One of the most popular digital cameras of this decade now comes in an updated monochrome version, meaning no colors and only black & white photography: the Leica Q3 Monochrom.
The Leica Q2 Monochrom (Nov 2020) takes a special stand in the range of Leica Q models as the first Leica Q that takes only monochrome photos (black & white photos).
The Leica Q3 Monochrom (Nov 2025), not surprisingly, looks and feels exactly like the Leica Q2 Monochrom. Only it has a flip-up screen, and 60MP sensor instead of a 47MP sensor.
The idea of making a camera that takes only black-and-white photos came about ten years earlier, in 2010, and materialized in the Leica M Monochrom (2012) that was a Leica M9 (2009) where the sensor had been stripped of the Bayer color filter array on the sensor and the sensor fine-tuned to present beautiful mono tones.
Black-and-white photos were possible before, with the Leica M9 that in fact produces very ‘film-like’ and ‘ready-to-print’ black and white photos when the camera is set to photograph DNG and JPG together, and the JPG setting is set to “Black & White” in the menu under “Color Saturation.”
The Monochrome output of the Leica M9 is the JPG file, which is black and white, and is 18MP.
I would estimate that about 70% of the photos Leica users took with the Leica M9 were in black & white, so when war photographer Jan Grarup and others whispered in the ear of the majority-owner of Leica, Dr. Andreas Kaufmann, their idea of having a Leica that make black-and-white only, it wasn’t that far off.
War photographer Jan Grarup got the monochrome camera he wished for. Here he is in Afghanistan in 2013 with the Leica M Monochrom.
In fact, given the heritage of Leica, making a Leica without a screen and taking black & white photos only was quite straight-forward and perhaps the most obvious idea.
When Leica made its first digital Leica M, the Leica M8 (2006), the discussion internally at the factory was whether a digital Leica M should have a screen or not. The old guard of lifelong Leica employees considered that it would be sacrilege to add a screen to a Leica.
Epson released its Epson R-D1 (2004) with a Leica M mount at Photokina 2004 and thus helped to give Leica a wake-up call to see the real need for a digital Leica. But moreover, the Epson R-D1 had a flip screen you could turn so that it had “no screen” – or a screen if and when you needed it.
Epson R-D1 was a 6 megapixel digital camera released in 2004 with Leica M mount for lenses.
The Epson solution was consistent with the feelings of the market perhaps, but not as elegant or simple a solution as we have later learned it could be done.
The Leica M8 (2006) did end up having a screen. According to rumors, Leica majority-owner Dr. Andreas Kaufmann cut through the clutter and said that he very much liked the screen he had on a digital camera he had used, a Canon he had bought in 1999 at a Staples store in Massachusetts. A digital camera should have a screen, he concluded, and as he was the one paying for the experiments, so it was.
Leica M8 (2006) was presented with a screen.
It was also that very same digital Canon that reignited Dr. Andreas Kaufmann’s personal interest in photography and brought him to start investing in the Leica company in early 2003. So, in an odd way, we have Canon to thank for the fact that Kaufmann bought Leica and saved the factory and what is now known as “Das Wesentliche” (“the essential”, referring to the Leica tradition of focusing on only what matters and leaving out what isn’t essential for a camera).
A digital camera without a screen
Naturally, the other vision, a Leica M without a screen followed with the Leica M60 limited edition (2014) and with – let’s just call it – a mass market edition, the Leica M-D 262 (2016). Both with color sensors though, which leaves for us to still hope for a future Leica that has no screen and no color, “as a Leica should be.”
So much for the historic facts behind the first black & white only cameras that led to the Leica Q2 Monochrom and the Leica Q3 Monochrom.
A black-and-white digital negative
But what a Leica Monochrom model also introduces, is such a unique thing as a black & white digital negative (DNG file = Digital NeGative), a raw image file that contains all the sensor data recorded at the time, in one file, and thus allows for much more non-destructive editing than a flat JPG file.
In color photography, a DNG file allow for editing of color temperature, exposure tones, shadow details and much more based on recorded sensor data.
Having raw sensor data of a black & white photograph was hitherto completely unheard of and was one of the excitements of a black & white only camera.
In photographing with film, in black and white, there is quite some latitude in developing and printing in the darkroom, but the look of the image is somewhat determined by the type of film and photo paper used.
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The advent of so detailed black & white digital files led to a lot of detail, and thus photographs that were edited by users to display the richness of monochrome tonality – perhaps in some cases, a little too much, sacrificing the actual message of the photograph, in order to show friends in the photo circles just how rich in grey tones a Monochrom camera can be.
The unique feature of the Leica Q2 Monochrom and Leica Q3 Monochrom, in my opinion, is the ease of use, and how straightforward the images look just right and like “real black & white photos” when taken and exported to a computer.
You can fundamentally use the Leica Q2 Monochrom, shoot DNG files, import them to your computer, and export them as final JPG of TIFF files, ready for print on paper or use on websites. Of course, if the exposure needs to be adjusted, you do that, but apart from that the image can be considered pretty much final.
Unlike traditional black & white film, if you want to add your own look to the file, you can. But as a starting point for many, the files are ready and are real black-and white photos straight out of the camera. This is different from most DNG color files from almost any camera, which often need several adjustments to look like what you wanted them to be.
Less and less, though: I am happy to report that with modern cameras like the Leica M10, Leica Q3, Leica SL3, Hasselblad 907X, and more, the raw DNG file often look very close to what you saw and what you wanted. Less adjustments are necessary.
The reason this is “new” is that DNG and raw images, and film scanning as well, traditionally often resulted in a very flat image file with low contrast (wide dynamic range but no ‘pop’) and sort of greyish, desaturated colors. The idea was that you could now work the file toward any look.
I think, as digital photography has been moving forward, the excitement of spending time at the computer has lessened. Speaking for myself, there are many other things I like better than sitting in front of a screen and adjusting colors and tonality.
Why can’t the image coming out of the camera just be like what you saw? And that is what happens to a larger and larger degree.
The fact that is it a DNG raw file still allows for a lot of manipulation if the “main stream look” doesn’t satisfy you. In heavier production cycles like movies, it makes sense to shoot raw footage and be able to manipulate this flat and wide dynamic range footage to look into a specific color grading look. But here we are talking about hours of footage (150,000 frames or more) being manipulated into one consistent look.
For those of us who don’t have the facilities of a Hollywood studio, it is preferable to make it simple: Just give us the final look straight out of the camera.
An example of raw video footage (log file) left, and final color graded look to the right. Modern cameras, even photographing raw files, tend to look more like the ‘final’ image to the right.
Black-and-white photos straight out of the camera
A monochrome camera that can make black and white photographs straight out of the camera is – in fact – a sign that technology has come a long way. You don’t have to develop film in chemicals in a tank, and you don’t have to work in a darkroom to produce a great looking black and white photograph. Instead, it comes straight out of the Leica Q2 Monochrom and Leica Q3 Monochrom!
A lot of details, somewhere
A notable feature of the Leica Q2 Monochrom is the resolution. I know from talks with lens designer Peter Karbe that the 28mm Summilux on the Leica Q models, as well as other recent Leica lenses, was developed with the prospect of 200MP and 500MP sensors coming in the future.
The Leica Q2 Monochrom sensor, which is 47 megapixels, was the first proof of how far the resolution of the lens can be stretched: When the Bayer filter is removed from the sensor, there are fundamentally 4x the sensor photosites recording image details than if it is a color photo.
The Bayer filter consists of one red, one blue, and two green colored filters in front of the pixels, so in that way four photosites are used for one recording. With a monochrome sensor there are no division of incoming light. Each sensor photosite records by itself the amount of light for that specific detail of the image.
Put simple, this results in roughly 4x the recording of microscopic details, or perhaps what a 180MP color sensor would be able to record. We will know whether it is any different one day when we get a 180MP sensor behind this lens.
In a Leica Q3 Monochrom camera, we have the Leica M11 Monochrom 60MP sensor implemented, and thus the calculation could be said to result in what a 240MP color sensor would be able to resolve.
But in practical terms, it means that if you zoom into a Leica Q2 Monochrom or Leica Q3 Monochrom photograph, you will be able to see minute details that, with a color sensor, would not be visible.
For the overall image it should result in an apparently more detailed image. And when I say apparently, it’s because most photographs you ever make are going to be shown on smartphone screens (which are equivalent to 4MP), or computer screens (which are equivalent to 8MP), or as a 20x30cm (8.5 x 11 inch) print on photo paper.
This is how close you normally get to an image, and at that size the minute details captured are not visible in any case. If you imagine that you make a large print for a wall, this print will usually be viewed from a distance that makes the viewing size equal to a midsize print. You could walk closer, and perhaps, the closer you get, the more you see of minute details. But most people would never walk that close.
Only when you zoom in on a computer screen, you can admire and enjoy the superiority of the lens and sensor and the details that it miraculously capture.
Whether screens or prints in the future will be able to display such details is an open question. Everything will be more detailed and high resolution, no doubt about it, so I guess it can’t hurt to have recorded more than they eye can see.
In a discussion around 2015 with cinema professionals and others, we determined that 18MP is what the eye can resolve in terms of details (when put onto print or on a large movie screen). Any sensor resolution above that is basically overkill, or marketing.
Then again, I think our perception – or skill – of how much detail we can resolve, will increase – and may have already. There are images that I remember we agreed were sharp and extremely detailed at the time, but when I look at them today, my expectations are higher, and those same images do not appear as superior now as they did then.
The reason for black-and-white, or why we like it, or why it is more classic … well, who knows?
I’ve heard the question posed, again and again over the years, “Is it easier to deal with just black-and-white?” or, “Is it more difficult to photograph black-and-white than in color?”
The fact of the matter remains that while the world was created in color and all paintings of it are in color, the limitations of photography technology prevented the colors from being preserved and replicated for the first 100 years of photography.
When color photography came about as a popular outdoor sport for the masses as “The Kodachrome Moment” and became an affordable way to photograph in the 1970s (the point at which more color photos were taken than black-and white), photographic professionals were split between “the world is round” and a “world is flat” as far as colors versus black-and-white was concerned.
About the same time that color film became affordable and popular in the 1970s, movies in colors and color television became the norm, and most magazines switched to full color print on all pages (National Geographic went full color in 1959 but had had color gravure since 1910).
Newspapers were the last place to see the world in black-and-white, but just for a while; when the newspapers became able to print full colors by 1990s, everything had to be in full color, as a sign that the newspaper was modern and an attractive medium for advertising (newspapers were from birth in the 1650s advertisement papers; and news was only added almost 200 years later, to pique the interest of people so they would turn the pages and thus be exposed to the ads).
That is how it happened that the world we live in, as well as the world we see in images, in magazines and on screens, is all in color.
Despite this – or maybe exactly because of this – black-and-white photography takes a special place in our hearts. Black-and-white photography is like a specialized language of storytelling. Maybe the lack of color makes us pay more attention to the actual content and story.
Or maybe it just makes it easier to make nice photographs in a world over-saturated with color and where the colors of a city are seldom in an aesthetic harmony, but rather a mix mask of signs, cars, t-shirts, garbage bins, painted buildings and all.
It can go in two directions from here: You may decide to simplify and strengthen photographs by focusing on monochrome tones, or you may take the challenge to “make color work” by selecting and capturing scenes where the colors add to the overall aesthetic, create an emotion, and tell a story. I deliberately say “take the challenge” because to make people see and appreciate colors when they are all about us every day and everywhere – that is the challenge.
To make a difference, black-and-white definitely does.
The Leica Q3 Monochrom sensor is the 60MP sensor from the Leica M11 Monochrom (2023), fine-tuned for use in the Leica Q3 Monochrom.
As such, one could say that $7,790.00 for a Leica Q3 Monochrom is quite a deal, compared to a Leica M11 Monochrom ($10,160.00) and a 28mm Summilux-M f/1.4 lens (2015) ($8,555.00).
In the Leica Q3 Monochrom, the sensor is more straightforward to use as there is no shutter curtain going up and down (as the Leica Q series uses central shutter, a discrete shutter mechanism in the lens).
Dynamic range measured
The dynamic range of the Leica Q2 Monochrom sensor is 11.5 stops at its best (lowest ISO), the Leica M11 Monochrom sensor is about half a stop better overall, and the test numbers are not out yet on the Leica Q3 Monochrom. But I would expect them to be close to the Leica M11 Monochrom, as it's the same sensor in M11M and Q3M.
The dynamic range of recent Leica Monochrom models measured. The dynamic range tops at a sensors "base ISO" setting, and decreases when the ISO is increased. The Leica Q3 Monochrom can be expected to be close to the Leica M11 Monochrom.
As can be seen, the Leica Q3 Monochrom performs at high 25,000 ISO with less noise than a Leica Q3 color sensor edition. This is very large enlargement of a detail of a photo, and the "noise" might not be as visible in a normal size photo. But look at the graduation of the tones, which shows a more subtle and detailed rendering of greytones in the Leica Q3 Monochrom.
The Leica Q3 Monochrom (60 MP)
vs Leica Q2 Monochrom (47 MP)
By Thorsten von Overgaard
They are five years apart, and very similar in every aspect except a few details. One has a flip-up screen, the other doesn't. One has 13 MP more than the other. That's about it.
One more thing: the Leica Q3 Monochrom has USB-C charging built in. This has become a very handy feature on recent Leica cameras. You plug them into a USB-C charger, and voilà – no need to bring a battery charger (modern cameras doesn't come with a battery charger anyways, but that's another story).
The difference is most prominent on the backside where the Leica Q3 Monochrom has flip-up screen, and fewer buttons than the Leica Q2 Monochrom.
The lesson of the Leica Q2 Monochrom is that it dropped from a new price of $6,000.00 and now sells for $4,500.00 to $5,000.00 second-hand.
The Leica Q3 Monochrom is introduced at a price of $7,790.00 - not a big jump from a second-hand Leica Q2 Monochrom, but also - according to experience - destined to hold its price pretty well, no matter what.
The difference is most prominent on the backside where the Leica Q3 Monochrom has flip-up screen, and fewer buttons than the Leica Q2 Monochrom. The Leica Q3 Monochrom further has two Fn buttons above the screen (one for changing crop-factor, the other for video) whereas the Leica Q2 Monochrom has one.
You don’t have to argue that a monochrome sensor captures more details or that it has more tones.
You get a monochrome camera because it makes you want to take photographs, and because you like the look and feel of black-and-white.
Having been there and done that, I use color cameras and try to edit almost all of my photos into a color and a black-and-white version.
“Do you see black-and-white or color when you take a photograph?” I am often asked.
I don’t see any of it, I see a photo, a preservation of an emotion, and at that point colors or no colors strangely are not part of my pre-vision. Though, occasionally, I see a black-and-white photograph because that is the essence of what I see, and occasionally, a scene is such a color scene that I capture it for its colors.
When the first monochrome camera came out, the Leica M Monochrom (2012), I had the good fortune to own one of the very first, and enthusiastically I went out into the world with it and felt above and beyond colors, which is a fantastic state of mind. It was awesome!
It also soon made me realize, now that I shouldn’t and couldn’t record colors, that beautiful color scenes do exist, and a Monochrom camera made me appreciate colors. Sometimes you have to lose something to realize you should have appreciated it, when you had it.
More importantly, I realized that none of the magazines, newspapers or wire services I worked for at that time, was the least bit interested in black-and-white photographs.
Go have a look at Getty Images wire service, or open your local newspaper website – any website in fact – and you will see that black-and-white has almost become extinct. It’s just not a language the world converses in.
That shouldn’t discourage you or me from loving black and white, and it certainly shouldn’t discourage us from taking black and white photographs. It’s just a fact to reckon with, that if an image exists only in black-and-white, its chances for publishing will be limited.
What I have found to be true is that whenever I convert a color photo into black-and-white photograph, and it is a great photograph, people ask, “Is that taken with the Monochrom?” because they associate great black-and-white with a Monochrom model.
Mostly, my answer is that it is not, because it was taken with a color sensor.
It is not the microscopic details or the wide range of detailed grey tones that make a black-and-white photo great. It’s the light. When the light is great, the photo is great. If it was taken on film, a 5MP sensor or a 60MP monochrome sensor doesn’t make you like it more or less. I captured the light, and that’s what you admire and like. The light is what gets you.
Seen from the other side of the camera, it is a scientific fact (because I just made it so), that a monochrome sensor can greatly enhance the photographers vision, thinking, enthusiasm and photographs.
The reason to get a monochrome camera is that you want it, and you want to see the world in monochrome.
Considering that you make the photographs, and not the camera, it makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?
Black-and-white is better. You believe it because you want it to be true. And, what is true for you is what is true for you.
In my film photography, I go back and forth between Kodak Portra 400 color film and Kodak Tri-X 400 black-and-white. When I load a color film, I deliberately observe, notice and look for colors. When I load a black-and-white film, I see the past and I see light, and I try to capture more classic-looking pictures.
The same can be done digitally. You can have a dedicated color camera, and you have a dedicated monochrome camera. Some days you even wear both; one across each shoulder. It makes no sense, except that it makes 100% sense.
Shadowland by Thorsten Overgaard
“Black and white are not reckoned among colors.
One is the representation of darkness, the other of light.
That is, one is the simple privation of light, the other is light.”
Leonardo da Vinci
"All 18 presets are outstanding! They cover monochrome, colour, and Kodachrome/Lab.I am very very close to resolving my preset addiction by deleting (or hiding) all my other presets and just using this Q Master set. It will certainly make my screen less cluttered. Thank you very much! Really useful."
- P. W.
Don’t smudge your images with easy presets from anywhere. Use these special presets made by Thorsten Overgaard to preserve the unique Leica details and give a classic, elegant, and timeless look in color or black-and-white. Or use some of the special presets to give a special color-lab look, a color-film look, or a grainy black-and-white look.
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Monochrome Look
I mentioned previously that the first monochrome DNG files led to photographs that were edited by users to display the richness of monochrome tonality, rather than the actual message of the image.
Let me expand on this: The dynamic range of a sensor, is how wide a tonal range – from dark to bright – one image can contain.
Generally, a camera cannot record every tonality from bright sunlight to dark shadow. This is the great challenge in photography: what we see cannot always be captured because the contrast (dynamic range) is too great.
Cameras see higher contrast than the eye; or more accurately, they have less dynamic range, which results in higher contrast.
Photographically, this is great when you walk out on a grey and dull day, because what seems dull to the eye, for the camera is exciting contrast, and an increased possibility to capture minute details in both shadows and highlights.
The low contrast of the light in the scene make the photograph appear to contain much wider dynamic range than the camera can actually produce.
Once the sun enters the stage – and we have all heard the false statement that “sunshine is photography weather” – the brightness of the highlights prevents the sensor from capturing the details in both highlights and shadows.
The camera can handle either end of the scale, but not both.
Generally, I personally often “work on shadow side of the street” because that is where the magic light (soft light with a sparkle from outside the shadow) is, and where all details are available within a dynamic range the camera can capture. And with edge light and rim light entering the shadows from stronger light sources and reflections outside the shadow areas, it looks detailed and sharp.
This could also be working indoors during the day, in the shade of a building, but with strong light outside the windows, throwing defining edge light into the frame. The point is, the strong light is never in the actual frame or image; it only sends defining stronger rays of light onto the thing I am photographing. A window from where light flows in (through which no direct sunlight enters) forms a large soft light source, which creates a detailed subject.
Learn to see soft light in shadow areas, even on a sunny day. Work in the shade, and it’s like an overcast day with a bit of strong light hitting the scene or subject from outside the frame.
Extreme dynamic range isn’t really necessary for us, and in fact, an image with wide dynamic range is flat. Whereas an image with narrow dynamic range pops to look three-dimensional –it looks crisp and sharp.
Film generally has 6-8 stops of dynamic range, so when you invest in a modern camera with 15 stops of dynamic range, you buy into the idea that it can handle all the light (which it can’t); moreover you get a perfectly flat and dull image.
Speaking of just black-and-white, and the marvelous ability to capture a wide range of tonality, and doing so in non-destructive raw DNG files – this calls for editing them so they pop, stand out and look realistic. Speak to the eye.
No matter whether a photo is made in high-contrast light or in soft low-contrast light, the final edit of it should stretch from completely black to completely white.
A photograph should go from completely white to completely black, and look realistic (left), and with a richness to it, rather than try to show all possible grey tones available in the file (right).
A number of editing tools exist to make HDR (High Dynamic Range), and they usually make the image look digital, flat and unnatural.
Personally, I subscribe to a classic black-and-white look, like the of James Dean on Times Square by Dennis Stock, which probably has only about 5 stops of dynamic range, taken in overcast, dark and gray weather. But see how it sparkles in a black-and-white photograph!
James Dean on Times Square by Dennis Stock.
In editing black-and-white photographs, the main tone to edit for, is the skin tone – unless something other than a face is present and is the center of attention.
By skin tone, I mean the highlight part of the skin tone. The shadow is the shadow.
In my workshops – which I do all over the world for small groups of enthusiasts – the Leica Q models have become a prominent part. Leica M is the the most popular Leica camera, but the Leica Q really does the work: it is a perfect travel camera, and a perfect companion to "Always Wear A Camera."
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The Leica Q3 Monochrom video reviews
By Thorsten von Overgaard
Leica Q2 Monochrom Review by Thorsten Overgaard:
Leica Q3 Review (color) by Thorsten Overgaard:
The Leica Q3 Review and heritage, by Thorsten Overgaard.
My Heart Belongs to Black & White Photoraphy:
How to do video 8K black-and-white video with the Leica Q3 Monochrom
By Thorsten von Overgaard
How to make sense of doing video with the Leica Q3 Monochrom
Doing video on a camera with auto-focus is never easy, and then there is the sound that comes from the two built-in stereo microphones on top of the camera. All in all this easily results in video recordings where the auto-focus changes when it's not supposed to, and sound is either very 'thin' or the users brething and handling of the camera is very prominent in the recording.
The problem with video is that you soon want a large external screen to work with focus and all on, and external microphones to ensure proper sound. Now available on the Leica Q3 Monochrom (an not Leica Q2 or Leica Q). And while "auto-focus" sounds comforting, the fact is that professional video and cinema movies are done with manual focus. Professional film set usually have one person monitoring the sound and another monitoring the focus while the camera operator manages the camera. Smaller set-ups such as television news, the camera man does it all while wearing headphones to make sure the sound is working during the entire interview of filming.
The settings to make Video work on the Leica Q3 Monochrom (and Leica Q2 and Leica Q):
To do video on the Leica Q3 Monochrom, the AF has to be turned on, and the 1-Point AF set to AFs (single point).
If you set the AF to Continuous (AFc), the Leica Q3 Monochrom will keep wobbling in focus trying to find new focus all the time.
You may also use Manual Focus and adjust focus as you move on; whenever you turn the focus ring, you see focus peaking in the viewfinder so you can focus accurately (the video continues to record full-frame).
You can also set the camera on a tripod or table and manual focus, to do an interview for example. Or use the Leica Fotos App as described further down.
The Optical Image Stabilization of the Leica Q3 Monochrom should only be used for video, not for stills.
While video is a great thing, these possibilities and limitations give and idea how it could be used. Recording bits and pieces and add a soundtrack later is a good idea because you can fundamentally make a professional video then (wihout sound issues and AF changing to the wrong place, as int he video above).
Putting the Leica Q3 Monochrom on a tripod and using the Leica Fotos App to film a subject that is not moving is also well working. I could do all my Magic of Light Photography Television videos that way, except I use a Leica SL with a Leica 35mm Summilux-TL f/1.4, and with wireless Sennheiser microphones connected to the camera's mini-HDMI plug.
The most ideal Leica for video is without doubt the Leica SL2-S which has a great 24MP sensor that just works excellent with Leica SL and Leica S lenses (and Leitz Cine lenses).
When you use the Leica Photos App, you get automatic alerts when there are firmware upadtes. But you can also check the leica-camera.com website under Service > Support > Downloads. I also maintain a list of updates, and download links on my Leica Camera Compendium list (an overview of all Leica cameras ever made).
Leica Q3 Monochrom Firmware Update 4.0.0 was released December 18, 2205 and introduced an entirely new user-interface inspired by the Leica SL3 simple unser-interface. Some of the changes is that the icons now rotate with the screen, and you can now tap direcly on an incon on the screen to change the settings for that feature. Also, you can change the intro screen so you have the settings on the first screen that you like. More notable, auto focus and many other things now are faster. The Firmware 4.0.0 can be downloaded here. The Leica Q3 and Leica Q3 43 has similar firmware updates releaseeed as well.
The Leica Q3 review and user report continues as I use the camera around the world .
Full Leica Q3 Pack
Special
12 video classes with work book
+ 484 page eBook,
+ Styles for Capture One for Leica Q3/Q2/Q
+ Lightroom Presets. for Leica Q3/Q2/Q
Normal price $869.00
Normal price $869.00
Save 45%
Only $478.00
USE CODE: "ILOVEQ3"
Buy now. Book delivered instantly.
Video class link follows within 48 hours.
100% satisfaction or money back.
Released May 2024
Item #2192-0623
Leica Q3 Know-All-eBook
484 pages illustrated for Computer,
Kindle,
iPad or smartphone.
"All 15 presets are outstanding! They cover monochrome, colour, and Kodachrome/Lab.
I am very, very close to resolving my preset addiction by deleting (or hiding) all my other presets and just using this Q3 set. It will certainly make my screen less cluttered. Really useful!"
Leica Q3
Leica Q3 43
Lightroom Presets
By Thorsten Overgaard
Buy now!
A few effective black and white presets for street, portrait, architecture and more.
A few beautiful color presets to nail it.
A few extreme presets to get classic Kodachrome 64 look, film-style "Lab Colors" and moody "Rainy Days" in black and white.
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The Thorsten Overgaard user-guides on Leica Q3, Leica Q2 and Leica Q
I've written the most extensive user guides that exist for the Leica Q and Leica Q2, and of course the Leica Q3 will go through intensive use in the same manner, and the result will be free articles, sample photos and an eBook. Sign up for my newsletter to stay in the know on the Leica Q3 (and get a free eBook instantly when you sign up).
Electronic Shutter
Up to 15 fps at 60.3 MP for up to 63 Frames (Raw) / 67 Frames (JPEG) Mechanical Shutter
Up to 9 fps at 60.3 MP for up to 70 Frames (Raw) / 76 Frames (JPEG)
Up to 7 fps at 60.3 MP for up to 74 Frames (Raw) / 83 Frames (JPEG)
Up to 4 fps at 60.3 MP for up to 83 Frames (Raw) / 104 Frames (JPEG)
Up to 2 fps at 60.3 MP for up to 164 Frames (Raw) / 947 Frames (JPEG)
Interval Recording
Yes
Self-Timer
2/12-Second Delay
Special Options
Beach, Fireworks, Landscape, Night Portrait, Party/Indoor, Portrait, Snow, Sports, Sunset
Leica Q3 Monochrom Still Image Capture
Aspect Ratio
1:1, 3:2, 4:3, 16:9
Image File Format
DNG, JPEG
Bit Depth
14-Bit
Leica Q3 Monochrom Video Capture
Internal Recording Modes
H.265 Long GOP/MOV 4:2:0 10-Bit
DCI 8K (8192 x 4320) at 23.98/24.00/25/29.97 fps [300 Mb/s]
UHD 8K (7680 x 4320) at 23.98/24.00/25/29.97 fps [300 Mb/s]
1920 x 1080 at 100/120 fps [100 Mb/s] H.264 ALL-Intra/MOV 4:2:2 10-Bit
DCI 4K (4096 x 2160) at 23.98/24.00/25/29.97/47.95/48.00/50/59.94 fps [400 to 600 Mb/s]
UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 23.98/24.00/25/29.97/47.95/48.00/50/59.94 fps [400 to 600 Mb/s] ProRes 422 HQ
1920 x 1080 at 23.98/24.00/25/29.97/50/59.94 fps [181 to 454 Mb/s] H.265 Long GOP/MP4 4:2:0 10-Bit
UHD 8K (7680 x 4320) at 23.98/25/29.97 fps [300 Mb/s]
UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 50/59.94 fps [100 Mb/s] H.264 Long GOP/MP4 4:2:0 8-Bit
UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 23.98/25/29.97 fps [100 Mb/s]
1920 x 1080 at 23.98/25/29.97/50/59.94 fps [20 to 28 Mb/s]
External Recording Modes
4:2:0 8-Bit via HDMI
DCI 8K (8192 x 4320) at 23.98/24.00/25/29.97 fps
UHD 8K (7680 x 4320) at 23.98/24.00/25/29.97 fps 4:2:2 10-Bit via HDMI
DCI 4K (4096 x 2160) at 23.98/24.00/25/29.97/50/59.94 fps
UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 23.98/24.00/25/29.97/50/59.94 fps
HD (1920 x 1080) at 23.98/24.00/25/29.97/50/59.94/100/120 fps
Recording Limit
Up to 30 Minutes
Broadcast Output
NTSC/PAL
IP Streaming
None
Built-In Microphone Type
Stereo
Audio Recording
48-Bit 16 kHz AAC Audio
28-Bit 24 kHz LPCM Audio
Leica Q3 Monochrom Interfaces:
Media/Memory Card Slot
Single Slot: SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II)
Internal Memory
None
Video I/O
1 x Micro-HDMI Output
Audio I/O
None
Power I/O
1 x USB-C Input
Other I/O
1 x USB-C (USB 3.2 / 3.1 Gen 2) Input/Output (Shared with Power Input)
Wireless
2.4 / 5 GHz Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), Bluetooth 5.0
Mobile App Compatible
Yes: Android & iOS
App Name: Leica FOTOS
Functionality: Access Stored Files, Adjust Settings, Firmware Update, Remote Control, View Live Feed *As of May, 2023: Check with manufacturer for the most up-to-date compatibility
Global Positioning (GPS, GLONASS, etc.)
None
Leica Q3 Monochrom Monitor
Size
3"
Resolution
1,843,200 Dot
Display Type
Tilting Touchscreen LCD
Viewfinder
Type
Built-In Electronic (OLED)
Resolution
5,760,000 Dot
Coverage
100%
Magnification
Approx. 0.79x
Diopter Adjustment
-4 to +2
Flash
Built-In Flash
No
External Flash Connection
Hot Shoe
General
Battery Type
1 x BP-SCL6 Rechargeable Lithium-Ion, 7.2 VDC, 2200 mAh (Approx. 350 Shots)
Dimensions (W x H x D)
5.1 x 3.2 x 3.6" / 130 x 80.3 x 92.6 mm (With Protrusions)
Weight
1.6 lb / 743 g (With Battery)
1.4 lb / 658 g (Body Only)
Photographer and Leica Evangelist: Thorsten Overgaard is a Danish photographer, author, and educator specializing in Leica cameras. He's written hundreds of in-depth reviews, eBooks, and hosts workshops worldwide. His website, overgaard.dk, is basically a Leica bible; part tutorial, part shrine, part wizard’s grimoire. If you want a title, fans call him the "Leica Whisperer" or "Thorsten the Unflappable" for his calm, guru-like vibe in masterclasses. No spells involved, but his Noctilux tutorials do feel a bit enchanted.
Leica Digital Camera Reviews by Thorsten Overgaard
Desk Blotters and Larger-Than-Life Mousepad Nothing beats the feelling of soft calfskin leather on your desk ... but this one takes away reflections, damps the keyboards and makes you happy!
Thorsten von Overgaard is a Danish-American multiple award-winning photographer, known for his writings about photography and Leica cameras. He travels to more than 25 countries a year, photographing and teaching workshops to photographers. Some photos are available as signed editions via galleries or online. For specific photography needs, contact Thorsten Overgaard via email.
You can follow Thorsten Overgaard at his television channel magicoflight.tv.
I am in constant orbit teaching
Leica and photography workshops.
Most people prefer to explore a
new place when doing my workshop.
30% of my students are women.
35% of my students dotwo or more workshops.
95% are Leica users.
Age range is from 15 to 87 years
with the majority in the 30-55 range.
Skill level ranges from two weeks
to a lifetime of experience.
97% use a digital camera.
100% of my workshop graduates photograph more after a workshop.
Colors are nicer when you don't need them ... © Thorsten Overgaard. 
