Leica Q2 Monochrom Review

Note: I purchased the Leica Q2 Monochrom from Pictureline, an authorized retailer based in Salt Lake City, Utah. As a passionate photographer and reviewer, I provide an unbiased assessment, independent of any affiliations with Leica USA or other camera manufacturers.

First off, I’m obsessed with black-and-white photography!

Greg Gorman, Sante D’Orazio, and Jim Marshall are some black-and-white film photographers I admire and study. Beautiful grain, contrast, and rich tones are characteristics of their black-and-white images. Jim Marshall used Leica M film cameras loaded with Kodak Tri-X film. Since Greg Gorman was one of the “Kodak Professional Legends,” I will assume that Greg used Kodak Tri-X film based on his images. And based on my review of Sante D’Orazio’s book, “a private view,” he used the Kodak TX400 film.

I do not have the patience to shoot with a film camera.

Shooting film cameras was frustrating because I started my photography career using digital cameras in 1998 with the Canon EOS D2000.

The Canon EOS D2000 was a 2-megapixel digital single-lens reflex camera developed by Kodak on a Canon EOS-1N body. Many enthusiasts regard the D2000 as Canon’s first genuinely usable Digital SLR.

To this day, I have never professionally captured images with a film camera.

In the early 2000s, I purchased a Contax 645 film camera, which Greg Gorman used in his studio. I had problems with the camera’s internal mechanics, and the lab lost two rolls of film. 2019 I purchased a Voigtlander Bessa R3A Rangefinder film camera due to its compatibility with Leica M mount lenses. The camera was nice, but the problem was scanning film negatives. I’m used to higher-resolution digital files and did not like the film scans’ image quality. And I was going to wait to purchase a Hasselblad Flextight X1 Scanner on the used market.

Based on my experimentation with two film cameras, I determined if I wanted to obtain the same look and feel of the print quality of, say, Jim Marshall’s prints, I would have to set up a “closed-loop development process” with my local black and white lab.

Over the years, I tried to figure out how to digitally duplicate their film images’ contrast and rich tonal range. Yes, I could have purchased the Nik Collection, which included Silver Efex Pro and emulates Kodak Tri-X 400 film, but it was not the same look and feel compared to black and white film. So I put my obsession with black and white film and prints on the shelf for now.

New camera systems

Circa 2020, I reconfigured my camera systems. I sold my Leica M10, assorted lenses, and Sonymy A7III, my commercial workhorse. Since my focus for the website is related to Leica digital cameras, I decided to purchase Leica SL2 and Q2 cameras. Also, I bought the Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90mm f/2.8-4 ASPH, Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Contemporary, Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN Art, and the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Lenses for Leica L mount cameras.

I was pleased with the new camera systems and used the Leica SL2 on a wedding assignment last September 2020 with the Leica Q2 as a backup camera.

Leica announces the Q2 Monochrom

Leica announced the Leica Q2 Monochrom in November 2020. Can this be the camera that will provide me the satisfaction and the look and feel of the black and white film in a digital format? Was I nuts spending $5,995.00 on a dedicated monochrome sensor?

Well, not only was I not nuts, but the images from the Leica Q2 Monochrom camera had the contrast and rich tones characteristics comparable to black and white film. Finally! I captured the formerly coveted black and white images in DNG files without dealing with a lab or a scanner.

What I love about the Leica Q2 Monochrom camera:

Light and compact
47-megapixel monochrome sensor
Minimalist interface
Macro capabilities
OLED viewfinder with a resolution of 3.68 megapixels
The built-in Summilux 28 f/1.7 ASPH. A prime lens that is razor-sharp and renders smooth bokeh.
Quiet shutter mechanism
FN & Dial buttons are programmable to change the ISO and exposure compensation on the camera.
The histogram and level displayed on the same display

You will need to purchase color filters!

You will not adjust the black-and-white images you capture with the Leica Q2 Monochrom like you do when converting color images to black and white. Since no color channels exist in a grayscale image, you must rely on traditional black-and-white photography techniques like color filters to alter your Leica Q2 Monochrom images’ light and contrast.

I mainly use an orange filter on the lens to give my images a little more dramatic look to the sky and clouds in my landscape images.

My recommendation is to purchase B+W Black and White Series filters.

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I captured the following images around Downtown Sacramento, Capay Valley, and The Delta using a B+W 040 Orange Filter on the Leica Q2 Monochrom camera.

Processing DNG files from the Leica Q2 Monochrom using Capture One

After adjusting many images from the Leica Q2 Monchrom using the latest Capture One version, including a new camera profile, the following settings are my baseline for each image.

Under Clarity, adjust the sliders for Clarity to ten (10), Structure to three (3), and select Method to Natural.
Adjust the High Dynamic Range using the Highlights, Shadows, Black, and White sliders to your desired results
Select Contrast Luma under the Curves presets
Adjust the Contrast slider under Exposure to fifteen (15)
Adjust the Dehaze amount to twenty (20)

It is pretty much all you need to do to adjust images in Capture One from the Leica Q2 Monochrom.

Accessories for the Leica Q2 Monochrome

I have purchased the following accessories for my Leica Q2 Monochrom camera:

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My conclusions on the Leica Q2 Monochrom camera

I’m thrilled with the Leica Q2 Monochrom camera. I can finally capture images with contrast and rich tones similar to black and white film. Did I mention I am thrilled?

The camera’s small footprint is ideal for hiking in Yosemite National Park or anywhere from the great outdoors to the “urban jungle.” The image quality is beyond superb, but specifically, the Leica Q2 Monochrom also affords you: ease of use so you can focus on composition and exposure, macro capabilities, stealthy good looks, and sports a high-resolution electronic viewfinder as some of its stand-out features.

I see myself using the Leica Q2 Monochrom in the years to come. It’s a keeper!

Leica Q2 Monochrom on Amazon

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Our Photography Workshops

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Gino Creglia

Gino Creglia is a highly experienced business professional, teacher, photographer, color management consultant, and digital workflow expert based in Folsom, California. His down-to-earth, hard-working approach and professional demeanor have made him a sought-after trainer and workshop leader for photographers using the Leica digital and film camera system.