LEICA Q2 MONOCHROM

Leica most recently announced the Leica Q2 Monochrom, the first Monochrom iteration Leica has produced outside of the M series. A polarizing camera if you read DP Review – so many people getting so upset at the idea of a camera that can only shoot in black and white!

The original Leica Q, for me, is a truly special camera. It felt like the first more broadly accessible camera from Leica that retained the style, design and quality of the M series, but with a fantastic built in EVF, great rear screen, macro features that are awesome and a lens any M owner would lust over.

It was also the camera I purchased my Dad as a surprise gift – a HUGE thank you for all the years of help and support in getting me to where I am today. You can read a detailed review of that camera and the Q2 HERE.

I have shot with the M246 Monochrom and the M10M – both fantastic cameras which I would absolutely love to have in my bag if I wasn’t on such a film bend!

The Q2 Monochrom is really something else though, its based on this amazing camera, one of the most popular cameras Leica has ever produced, but coupled with a 47MP pixel sensor that has had the color filter array removed. By doing this, each pixel is capturing the maximum amount of light, improving the high ISO characteristics and dynamic range. And like the M versions in the Monochrom line, the detail is astounding.

It really is one of those things where you ask why until you shoot with one and open the files. It all becomes so clear when you zoom in and see the detail and the prints look amazing. But most importantly, having only black and white makes you think differently. Its something I have noticed shooting film, you look for and consider your shots along with the compositions and the subject matter to suit the output – and having black and white as your only option makes you think in black and white, not just as a converted afterthought.

If I were not shooting so much film nowadays, and hadn’t just purchased a Hasselblad (sad wallet and sad wife!), this would absolutely be a camera I would want/need! For more details to drool over, check out the Leica website!