Leica Launches New Q3 with 43mm Lens

2024.09.27

Leica just introduced a variant of their premium compact flagship with a new focal-length. Joining the existing Q3 is the new Leica Q3 43 which is essentially the same camera with a 43mm prime lens instead of a 28mm one. Both remain among the most advanced fixed-lens cameras on the market and are the only current models to feature a Full-Frame sensor.

The Leica Q3 43 is built around a 60 megapixels Full-Frame CMOS sensor with an ISO 50-100,000 sensitivity range, one more stop at the upper-end than its sibling. This ultra-high resolution sensor omits the common anti-alias filter to maximize the amount of detail captured. Leica paired a new 43mm F/2 prime lens for a less wide perspective. This lens has a 26.5cm macro focusing distance and accepts 49mm screw-on filters, like the Q3.

With such a high resolution sensor, this compact camera and its sibling are the only fixed-lens models that can record 8K video, even the slightly wider Cinema 8K format is supported at 30 FPS. Ultra-HD video handles twice the frame-rate, while Full HD supports 120 FPS. This time, MPEG-4 files support H.265 encoding which was only available in Quicktime format.

This is a high-end camera with a rich feature set in an IP52 weatherproof body. It incorporates a 5.8 Megapixels 0.5" EVF with 0.76X magnification and 100% coverage, plus a 1.8 MP 3" Touchscreen LCD. This is a Compact camera yet it weighs a hefty 772g due to its robust build quality.

The Leica Q3 43 will be imminently available at a retail price of $6900 USD. Interested buyers can pre-order one today from Adorama or B&H Photo.

• Digital Camera