I enjoy photography. When I was 18, 52 years ago, I was given a part time job at my college in the photo lab. There I began my photography journey. There is a feeling I get during many steps in the photography process of watching something come out of nothing. When focus happens out of unfocus, or when a B&W print develops under a safe light. Out of what was just plain white, slowly as out of mist emerges an image. That feeling gives me joy. When I handle a camera and choose settings provided to me by that marvelous tool, and choose to position myself and the camera to optimally record what I intend to share with others and decisively release that shutter I get joy. When I watch your videos I think I see some similar joy in you. That gives me joy too! Years ago I shot with a Leica M8.2 digital camera. It was great fun, but one of the main reasons I switched to Sony at the time was the poor low light capability of the M8.2. Sometimes in family gatherings and events and travel I choose high ISO over no image at all. Thanks for sharing your experiences and thoughts. Keep 'em coming.
Thanks for sharing your journey, Bert. Photography is a very special hobby or profession, and it’s truly something emotional in the process. Without feeling, why would we do this? Appreciate your comment and insight!
Leica Q2 shooter. Oh man, I have trouble with this camera in the dark especially bars and just general nightlife stuff. I find the Canon R6 lets me get away with a bit more before it too fails.
I was curious how it would do and this video was my first time in the dark, as well as reviewing high ISO files in Lightroom! I don’t see myself pushing over 6400, and even that would be rare.
Nice low light test! I wonder if it was feasible to go lower than the 1/20th or 1/30th you were at, with the Q2’s OIS on. Probably a tripod would have been the best here, but yes, not suitable for every low light situation of course.
@@davidherring Yeah, makes perfect sense for that kind of test. TBH I was pleasantly surprised by the comments, I expected more "LOL bad high ISO" type of stuff :) But AFAIC, if f/1.7 + a bit of handheld jutsu with the help of OIS allow you to go easy on the ISO, problem solved no matter the sensor performance at 6400+. Plus the grain is not ugly (a bit film-like) as you mentioned.
The Q2 is a great camera but honestly, I would not shoot color images past 1600 and I would only shoot black and white up to 3200. There is visible banding beyond 3200 and even sometimes at 3200 depending on the lighting and edit. But with that 1.7 aperture and lens stabilization, for most shots you really don't need to exceed 1600. It's not a crazy dynamic range or high ISO beast but it doesn't need to be. For reportage and street work a used Q2 is still probably the best entry to the leica system.
Great video, thanks for sharing Dave! After work I will pixel peep on my Q2 Mono files just out of curiousity. I shoot in doors in the evening beyond 10.000 ISO for my family stuff and it looks awesome on the Q2M, but didn't pixel peep to check how fine the grain looks like you did. Very interesting Sony and Leica have different kind of grain/noise, very interesting.
I’m stuck between the Q2 & Q2M, I’d love to be able to do both B&W & color but every time I hear about the Q2M, it sounds miles better than the Q2. Is it a big enough performance difference to make me sweat off color altogether? I know a lot of people compare the two against each other but I am coming from a 5D Mk IV & really need to see a low light comparison between it & the Q2 for color.
Good video. I noticed that for both Q2 and Q2 past 2000 ISO in low light raising shadows becomes buggy. Capture one manages a much cleaner noise for both these cameras than ACR. Bummer.
Yea I was never compelled to switch though. I love LR but was bummed about that bug on the SL2/Q2 sensor. Though you get around it using curves easily.
I’m getting ready to switch from a Canon 5D mark iv to the Q2 but am torn between it & the Q2 Monochrom. I shoot a lot of black & white & I like doing street photography & low light shooting. I know the Q2M is superior in the low light dept as well as in black & white images. I just don’t know how the low light of the regular Q2 compares to my current 5D. It’s hard to weigh, I know the B&W will be superior on the Q2M but is it a good enough difference to make me swear off color? If I do go with the Q2, is the low light performance good enough to make me happy with both the color & B&W images? I hate these kinds of decisions, I know the Q2M is worth the price difference for B&W but if the low light performance on the Q2 is better than my 5D for color images, maybe I’m worried for no reason?
I think you have to decide what’s most important to you. The Q2M is going to be better in low light, and if you 1) shoot in a lot of low light and 2) shoot BW 90%+ of the time, I’d go with the Q2M. For me, I throw my Q2 into high-contrast monochrome JPG and rock and roll when I want to shoot BW. But I only shoot BW 30% of the time or so.
@@davidherring thanks so much for the great advice, the more I looked around & realized that 80% of the prints I make are either black & white and/or nighttime, the more I realized the Q2M would be right for me. I sold pretty much all of my camera gear (10 cameras, 9 lenses in all) & managed to get within $800 of the cost of a 2nd hand Q2M in excellent shape. I did end up keeping a 5D mark iv body & I’m going to pickup a 2nd hand 24-105mm f/4L is ii so I can still shoot color when I need to.
Fantastic video! A lot of these are very acceptable to me as well. People get really into the pixeling and the peeping and try to justify or not justify their own purchase and decision making. If you are really needing something amazing and clean, you are probably not hand holding and doing more tripod long exposure stuff. Great video as always. I love my Q2 and the fact it makes me want to get out and shoot.
Do you think it’s better to get an A7R V and use a Leica lens to get the best of both worlds? I have an R5 and the problem is I’m stuck with their RF lens selection.
I shot Canon a long time with the 5DM4, but switched to Sony due to the transition from EF to RF. Since I would have to move to an entirely new system anyway, I moved over to Sony. I can tell you that the Sony ecosystem is much better for the style I shoot. I think the A7RV is an incredible camera, and leads the modern generation cameras (like the R5).
@@davidherring Dave, thanks for getting back so quickly. I own a very big luxury home division and I love photography and design. I have 5 RF lenses and 2 tilt shifts so I might sell everything other than the tilt shifts.
If you switch over to Sony, you’ll be blown away by the GM lenses. They’re fantastic in every way. So sharp (esp. the 50 and 135), amazing contrast, and overall just a great system to shoot on.
Appreciate the feedback! I use Lofi because it’s not overly melodic and distracting, and music in general covers up the issues in audio that are happening in most home-studios.
@@davidherring Cheers Dave. Not mocking the video, its great content. I film for a client that only wants that style of music in their videos and its painful when editing as I just hate the style. Good videos though Dave!
Don’t get me wrong I love my Q2 but like you would not push it more than ISO 3200…. In fact my Nikon Z6 with a lower mega pixels sensor gives far better results in low light. What I haven’t tried with my high iso Q2 images is the B&W conversion trick…. Might give that a go and see if I too end up with some arty instagram images! 😂
This is really disappointing. I've been seriously considering a used Q2, because since the Q3 came out, they are starting to show up at decent prices. But honestly, even at 1600 the Leica images are unuseable IMHO. My old Fuji X-Pro2 had a smaller sensor, but I regularly pushed it to 6400 without issue. This is the big issue with high MP cameras. I've also heard that the Q2 is prone to blown out highlights. Seems a little narrow and fussy for a camera being promoted as an everyday, street, casual, travel, go anywhere/do anything camera.
Highlight metering helps a ton, but it does get a bit noisy. Surprisingly, I just shot the M11 at 12500 and it was super clean. Seriously blown away. Now clue how Leica achieved that with a 61mp camera. I never push past 1600 on my Sony A7RV or prior R cameras.
this noise on Q2 is muuuuuch nicer than the noise you get on M11, on M11 it looks soooooo digital and so bad, like low light taken photos on iphone 14 pro, I mean... it's just bad... I switched from M10-P to M11 and now I feel that I regret it
I would have gotten much more out of this test if you would have used the exact same subject and just varied the ISO instead of comparing the ISO’s with different angles and lighting conditions. It wouldn’t matter which of the angles you shot, just keep it the same as you compare the ISO’s.
I personally do not understand why people are so picky about noise. To me, one either has an image or nothing. Use your cousin as an example, it is low light and needs ISO12500 at 1/2 second. What do you do? You either take the picture at IOS12500 at 1/2 second or do not take the picture => no image. I rather to have an image with memory.
Totally get that. I think when people are talking about noise levels, they’re not so much speaking to the ability to have the photo, but the ability to have usable work at an advertised / acceptable level. For instance, if you’re a wedding or event photographer shooting indoors in low light often, you may say “Wow the Q2 does ISO to 12500! That’s the one!” But then you find out that 12500 is really just for marketing and not really useful at all for most cases. Same could be said of Sony, Canon, or other brands.
I enjoy photography. When I was 18, 52 years ago, I was given a part time job at my college in the photo lab. There I began my photography journey. There is a feeling I get during many steps in the photography process of watching something come out of nothing. When focus happens out of unfocus, or when a B&W print develops under a safe light. Out of what was just plain white, slowly as out of mist emerges an image. That feeling gives me joy. When I handle a camera and choose settings provided to me by that marvelous tool, and choose to position myself and the camera to optimally record what I intend to share with others and decisively release that shutter I get joy. When I watch your videos I think I see some similar joy in you. That gives me joy too! Years ago I shot with a Leica M8.2 digital camera. It was great fun, but one of the main reasons I switched to Sony at the time was the poor low light capability of the M8.2. Sometimes in family gatherings and events and travel I choose high ISO over no image at all. Thanks for sharing your experiences and thoughts. Keep 'em coming.
Thanks for sharing your journey, Bert. Photography is a very special hobby or profession, and it’s truly something emotional in the process. Without feeling, why would we do this? Appreciate your comment and insight!
Leica Q2 shooter. Oh man, I have trouble with this camera in the dark especially bars and just general nightlife stuff. I find the Canon R6 lets me get away with a bit more before it too fails.
I was curious how it would do and this video was my first time in the dark, as well as reviewing high ISO files in Lightroom! I don’t see myself pushing over 6400, and even that would be rare.
That Sony high-ISO video quality, wow, stellar!
Thanks!
Nice low light test! I wonder if it was feasible to go lower than the 1/20th or 1/30th you were at, with the Q2’s OIS on. Probably a tripod would have been the best here, but yes, not suitable for every low light situation of course.
I was just pushing the ISO as hard as I could to see the noise tolerance. If I was taking serious photos I would have used a tripod for sure!
@@davidherring Yeah, makes perfect sense for that kind of test. TBH I was pleasantly surprised by the comments, I expected more "LOL bad high ISO" type of stuff :) But AFAIC, if f/1.7 + a bit of handheld jutsu with the help of OIS allow you to go easy on the ISO, problem solved no matter the sensor performance at 6400+. Plus the grain is not ugly (a bit film-like) as you mentioned.
Good video. I’m still getting accustomed to shooting lower light with the Q2…got a lot of grainy stuff!
Yeah it definitely takes some getting use to!
Great vid. I set my limit at 1600 on my q2.
I recently got the Q2M and it’s wild that it’s clean even at 25000.
The Q2 is a great camera but honestly, I would not shoot color images past 1600 and I would only shoot black and white up to 3200.
There is visible banding beyond 3200 and even sometimes at 3200 depending on the lighting and edit.
But with that 1.7 aperture and lens stabilization, for most shots you really don't need to exceed 1600. It's not a crazy dynamic range or high ISO beast but it doesn't need to be. For reportage and street work a used Q2 is still probably the best entry to the leica system.
I sold my Q2 last year, but I don’t disagree. I kept the ISO as low as possible. That said, I push my M11 to 12500 easily.
Great video, thanks for sharing Dave!
After work I will pixel peep on my Q2 Mono files just out of curiousity. I shoot in doors in the evening beyond 10.000 ISO for my family stuff and it looks awesome on the Q2M, but didn't pixel peep to check how fine the grain looks like you did. Very interesting Sony and Leica have different kind of grain/noise, very interesting.
I’d love to compare the Q2M. I hear it’s substantially better in low light.
I’m stuck between the Q2 & Q2M, I’d love to be able to do both B&W & color but every time I hear about the Q2M, it sounds miles better than the Q2. Is it a big enough performance difference to make me sweat off color altogether? I know a lot of people compare the two against each other but I am coming from a 5D Mk IV & really need to see a low light comparison between it & the Q2 for color.
Good video. I noticed that for both Q2 and Q2 past 2000 ISO in low light raising shadows becomes buggy. Capture one manages a much cleaner noise for both these cameras than ACR. Bummer.
I’ve never tried Capture One but I hear good things about it. Thanks for sharing!
Yea I was never compelled to switch though. I love LR but was bummed about that bug on the SL2/Q2 sensor. Though you get around it using curves easily.
doesn't Q2 has feature to lower resolution to shoot at low light setting? if you lower to 24mp, how is the noise?
Idk, I’m sorry! Sold the Q2 a while ago.
I’m getting ready to switch from a Canon 5D mark iv to the Q2 but am torn between it & the Q2 Monochrom. I shoot a lot of black & white & I like doing street photography & low light shooting.
I know the Q2M is superior in the low light dept as well as in black & white images. I just don’t know how the low light of the regular Q2 compares to my current 5D.
It’s hard to weigh, I know the B&W will be superior on the Q2M but is it a good enough difference to make me swear off color? If I do go with the Q2, is the low light performance good enough to make me happy with both the color & B&W images?
I hate these kinds of decisions, I know the Q2M is worth the price difference for B&W but if the low light performance on the Q2 is better than my 5D for color images, maybe I’m worried for no reason?
I think you have to decide what’s most important to you. The Q2M is going to be better in low light, and if you 1) shoot in a lot of low light and 2) shoot BW 90%+ of the time, I’d go with the Q2M. For me, I throw my Q2 into high-contrast monochrome JPG and rock and roll when I want to shoot BW. But I only shoot BW 30% of the time or so.
@@davidherring thanks so much for the great advice, the more I looked around & realized that 80% of the prints I make are either black & white and/or nighttime, the more I realized the Q2M would be right for me.
I sold pretty much all of my camera gear (10 cameras, 9 lenses in all) & managed to get within $800 of the cost of a 2nd hand Q2M in excellent shape.
I did end up keeping a 5D mark iv body & I’m going to pickup a 2nd hand 24-105mm f/4L is ii so I can still shoot color when I need to.
Fantastic video! A lot of these are very acceptable to me as well. People get really into the pixeling and the peeping and try to justify or not justify their own purchase and decision making. If you are really needing something amazing and clean, you are probably not hand holding and doing more tripod long exposure stuff.
Great video as always. I love my Q2 and the fact it makes me want to get out and shoot.
Thanks man! Agreed! The Q2 just makes me want to go out and shoot. I love it!
Do you think it’s better to get an A7R V and use a Leica lens to get the best of both worlds? I have an R5 and the problem is I’m stuck with their RF lens selection.
I shot Canon a long time with the 5DM4, but switched to Sony due to the transition from EF to RF. Since I would have to move to an entirely new system anyway, I moved over to Sony. I can tell you that the Sony ecosystem is much better for the style I shoot. I think the A7RV is an incredible camera, and leads the modern generation cameras (like the R5).
@@davidherring Dave, thanks for getting back so quickly. I own a very big luxury home division and I love photography and design. I have 5 RF lenses and 2 tilt shifts so I might sell everything other than the tilt shifts.
If you switch over to Sony, you’ll be blown away by the GM lenses. They’re fantastic in every way. So sharp (esp. the 50 and 135), amazing contrast, and overall just a great system to shoot on.
Use topaz denotes AI to do the magic for 12500 ISO if you care about cleaning up the image. It will be useable in most cases.
For sure! I use Topaz often for my commercial work, especially at 1600 or higher.
Nice video Dave, but these LOFI style music tracks on everyone's videos are really starting to get painful.
Appreciate the feedback! I use Lofi because it’s not overly melodic and distracting, and music in general covers up the issues in audio that are happening in most home-studios.
@@davidherring Cheers Dave. Not mocking the video, its great content. I film for a client that only wants that style of music in their videos and its painful when editing as I just hate the style. Good videos though Dave!
Don’t get me wrong I love my Q2 but like you would not push it more than ISO 3200…. In fact my Nikon Z6 with a lower mega pixels sensor gives far better results in low light. What I haven’t tried with my high iso Q2 images is the B&W conversion trick…. Might give that a go and see if I too end up with some arty instagram images! 😂
Boom, art 😂
This is really disappointing. I've been seriously considering a used Q2, because since the Q3 came out, they are starting to show up at decent prices. But honestly, even at 1600 the Leica images are unuseable IMHO. My old Fuji X-Pro2 had a smaller sensor, but I regularly pushed it to 6400 without issue. This is the big issue with high MP cameras. I've also heard that the Q2 is prone to blown out highlights. Seems a little narrow and fussy for a camera being promoted as an everyday, street, casual, travel, go anywhere/do anything camera.
Highlight metering helps a ton, but it does get a bit noisy. Surprisingly, I just shot the M11 at 12500 and it was super clean. Seriously blown away. Now clue how Leica achieved that with a 61mp camera. I never push past 1600 on my Sony A7RV or prior R cameras.
this noise on Q2 is muuuuuch nicer than the noise you get on M11, on M11 it looks soooooo digital and so bad, like low light taken photos on iphone 14 pro, I mean... it's just bad... I switched from M10-P to M11 and now I feel that I regret it
Oh man that’s too bad to hear! I don’t mind the Q2 noise, or even the M10R noise. But I don’t have any experience shooting the M11…
I would have gotten much more out of this test if you would have used the exact same subject and just varied the ISO instead of comparing the ISO’s with different angles and lighting conditions. It wouldn’t matter which of the angles you shot, just keep it the same as you compare the ISO’s.
Thanks for the feedback.
I personally do not understand why people are so picky about noise. To me, one either has an image or nothing. Use your cousin as an example, it is low light and needs ISO12500 at 1/2 second. What do you do? You either take the picture at IOS12500 at 1/2 second or do not take the picture => no image. I rather to have an image with memory.
Totally get that. I think when people are talking about noise levels, they’re not so much speaking to the ability to have the photo, but the ability to have usable work at an advertised / acceptable level. For instance, if you’re a wedding or event photographer shooting indoors in low light often, you may say “Wow the Q2 does ISO to 12500! That’s the one!” But then you find out that 12500 is really just for marketing and not really useful at all for most cases. Same could be said of Sony, Canon, or other brands.
Maybe you should expose them properly. All pictures seems underexposed before editing… Maybe I’m wrong 🤷🏻♂️
Everything was exposed to 0.
@@davidherring Thanks for response 👍
All that noise with a full frame, strange
Straight off the camera
Shockingly bad iso performance for such an expensive camera.😩
Yeah I was a bit surprised. That said, it’s much better than my Sony R systems.