A question: In your personal use and experience, what kinds of pictures does the Q3 43 help you to get and which ones does it tend to miss or make more difficult? And the same for the A7C R--which pictures does it help you to get and which does it make more difficult? Thanks!
Prior to firmware 4.0 for the Q3, the only real issue I was having was that the camera would show me the AF was locked on to what I thought, but then when I would get home and review the images the focus was actually a little in front or behind where I expected. Firmware 4.0 fixed most of this, and made the AF lock on time a bit speedier too.
Assuming I'm using the 40mm G lens on the A7CR, I don't think there's any real difference in the kinds of photos I would be able to get with either camera. For all intents in terms of the end result they are identical, especially with the same sensor and being able to crop the same amount in post. These days the A7CR gets reserved for when I want to do some telephoto or macro work, or anything related to video or timelapse.
The benefit of the Q3 is being more hands on and deliberate with how I shoot, versus just relying on a more general purpose setting using burst shooting with auto ISO minimum SS and the Sony excellent AF performance. With the Q3 I'm more likely to manually be changing my settings for each shoot, really getting hands on with controls without thinking about it or even looking at them now that I'm used to them. I guess the only other real hardware benefit I can think of is the 43 lens just being so damn nice, the blown out backgrounds at shallower depths of field are sooo nice in a way the Sony 40G just can't do (though I still like it for that too). I will say there was a good learning curve adapting to the way the Leica works coming from a Sony background, even though it's technically a simpler camera to operate.
A couple more things that came to mind as I was thinking about this today. I was really looking forward to having a better EVF on the Q3, but in use I rarely find it makes any difference in how I use the camera or what I can see in the EVF. Yes the Q3 EVF is nicer, but it really doesn't make as much difference for me as I thought it might. Then again I don;t hate the A7CR EVF as much as some people seem to.
Lastly, while the Q3 43 is probably the one camera I would keep as my desert island camera, it's also something I've been close to selling SOOO many times too. There's just so much overlap with the A7CR and what it can do that it really does feel like a bit excessive when you factor in the cost. I love the handling and deliberate nature of the Q3 43, but I have to ask myself frequently is it really worth thousands and thousands more than the A7CR? For now I still say yes, but mainly because it was a once in a lifetime splurge as a 50th birthday gift to myself and I was able to get it before the latest tariffs raised the price even more. If it was stolen and I had to get it again, I would have to have a long think about it this time around. Well, an even longer think about it
Apr 16, 2026 at 12:02 AM
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