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June 26, 2025

The same, with less but more

The chorus is nigh-universal: don’t buy this if you don’t already have a color rig. The idea of a color rig is in itself laughable, because hasn’t every digital camera shot in color for like 30 years? And also, don’t you already carry a color camera on your person all the time?

So the camera is preposterous. You already own a camera. Gosh, you might already own a Leica. If that’s you, like it is me, then you’re another six grand in the hole for this camera.

But there the reviews are, sounding like every single other review of the actual Q2, the color Q2, the Q2 that I’ve owned for four years and won’t shut up about. Yes, it handles great. Yes, shooting is a pleasure. Yes, the build quality is unmatched. This is like every other camera in this class, and anybody who’s interested in getting one already knows this. If you’re learning it for the first time, dear reviewer, welcome.

What you really need to do is look at any reviews that talk about high-ISO performance, about noise, about low light. Four times the sensors mean you’re able to push to ISO 100,000(!!) at f/1.7*(!) at -5.0 stops(!!!) and still make it look pretty good. And really, a review of this camera is going to involve only that, since you can read any review of the regular Q2 and be done with it. Same interface, same handling. Different sensor, different (leather?) case.

But gosh, that sensor. There are enough “compare with the Q” videos out there to make a person weep about that sensor. It might be the best 35mm sensor ever made? Certainly the best on a camera that’s not meant for serious professional use.

You should, of course, covet the sort of life that makes you worthy of a sensor, not the sensor itself. Buying the black-and-white version of the thing you already own is not going to get you in front of cool stuff. Getting out of the house is. Buying plane tickets is. (And you can buy a lot of plane tickets for the price of that camera.) So that is the goal, but it’s funny to see the sensor, there, like a relic from the past and the future all at once.

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