Howdy again everyone and today I'm doing Something a little different I'll be Testing out a 43 mm lens that costs Around $6,000 but hey you also get a free Camera with it so that's not so bad then You like a Q3 43 camera is the same in Every way as the original Q3 except for One major difference it lens a 43mm F2 Lens is permanently fixed onto this Camera instead of a 28 mm and buying the Q3 43 camera is the only way to get hold Of this one so I thought why not make a Special review of the lens itself to go Alongside my review of the original Q3 Camera I thought that maybe you'd all be As curious as I am to know how it's Tested out there are links in the Description below to my review of the Original Q3 camera as well as my review Of its original 28 mm lens now if you're Going to have any lens permanently fixed To your fullframe camera then 4 3 mm is Hardly a bad choice it's not a wide Angle but it does still manage to give a Very natural looking perspective about The same as that of the human eye and a Maximum apture as b as F2 means you'll Be able to get somewhat out of focus Backgrounds here for a little subject Photography although it's not telephoto Enough for getting tight portrait Pictures of course combined with image Stabilization that makes this a good
Lens for shooting in Darker conditions Too I'd like to thank Leica very much Much for loaring me a Q3 43 camera for a Week or two for testing although as Usual this is a totally independent Review and they had no input into the Video at all the lens's build quality is Basically the same as the 28 mm version On the original Q3 camera absolutely Gorgeous as you'd expect at this price Point small solid and with an elegant Thoughtful tactile design the first Thing I like about it is its macro Control dial right at the rear turning This will set the lens into macro Focusing mode extending the bottom of The hyperfocal scale in an action that Feels smooth and looks totally awesome Something I should note though is that In macro mode the lens's aperture only Seems to open up to f2.8 even if you've Set your aperture to be brighter than This then comes the focus ring this Turns very smoothly and precisely There's a handy finger vest at the Bottom which also has a switch to let You lock the lens in or out of autofocus Mode Another neat design although the switch Itself is a little fiddly and I slightly Wish that Focus ring had been just a Little firmer turning just a little bit More heavily when it comes to manual Focus the lens exhibits only a small
Amount of focus breathing nothing that Would cause you any kind of problem While video making the autofocus on this Lens Works silently accurately but only Averagely quickly in front of the focus Ring comes aperture control which turns Evenly with perfect gentle clicks at Every third of an f- stop on the Original 28 mm lens it was far too easy To accidentally turn the lens from f1.7 Onto automatic mode but on this lens the Push needed to make the transition is Just a little firmer thankfully I'd like To see Leica add a little lock switch to That mechanism like Sigma and others do With their lenses the lenses front Filter size is a small 49 mm and the Leica Q3 43 is still an image stabilized Camera I found its stabilization really Helped me to get sharp images in the Dark The Lens comes with a metallic Coke Can style Hood which is not to Everyone's taste and a slip on cap to go On top of that which does at least fit Quite nicely I never bothered with the Hood though so overall the lens's design And build quality is absolutely gorgeous With some thoughtful and unique ideas Just like the 28 mm model anyway image Quality and this lens has quite job to Do as it tries to satisfy that 61 mapel Full-frame sensor the Leica Q 343 camera Is making automatic image Corrections Here too at f2 picture quality is
Perfect in the middle perfect sharpness And perfect contrast over in the corners Picture quality continues to be Fantastic if just a little softer than It was back in the middle at f2.8 and F4 We see Tiny improvements in sharpness And contrast with the lens staying this Sharp down to F 8 f11 starts getting Softer due to defraction and F-16 looks Noticeably soft still it's a pretty Stupendous performance here and the lens Is sharper than the original 28 mm model Especially in its image Corners I never Ceased to be amazed by liers Optics These days okay let's bypass in camera Corrections by shooting in raar and see About distorion and vignetting I think We've found the cause of the image Corners being just a touch softer than a Middle right in the edges we see that Some Barrel Distortion is having to be Corrected here but I'm surprised to see Very little in a way of vignetting Though at f2 at f2.8 the image looks the Same but at F4 those Corners are just a Little brighter still if you're editing Some more images out of this camera you Might want to make sure that barel Distortion is cleared up as I mentioned Before this lens has good macro Functionality focusing down to 27 cm in Macro mode which is a nice little bonus Especially as this is the only lens You'll be able to use on this camera
Might as well keep things flexible right As I mentioned before in macro mode the Lens's maximum aperture seems to be f2.8 Now even if you set the aperture ring Brighter Than This the good news is that Sharpness continues to be excellent at F2.8 even close up although blue color Finging is noticeable on contrasting Edges stop down to F4 for that to be Slightly reduced now let's see how this Lens works against Bright Lights it's a Slightly better than average performance Here some flaring artifacts can clearly Be seen But the lens maintains its very Good contrast and while we're working in The dark let's take a look at coma Levels at f2 bright points of light in The image Corners see only a hint of Smearing and just a touch of purple Fringing stop down to f2.8 and what's There is essentially gone well let's Move the camera a little and take a look For sun Stars you have to stop all the Way down to about f11 to see those Emerging at F-16 though they get nice And strong next up Boker I very much Liked the quality this lens is out of Focus backgrounds specular highlights Have minimal substructure or outlining And also a surprisingly low catai bcka Shape towards the corners honestly that Background softness is legitimately Impressive and finally related to Baka Comes longitudinal chromatic aberation
On this lens it's unfortunately quite Noticeable at the maximum apture quite Strong actually stopped down to F4 and It's stubbornly sticking around but at F5.6 it's gone a Ru well it was a bit Indulgent of me to test this lens fully Because well the only people who can Experience it are those who blow six Grand on a Leica Q3 43 camera but Ultimately the lens is frankly Spectacular and noticeably better than The original 28 mm one although the 28 Is by no means bad I think you should Just buy the camera with the focal Length that suits your style of shooting Here rather than pick on the basis of Quality a lot of people prefer the wider 28 mm angle for street photography and It's easy to see why but 43 mm is far Better for subject photography anyway Like I say check out my original review Of the Leica Q3 to find out more about Whether the camera itself is suitable For you as far as I'm concerned the new Lens on the 43 version makes it an even More compelling choice for those on a High budget that is of course and it of Course comes highly [Music] Recommended well I hope you all found That video interesting I know it's not Going to get loads of views or earn me Loads of money but what the heck it's a Really fascinating lens to test if you
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