I honestly think this lens is going to be the ultimate deciding factor for anyone purchasing a Leica Q2. It has a 28mm focal length but 28mm is not necessarily for everyone.
However, having used some 28mm lenses in the past, the lens on the Leica Q2 feels a slightly wider. It’s somewhere in between a 24mm and a 28mm. This could be a deal breaker for someone who loves shooting 28mm. You probably would want it to feel exactly like all the 28mm lenses you’ve used in the past, but it does feel wider in my experience using it. It’s why it makes a lot of sense for anyone interested in purchasing a Leica Q2, to first consider renting the camera out first and seeing how they like it.
This isn’t something a little bit of cropping and lens correction can’t fix though, but it’s worth bringing up because 28mm is a widely popular focal length for street photography and why a lot of people might gravitate to this camera.
I mentioned before that 28mm is not for everyone. I would personally put myself in that category as I mainly shoot 50mm on most of my cameras. So that’s reason enough for me to not want to buy a Leica Q2. The focal length you shoot with is largely tied to the style and approach you have in street photography, and the 28mm lends its self to more candid documentary and environmental images. If you love documenting large events, architecture, or just like the “wide look”. This lens might be for you.
That said, I’ve heard from a few previous Leica Q2 owners that they sold their Q2s because they grew tired of the wide focal length and didn’t enjoy shooting it as much as they initially thought. A fixed lens camera like this at this price point calls for a pretty good understanding of how you like shoot.
