Small and high quality - Leica Q2 or M10?

[WanderingKiwi]

I did get it, but I’ve been away until just now, in part because of catching up with the new release of the M11 on the Leica forums.

For me the Q2 has been dead reliable, even after I got it caught under an airplane seat footrest that I accidentally closed on it. I’ve used it in the rain, in the snow, and on the beach (pretty much any camera HATES the beach).
 
An M … and really any camera which has removable lenses will require regular sensor cleaning (especially if you go to the beach) which may not work for you when you are on your own. But check out this video by filmmaker and photographer Ben Staley.  Unlike most of the GAS characters on YouTube, he uses his camera in some seriously wild and wooly conditions. As for the M, I feel that it is too fragile to take on such a retreat. Don’t underrate simple reliability and a weather sealed body.

https://youtu.be/HFml5HGP8QE

Did I mention that I’ve printed images from the Q2 as big as 24 x 36 and was just blown away by the quality.

A year with 28mm? You can’t go wrong with that size lens if you are in a landscape. Plus, you’ll run across all sorts of cool things you want to photograph close up and the macro ring is perfect for that. Forget that with an M and most other lenses. As far as the limitation of that lens, well, again, you can’t go wrong with that size for a landscape and, depending on your experience, having just one lens gives you a degree of rigor in your work. Cartier-Bresson pretty much just used a 50mm lens for his whole career, Winogrand used a 28mm lens, and many, many great photographers have stuck to just one lens. 

The digital zoom is really not too bad as far as such things go, if you are really in a bind.

No worries - thanks for your reply.

Are you buying an M11? Looks like a sweet camera, but it's waaaaay out of my budget.

Funnily enough, I watched that exact video (Adventure & Art) about the Q2 last night. It seems like he's been getting some excellent performance out of his.

I've pretty much decided on the Q2 - I feel drawn to it for some reason and I think I'd regret going with anything else. I like the aesthetics, and the reports I've read/heard of the build quality and reliability have been mostly positive. The image quality is up there, and the simplicity of the camera really appeals to me. Carrying around multiple lenses isn't something I'm too keen on, so the fixed lens should keep things lightweight and uncomplicated.

I'll put in an order for one. Fingers crossed it meets my expectations. Probably be a massive step up from my Canon 400D.

[samogitian]

I’m first in line to get the M11 at my local camera store, but I have a ton of credit there from unloading a bunch of old gear and I have an M10-R I’ll be putting on eBay. I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to afford the M11 and maybe even half a Visoflex without shelling out any cash once I do that.

I don’t think you’ll disappointed by the Q2. If I had to get rid of my many, many cameras, at this point, it’d be either the Q2 or the GFX100S I’d keep. If I could keep two, one of them would definitely be the Q2M. The Ms are conspicuously not on that list, although that might change with the M11… until the Q3 comes out. Ugh!