The black and white only Leica Q-series is updated, and our wallets look on in hope, knowing full well they won’t be able to afford it.
There’s a real art to the retrolicious photography that is black and white, though these days, it’s one anyone can really dabble in, which is great news for artists and enthusiasts.
Even though some of us have degrees in the field, no one really needs one to play; you just need a phone or camera you can handle, some lovely subject matter, and the ability to wield that device to snap the photo you want. You can even process it later, going from colour into black and white.
And while an iPhone doesn’t really measure up to a made-for-purpose monochrome camera or roll of film, it can get close.
But if you did want to take the next step, you might look at one of those dedicated cameras, and for that, there’s a new model to check out.
Following on from Leica’s Q3 two years ago, Leica now has the Q3 Monochrom, a model of its advanced point and shoot with a special monochromatic-only sensor.
The original Q3 (daresay it, the “regular” one) uses a colour 60 megapixel triple resolution sensor, while this new variant is a 60 megapixel monochrome sensor able to jump between 18, 36, and 60 megapixels at the various focal lengths the camera can work through.
Running at 60 megapixel full-frame sensor in black and white comes with some other advantages.
For starters, because the camera supports 8K, it captures a black and white 8K video through its 28mm F1.7 lens, offering a close-up macro mode of 17 centimetres, too.
The camera also supports Bluetooth, WiFi, USB-C, and an IP water resistance rating of IP52, making it a little more resistant to splashes of water and light rain.
But like all Leica cameras — and we mean all — the Q3 Monochrom won’t come cheap. In Australia, the Q3 Monochrom will cost a hand-biting $12,090, making it one of the more pricey cameras we’ve written about in quite some time. Our collective wallets are sad, but we’re all probably together on that one.
