If you shoot in JPG, the camera gives you 50mm but it doesn’t keep the 28mm. However, if you shoot in DNG, the camera keeps the 28mm and displays the 50mm, you can always cancel the 50mm crop to go back to 28mm if you like.

Congratulations on your new toy! For forums, I read posts in the following web sites. Like in any forums, some posts are excellent but many are just so so, but at least they are Leica specific.

https://www.l-camera-forum.com/forum/222-leica-q3-leica-q2-leica-q/
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/1038

For really good general introduction and detailed information for Q3 on YouTube, no one can beat ’mathphotographer’. He has three videos, the first two provide excellent tips on Q3 menu and features for still photography, and the last one is for video. I reviewed a lot of YouTube videos and his are professional quality, simply the best.

I bought the original Q as a gift to myself for my retirement 7 years ago and I have been enjoying it so much that I had to buy the Q3. I ordered it on the release day from Glazer’s Camera in Seattle, no sales tax and ship free to CA, I received it one month later. The wait is getting longer and longer now.

Leica Series Q are not light and small but at least they are not intrusive and intimidating for walking around city for street photography. You might not be familiar at first with the fixed FL of 28mm but the Summilux f/1.7 lens is extremely sharp. The Q3 has effective 60 MP, imagine how much detail you can record on a photo.

Menu-wise, you’ll feel liberated from dictionary-like menus from all other camera names, someone in Leica realizes not everyone enjoys going through complicated and confusing menus or reading thick and dry manuals.

The Leica FOTOS app on iPhones is easy to pair with the Q3 via provided cable, or you can do it wirelessly. From then on, the Camera-iPhone connection/interaction is fast and downloading photo(s) in jpeg or raw is flawless. Make sure your PC/Mac graphic cards are powerful enough to handle 80 MP raw files, especially when you need to stitch multiple photos.

You’ll enjoy the Q3 tremendously. Circle back here if you have any questions.

I’m afraid that your camera needs a new lens.

In rare instances, “System Error” message is apparently associated with Panasonic lenses or other lenses that have optical image stabilization system made/designed by Panasonic. Many years ago my Leica Q had such problem and I tried every trick to resuscitate it to no avail. The error message was intermittent at the beginning but became permanent at the end. I researched the Internet for a solution but found only a few mentions of the error messages among Panasonic cameras. I had to return my camera to Leica for the lens replacement under warranty. It took almost two months to get it back.

alphadog, you might want to try optometric stores that sell eyeglasses, they usually have tons of tiny screws.

Thanks Linda. I didn’t know I could link a Flickr photo to UHH. I do that often with a photography forum oversea, will try that method at the next opportunity.

Didn’t I say I’m in agreement with Paul from the beginning that from cost/profit point of view, manufactures might chose not to do tests on returned merchandise? I understood Paul completely and have no issue with that. But if the cost is justifiably the reason not to test, is it okay for a manufacturer to repack and resale a returned defective item w/o checking if it works or not? Especially an optical equipment. For a prospective buyer, there is a risk of buying such a refurbished item, top grade or not. Nikon Z 35mm f/1.8 is a S line lens, supposed to be the top line.

I value opinions if they make sense, Paul’s opinions are valuable (not all the time, :-)) but not everyone else’s.

Thanks Don. I rechecked the originals and found the trees are sharp. At the distance of few hundred yards away, if the facials features, especially the carving tool marks are sharp, there is a good chance that the trees have details. I had to reduce the photo MP significantly to upload them to UHH, thus details are lost.

You don’t seem to understand my word “if”. If it cannot be done, throw the lens away!

If they cannot do a 5-minute test then they should not put a defective equipment back on the shelf. They just need to throw it away to save the customer service rep’s time, return shipping cost, “restocking” cost, … , my time and aggravation. They still do the “refurbished” sale hoping they could get away if customers don’t check. No customer wants to buy a defective product, even at half the original price.

I have a friend who owns a wholesale smartphone repair shop, his staff checks every phone returned by customers and determines which one can be repaired, refurbished, or scrapped.

I have been in agreement with you since the beginning that due to prohibitive labor costs, extensive testing is not done, especially in a low-tech shipping/receiving warehouse type setting. But Nikon COULD and SHOULD do a minimum testing similar to what I did, all it took was 5 minutes and a pair of trained eyes. If it cannot be done or until performance testing is done, the company should stop reselling returned defective products under “refurbished” sales.

I completely share Larry’s pain while his lens is in the shop. I have been following this thread from the beginning and am hesitating to tell my own story in this thread. But I think why not, Nikon might be reading it.

Based on excellent reviews, I bought a “refurbished” Z 35mm f/1.8 S lens four weeks ago directly from NikonUSA during their “refurbished” sale. The lens was shipped promptly. Right after I scribbled my signature on UPS electronic pad, I opened the package and mounted the lens on my camera (Z7) and on a tripod to take test photos at aperture priority with different aperture openings. I also tested my existing Z 24-200 mm zoom lens in the same fashion for comparison.

The test subject is a wall bookshelf unit which has multiple shelves divided like a grid you see on a camera LCD. With the new 35mm lens from the largest aperture opening (f/1.8) to f/4, book spines on the center shelf are relatively sharp but book spines on the other shelves around the center shelf are either out of focus or blurry, the reference photos taken with my zoom lens for comparison are much sharper. I immediately called NikonUSA Support and requested a RMA, they wanted me to forward the test photos for evaluation and I did. A few days later, I called for the RMA status, they wanted me to test the lens with the camera at P (Programmed) mode for further evaluation. Same thing, the blurry and out-of-focus problems are still shown. I emailed the photos to NikonUSA but at the same time expressed my deep unsatisfactory feeling. The next day, an RMA was email to me and NikonUSA received the lens this morning.

I received a customer survey a few days ago. I gave NikonUSA customer service 4 stars because the representative seemed to be knowledgeable and receptive. But I included my written comment to the effect that NikonUSA should inspect and test their returned products thoroughly before rebranding them as “refurbished” to resale to unsuspecting customers. It took me a few minutes to do brief testing find out the lens is defective, why Nikon did not do it is incomprehensible. Also, during assembly, having one bad lens among thousands good ones is acceptable, Nikon should recycle it for parts instead of passing it on as a “refurbished”.

I have been a Nikon fan for over 30 years and continue to be. It was my first time buying a refurbished equipment and also the last. No more “refurbished”!

Thanks Jay.

Thanks Jack.

Thanks Ken.

Thanks Bill.