lightroom, I was over my head with the results, here are some for justification:
Love the third picture.. very nice. I was tempted to replace my Rx1R with Q, but the exchange wasn’t worth in terms of price difference I thought.
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” – and presumably plenty else is, too! I see lots of beauty here and very good composition in the way you dispose and frame your subject. But I can’t help also seeing something suggestively pornographic in some of the pictures – that roving left hand………… Just an observation, not a criticism.
A better word would be “auto-erotic” (positive) rather than “pornographic” (negative, and not intended).
I love your approach to lighting (and, er, women. ;-)). My favourite shot is the second one. I don’t think that the mono shots have as much impact as the colour ones – I think a different approach to give them something extra.
Pixel-peeing may be unfashionable, but if you checked, you’d see that the Q (with its matched lens) is sharper than either the RX1rII or the D810. To get that performance out of the D810 you’d need an Otus, Batis or Milvus lens – which would make that combination more expensive and/or much, much bulkier than the Q.
Leica is onto a winning formula.
I have to agree with you, pixel peeping might not favour our way, but for a 12mpx is more than suffice
nice
What’s wrong with my Leica Q? I can’t find pics like these anywhere in the files!
All we need is to keep exploring, making the best out of the Q 🙂
Even though I am a Q owner I continue to be amazed at some of the great portraiture that can be accomplished with this camera’s 28mm lens. Very nice work!
Thanks Chuch! Im on the same boat too, been using the Q and found the image quality was astonishing!
Wow !
Greatest guest post in the history of stevehuffphoto .
aha…
Realy Love your Images! Wouldnt have thought that this is possible with the Q! Would be very nice to know which pictures are in 28mm perspective and which once ate cropped tho.
Hi Sascha,
In this report none was in 28mm focal length, i purposely did to test the cropped either 35 or 50
Beautiful photos. Yeah.. I was impressed the portrait work you could do with a 28mm lens.
I know you said you did as cropped 35mm or 50mm, which are available in the camera, but that’s just still a crop, right?.. you are still basically working with a 28mm focal length and you should still be getting the same properties as a 28mm.. the distortion, bokeh or out of focus area, etc.. I think if you framed with crop in mind (35/50 framelins on), then that made you stand further away from subject which should help with minimizing distortion compared to if you tried to fill the entire frame up as if shooting at native 28mm.. that being said, and regardless, it all looks very good and very controlled… Bottom line, the final images presented speak for themselves and nicely done.
Distortion (the type you are talking about) is dependent on the distance from the subject, not on focal length. DOF is, however, dependent on focal length, distance focused, and aperture.
Any good Leica Q Lightroom presets available?
Gorgeous pics!