I just sold my wonderful Leica Q2 Monochrom. This was the second time I’ve owned a Q2M and the second time I’ve sold one.
The Q2M is a nearly perfect walk-around, everyday camera for someone who wants to focus purely on making black and white images. That describes me perfectly, for a while. I love B&W photographs and the Q2M makes them as good or better than anything available. I love how using a B&W-only sensor forces me to think in tones, shades, and lighting.
But, and there’s always a “but”, my use of the camera is mostly while hanging around with family or out at dinner, etc. As an everyday carry camera, I am often asked by family members if they could “see the color version” and they are disappointed when I tell them there is no such thing. After a while, I start to feel like I want the option to shoot black and white, but not always.
I also have a beautiful M10-R which is always just begging to be used. The decision about which camera to bring is crazy-making for me, so I now have fewer choices, which I am telling myself is a good thing.
My “kit” now consists of the Leica M10-R and Leica MP. It’s great being able to use the same lenses on both film and digital bodies. And there really is nothing that compares with an M.
Leica MP and Leica M10-R
The biggest gap this leaves is that I still need something for casual carry. Something with auto-focus and macro capabilities that I can shoot one-handed. The M cameras leave me without any of that and I often miss it. For now, I’m filling that gap with the little Ricoh GRIII. It’s a great, tiny, easily-pocketable camera that should do just fine.
I’ll miss the Q2M, but for now, I’m going to work with what I have, and what I have is pretty great. But don’t be surprised if a future post discusses something entirely different.