“I get it,” is what a long-time reader texted me one day on Instagram after experiencing a Leica M4. The smile on my face went ear to ear. Finally, someone understood me. The Leica Q2 isn’t a camera I expect most people to understand. It’s a true professional’s passion camera. It fills a void that seriously needs love, and it does that incredibly well. A camera like this is one you want to bring everywhere with you. It will look great on you, like a nice suit. And it’s also bound to shrug off life’s ugly moments.
Before I go on, I’ll be transparent. This isn’t a sponsored post; it’s written out of complete passion for Leica cameras and especially the Q2. A while back, I had the opportunity to get one, but I turned it down for the practicality of this job and got the SL2-s instead. Leica hasn’t given me a camera, and even then, I wouldn’t accept it. You can read a lot more here in our Editorial Policies about how we treat the products we keep and the ones we return.
And now, back to the passion product: the Leica Q2.
I own Leica film cameras, Hasselblad film cameras, Fujifilm film cameras, FujiFilm digital cameras, Canon film cameras, Canon digital cameras, Sony digital cameras, and more. And I use every single one of them. But if I had to sell all of them because I didn’t do my job anymore, I’d only get the Leica Q2. This camera can do pretty much everything you need in a small package that’s weather-resistant and keeps it simple.
Here’s the thing, the professional compact camera category is sorely missing something. Every time I talk to manufacturers about it, they think about compacts for consumers. But that’s wrong. Consumers want interchangeable lens cameras to mimic what pros do. They’re weekend warriors who like to do this as a hobby and pay zero attention to the economics behind actually being a photographer. But every professional photographer, semi-professional creative, and professional photojournalist I know has some sort of compact camera. And typically, these days, it’s a film camera. We know that our phones are convenient, but we often want a better camera. A Canon EOS R5 is way too big to bring around all the time. That’s where the Leica Q2 comes into play: it fills a role of a professional compact camera to use on the side for fun.
I think there’s a market for this in the same way that there’s a market for the Canon EOS R3, Nikon Z9, and Sony a1. Those cameras are very high end, and only certain photographers will buy them. That’s the case with a proper compact camera. Leica nailed this one. It boasts:
- Leica M-like ergonomics
- Autofocus
- Switch into manual focus to give you that M-like experience
- IP rated weather resistance
- A small size
- A great 28mm f1.7 lens in front of a high resolution imaging sensor
- Beautiful Leica colors.
It boggles my mind: Fujifilm has the Fujifilm X100V which goes for more used than it does brand new now. Canon hasn’t updated the G1x series in years. The Ricoh GR series isn’t weather resistant while also having autofocus that isn’t as useful as its zone focusing. The Sony RX1 is never seeing a successor because of the Zeiss split, even though I think they could make their own lens for it. And Nikon, well, we all know what happened to their compacts.
If I were to get any of them today, Leica would be the only choice for me. The Q2 is capable of doing so much for a fair price point. But of course, my opinion is just my own.
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