Ideas for Q3

There are some small things that would improve operation of the Q2:

1. Place the "Play" button next to the "Zoom" button. That'll put it within reach of the thumb for quick and easy replay.
2. Add a magnified view option to the zoom mode.
3. Pressing and holding "Zoom" button should reset zoom - so one doesn't have cycle through 28/25/50/75.
4. Ad an AEL Spot Hold /Toggel option.
5. The dial on the upper right corner is partially coverd (likely to prevent inadvertent activation). Remove that "edge" of the cover plate to make dial more accessible.

That's all. Anybody else has anything to add (or subtract)?

Here is an answer I received on dpreview. Thought I share to get things started here:

"Le Chef wrote:

This works if you’re Jackson Pollock.

But it breaks with Leica’s carefully curated conventions of UI so why would you turn it into the kind of button mess that Fuji and Sony et al use?"

My answer:

Button mess? Fuji Sony? Au contraire!

Leica design may be a work of art. But a camera needs to be designed for use.

Adding another small button to left of the Zoom button will not destroy the carefull minimalistic design. Removing the "overlap" on the control dial on top to make it better accessible with the thumb will also not break the carefully crafted design.

But then: There ar folks who marvel at the design with the camera on a shelv under glas, and then others who use the camera in the streets. It is in the streets when you notice that just little changes can make a big difference in usability.

Let me offer a compromise: Make "Play" assignable to the "Zoom" button and "Zoom" assignable to the "FN" button. Careful design of camera protected - usability improved.

I suspect that this is a wishlist for the Q4 - if it’s really due in the next few months, the Q3’s features were probably decided a couple of years ago…

I think Q3 will have the same 60mp as the M11 and pretty much everything else will remain the same.

What we really need is a Digilux 2 with a modern sensor!

I like the idea of more megapixels to help with the whole ‘crop to zoom’ thing rather than the need to make ever bigger prints. But for me, the Q2 was a once-in-a-lifetime purchase and I can’t imagine what a Q3 might have to make me change my mind about that!

Biggest issue with more megapixels is price, really. The Q2 was already stretching the boundaries of my hobby's budget. The 75mm crop with 47MP sensor is stretching it - no question. But using Enhance in LR kind of allow larger prints. Here is a 75mm crop that I ran through DxO PL6 (Had to use higher JPEG compression to meet the 4MB upload limit):

I wonder if the Q2 with cropping gives an equivalent DoF similar to a “28-70mm f1.-7-3.5 zoom”?

At 75mm, DoF is comparable to an f4.6 lens, while at 50mm it is f2.8 and f2 at 35mm. www.yatesweb.com/leica-q2/