Leica Q for Portrait Photography

Is the Leica Q good for Portrait Photography?

Leica Q Portrait Photography Score

GOOD

Leica Q has a score of 75 for Portrait Photography which makes it a GOOD candidate for this type of photography. Leica Q will satisfy most of your needs, but if you are looking for a camera that is even better suited to Portrait Photography, we recommend you to check the Alternative cameras at the bottom of this page.
Read our detailed Leica Q Review

Leica Q Portrait Photography Detailed Analysis

Large Full frame (36 x 24 mm) sensor

Large sensors provide shallower depth of field and a nice blurry background for your portrait shots.

Very High Resolution Sensor: 24.0MP

Leica Q's 24.0MP sensor will provide larger room for cropping, and you will be able print your portrait shots larger with more fine detail.

Image Stabilization

Image stabilization reduces the effects of camera shake at long exposures and long focal lengths thus ensuring sharper portraits

RAW shooting capability

RAW files contains more color information compared to JPEGs, so it is easier to get a natural skin tone and colours during post processing, which is very important for portraits.

External Flash Shoe

Use of External flash creates many creative lighting opportunities for portrait photography. Techniques like bounce and fill-in flash will make your portraits stand-out from the crowd.

Electronic Built-in Viewfinder

During a portrait shoot, using a viewfinder allows the photographer to stabilize the camera and reduce the camera shake since it is closer to the body. Besides, it comes handy where LCD screens are very hard to read under bright sunlight.

Manual Focus Mode

You have to nail the focus perfectly for a good portrait shot. Compact cameras are not great at focusing at low light and complex lighting conditions, so manual focus mode is very useful at these times.

Manual Exposure Mode

A correct exposure of portrait model is crucial. Even though modern digital cameras features advanced algorithms to calculate the right exposure, they still may fail some difficult conditions. Manual exposure mode in these conditions helps a lot in order to achieve correct exposure.

Not so good Ergonomics&Handling

Good handling and existence of well placed physical controls on the camera body is very important during portrait shooting. It is faster and more intuitive to change the camera settings with dedicated buttons and knobs instead delving into the menus on the LCD.

You may also be interested in these reviews:

Leica Q for Street Photography
Leica Q for Sports Photography
Leica Q for Carrying Everywhere
Leica Q for Landscape Photography

Leica Q Alternatives in Large sensor compact cameras for Portrait Photography

Leica Q2 Compare Q Typ 116 vs Q2	47 MP \| Full frame CMOS Sensor 28 mm Lens	Rank in All Cameras: #21 Rank in Compact Cameras: #1
	Imaging Features Value for Money Portability Overall Score	Portrait Street 93 Sports Daily Landscape

Leica Q Compare Q Typ 116 vs Q Typ 116	24 MP \| Full frame CMOS Sensor 28 mm Lens	Rank in All Cameras: #50 Rank in Compact Cameras: #3
	Imaging Features Value for Money Portability Overall Score	Portrait Street 93 Sports Daily Landscape

Sony RX1R II Compare Q Typ 116 vs RX1R II	42 MP \| Full frame BSI-CMOS Sensor 35 mm Lens	Rank in All Cameras: #47 Rank in Compact Cameras: #2
	Imaging Features Value for Money Portability Overall Score	Portrait Street Sports Daily Landscape

Zeiss ZX1 Compare Q Typ 116 vs ZX1	37 MP \| Full frame CMOS Sensor 35 mm Lens	Rank in All Cameras: #77 Rank in Compact Cameras: #4
	Imaging Features Value for Money Portability Overall Score	Portrait Street Sports Daily Landscape

Sony RX1R Compare Q Typ 116 vs RX1R	24 MP \| Full frame CMOS Sensor 35 mm Lens	Rank in All Cameras: #158 Rank in Compact Cameras: #11
	Imaging Features Value for Money Portability Overall Score	Portrait Street Sports Daily Landscape

Leica Q2

Leica Q

Sony RX1R II

Zeiss ZX1

Sony RX1R