As expected, there is enormous demand for the Leica Q3. Leica fans across the globe face a waiting list of up to six months, and dealers have been astounded by the level of interest being shown in the new camera. This supports the experience of Japanese Leica dealers, revealed in a Leica Rumors post earlier this week.
According to a statement by Leica Japan, orders for the Leica Q3 far exceed the company’s expectations worldwide:
We are currently receiving orders for the Leica Q3 that far exceed our expectations worldwide, so it is taking some time to deliver. We apologise for the inconvenience caused to our customers. We will deliver the products one by one, but it is expected that you will have to wait for a long time. Please understand that it is difficult to give an answer at this time regarding the delivery time.
Statement from Leica Japan
Demand for the Q3 across the globe
Macfilos has checked the situation in a number of markets throughout the world.
Alex Santamaria of Red Dot Cameras in London said that the Q3 got off to a flying start when it was announced on May 25. He estimated that orders placed now could take six months if Leica is not able to increase the delivery rate.
Leica Store San Francisco confirms the worldwide story in a discussion with Macfilos: “There is significant demand for the Leica Q3. If someone added their name to the waiting list for the Q3 today, it is unlikely that they would have a camera in their hands before the end of the year. Some enthusiasts put their names on the waiting list for this camera several years before it was officially announced”.
Leica India told our New Delhi correspondent that interest in the Q3 is roughly double that of the Q2 following the launch. However, they explained that India is a very niche market for Leica products and cannot be compared directly with the situation in other areas, such as Europe.
In Germany, Leica Store Konstanz also reports tremendous demand for the new Q3. Owner, Markus Wintersig, told Macfilos that he had expected great interest in this camera, but he was still surprised by the number of orders he had received. At the moment, he has a waiting list that could stretch over several months, depending on the supply from Wetzlar.
However, with some customers pre-ordering from more than one dealer and buying where they are served first, not every name on the waiting list automatically means a sold camera. “The Q had a huge success from day one”, Markus Wintersig said, “and it has been going steadily and strongly over all the years and at all stages of the models’ life cycles”. This is also true for used Q models, he added.
David Stephens of Leica Store Manchester also mentions the problem of multiple orders with several dealers. He told us that is difficult to identify customers who are also placing orders with other dealers, but he warned against the practice: “You are not going to get your camera sooner, and I would advise to choose just one dealer and stake a place on the waiting list”.
Success
When the original Q was introduced in 2015, the level of demand was exceptional, and the camera has gone on to become one of Leica’s most successful digital cameras of the past 15 years. Eight years after the launch of the series, the Q3 is still without direct competition and is widely regarded as one of the best cameras on the market today.
Leica Q3: First impressions by a man who came back to the fold
Jonathan Slack: Solid upgrade for the perfect travel camera
Leica Q: Twopart look at the crop-to-zoom feature
Leica Boutique: An affluence of accessories for the Leica Q3
New from Leica: Cameras coming in 2023 and 2024
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The articulated screen is a major temptation for me. I have arthritis in my knees and cannot lower myself. It offers a much wider shooting envelope – I do not like all pictures to be taken at my eye level. If you do not need articulation of screen you do not need to use it. However, I cannot warm up to 28mm as my main focal length. C’est la vie.
No surprise. The Leica Q probably has been outselling the Leica M since a while already. It is also one of the most hyped cameras on YouTube. Not sure what the means for the L-mount though if anything at all.
Maybe the main reason they dropped the x range and CL? Don
This still amazes me since nearly no-one prints any more. Are all these 60mp files being shrunk to 2000 pixels wide for putting up on the net?
Just wondering, Mark
This, of course, is a good point, Mark. Upload to a blog such as Macfilos is limited. For a long time we set the limit at 2MB but then realised the database was becoming unwieldy (and expensive to maintain). So now (thanks to a recommendation from David B, ibid) we use PhotoShrinkr and most of our stuff is now posted at file sizes of between 300 and 500 Kb. If this were not a photographic site, where we are discussing the relative merits of very capable cameras, we could get by with an iPhone or an old Leica X2 for the purposes of illustration. Mind you, referring back to the Q3, the higher resolution sensor does make cropped images of greater use.
Hi again,
A friend just told me the threaded hole in the shutter release is a fake and doesn’t go right through to allow a cable release, surely that can’t be right.
Is it really only there so they can sell some overpriced soft releases? Sorry to ask but I thought my mate was taking the piss, but maybe it’s Leica doing that.
All the best, Mark
That is correct about the threaded release. Its only purpose is to accommodate their soft release button(in a variety of precious colors, of course). It seems to be a feature designed only to purchase and accessory. Disappointing. I guess the Harry Potted Q3 is somewhere in the pipeline, with magic wand available.
It’s a bit like those fake hood scoops from the 1970’s…
Got to be something in the air, the new PENTAX K3 MONO, SAME THING, massive orders had stop production, happened 3 others in their line since 2015. Here’s hoping they make th GR a Mono.
Strong demand partly due to the articulated monitor?
I think this is undoubtedly a factor. While Leica purists might find the articulated screen objectionable, I find it very useful. The fully articulated screen on (for instance) my Panasonic S5 II is probably more sensible (especially because it can be reversed to completely hide the screen), but the arrangement on the Q3 is a step in the right direction.
Honestly speaking, it’s hard for me to get excited about the (hard to open and not fully articulated screen) which I don’t desperately crave anyway. I find it hard to believe people want it just for that, it’s probably for the other feature set too.I think the ability to hide the screen would be a nice thing.I’d rather have more megapixels at the tele-cropped end than there are, or even better, a 35mm lens. ( Sign me up for that one! ) Really don’t need a wireless charger. So the biggest improvement for me in the Q3 is simply the battery and the focus system and that’s it. I guess the Q2 and no 6 month waiting is fine. Stores here in Japan have now posted Sorry, demand exceeding supply notes, about the Fuji X series compacts too. Obviously the high quality and fully featured compact camera with a single lens is a winning formula that people want. Leica must be happy.
Stephen, I wasn’t suggesting the articulated screen is the main function, but it can help. I also don’t feel the need for induction charging (although, now I have the hand grip, I have also ordered the charging pad — if only out of curiosity and as a review item). But USB-C charging is a big advance over the Q2 where the lack of a socket was always a major irritant for me. All my current cameras (Q3, M11, Lumix S5II and Ricoh GRIII) now offer USB-C charging and I no longer need to remember to carry chargers. And then there’s the improved processor and higher-density sensor. Overall, it’s worth the upgrade.
Fair enough Mike and solid reasoning for your purposes.Wishing you lots of happy shooting adventures with your Q3.