Leica Q3 High Speed Flash Sync | Leaf Shutter Advantage

[@brunodehogues8311]

Thank you for your videos, which are always very interesting. As a pro photographer, using my Q3 for street photography, I use these 2 flashes: FlashQ M20 from LightPix Labs. Advantage: small trigger that detaches from the flash. Flash that fits in your hand Disadvantage: 2x AAA batteries that drain quickly. Flash doesn't always keep up with cadence and can burn out if overheated. No TTL I now use the Godox V350 with the Godox X3 trigger on my Leica Q3. Advantage: Godox VB20 battery. Excellent flash for speed and focal length coverage. Disadvantage: No TTL The absence of TTL is absolutely not important in Street Photography and can be managed very well with experience. I should point out that the V350 and X3 are Canon version since all my pro equipment is Canon. This allows me to use them with all my Godox flashes in Canon Version. So all I had to do was buy the V350 (cheap) for the Leica Q3!

[@ChrisM-yq2pq]

Isn’t Leica a Nikon mount?

[@mathphotographer]

Thanks for sharing, much appreciated.

[@mathphotographer]

@@ChrisM-yq2pq The Hasselblad X-system has Nikon-compatible hot shoes and you can use most Nikon flashes on the X1D and X2D. On Leica cameras its a bit more tricky ...

[@georgenguyen525]

Thanks for the video - very informative. Looking forward for more tutorial on Leica Q3. Happy New Year 2025. 😀

[@RS-Amsterdam]

Math, thanks for all the videos, knowledge and explanations in 2024. I wish you Happy Holidays and a great 2025.

[@mathphotographer]

Same to you! Always highly value your comments and you being part of this channel community. All the best for the new year and we stay in touch like always.

[@johnathanmaynard7003]

This is my favorite flash for my Q3 as well thanks for the video. Like most of their flashes, Leica no longer makes the SF 26 because it is just a rebranded flash from other manufacturers. The SF 26 is a rebraded Metz 26 af-2, and Metz stopped making flashes a few years back that is why if you get a version of the SF 26, it will give you an issue due to not having the updated firmware. I like to set the Flash setting to one of the function button to change the power levels. Again great video.

[@mathphotographer]

Thanks a lot, this is really good additional information, appreciate your comment.

[@fatgrouch]

Didn't know these are leaf shutter lens camera, nice work !

[@mathphotographer]

They are! Thanks for the positive feedback.

[@MickVee]

Just got my Q3 28 and have a Nikon Zf with the SB700. Manual mode works perfectly on the Q3 and SB700. Just dial in the flash manual power and requires some experimentation but you get better at estimating. I grew up (70’s) on manual flash flash and love the leaf shutter on the Q3 so quite familiar with the process. On that note, have a Godox Junior coming in. Would love TTL but manual flash works great if you know what you’re doing. Thanks for a great video!

[@mathphotographer]

Great that you shared that, many thanks! I fully agree, manual mode works well in flash photography if you know what you are doing.

[@georgenguyen525]

Hi MickVee, I got Q3 28 and SB800; What setting on Q3 do you use when shooting with your SB700 in manual. I think when I set Q3 in Manual mode at 100 ISO, Fstop, shutter speed ; then I adjust power of flash based on distance , Fstop, And shutter speed. I got them working together great.

[@MickVee]

@@georgenguyen525 Hi, yes, Q3 fully manual.. expose for the background you want and then adjust manual flash for the fill you want.

[@TNrick]

Great video. Thanks so much for showing this. I am curious if the leaf shutter on the Q3 43 will allow me to shoot at 1/2000 of a second while using an aperture of f/2.0? Thanks so much. 🙏

[@kenmonahan9924]

Great video as usual sir! Difficult to find an SF 26 now but I read the Metz 26AF-1 is the same flash but without the red dot….have you tried this one? Cheers Ken

[@PixelGuy22]

Hi. Thanks for this video. I just received my D-Lux 8 which I believe also has a leaf shutter. So I would assume that some of the same flash principles would apply? If I could find a SF 26 do you think it would work with the D Lux 8?

[@BehindTheScenes-MariasHealing]

Great Video, as always. I did not know the Q3 hat a leaf shutter. Very cool. Quick Disclaimer about the Godox Lux. I recently saw a video from another Creator. He used the exact same Godox Flash and said it damaged one of the "springs" in the hot shoe. I tried the flash on a q2 when the flash was released and I did not feel it was too tight. Also. I am not sure if the Creator maybe did something wrong. Just wanted to share. Hope you all have a great Christmas 😊😊

[@mathphotographer]

Thanks Eugen, appreciate the feedback. As I said in the video when trying third party flashes, always be nice to the Q3's hot shoe otherwise you might damage your camera. Generally not a lot can go wrong but a grain of salt in terms of being cautious is always good. Merry Xmas!

[@nicoxg]

Thank you for another great video. Unfortunately - in Europe at least - the Leica SF 26 flash seems nowhere to be found, and it's only going to get rarer and rarer. Even if the size isn't the best match, if TTL remains a must, isn't the SF 40 the only realistic alternative?

[@Orlando-t6w]

I use flash q q20ii for q2. The compatible focal length is 35mm and it doesn't downward tilt, so for leica Q's 28mm lens, there is no light at the bottom side of picture. and for leica no TTL it only comes with sony and manual shoe so for leica it's only manual. However, it's super compact, able to remote use(the shoe is also a detachable transmitter), affordable. It serves basic tasks sufficiently. At least for whom take picture of friends and random things in wherever places.

[@dormir01]

I still rock the sf24 D

[@mathphotographer]

:)

[@Richie_Glasgow]

Sorry I meant to ask on previous video but do you know if Leica have confirmed they are releasing a grey hand grip to suit the Q3 43? Looking online no-one seems to know but some say they won't other says unsure :-) I guess black matches the top plate, base and lens.......

[@mathphotographer]

@@Richie_Glasgow My information from Leica Marketing is that the grip will stay black and there will be no grey hand grip for the Q3 43. Disappointing, and maybe they make up their mind in the course of 2025.

[@Richie_Glasgow]

@@mathphotographer Thanks - Decided to return my grip as I found it made the camera too ugly and I never hand hold using viewfinder anyway.......

[@yevgenypshenichny781]

Did you try any off camera flash with a strobe and remote controller/trigger in the hot shoe?

[@mathphotographer]

Did not try it, if you have made some experience in that please share with us.

[@yevgenypshenichny781]

@@mathphotographer so far I have used the SF 40 on camera and the SF C1 controller/trigger with a couple of the SF 60s and occasionally i use the Nissin G10 with the Leica trigger. As of now, the TTL works fine. With this setup I am reliably able to reach up to 1/1000 sec speed and the 1/2000 is a bit problematic. I also have a couple of the AD100 pro’s with the Godox Leica trigger. As modifiers are concerned, I use either a MagMod Focus 24 or the SMDV Flip octa.s outside. The Godox system I tend to use at the speeds up to 1/500 reliably, most probably because the 2.4 transmission is slow. But I have had the Q3-43 for a week only , and I need to test the Godox system for my work a little bit more. I have not tried the more powerful AD300 strobes outside. Right now I am more happy with the manual mode than the TTL. The I/500 works ok outside for the most shooting scenarios. I love to see both eyes and ears of my subjects, so I usually use f4. In studio I have a Kenko Nikon cord to the Hotshoe wired to the Nikon flash in zone A and the additional strobes in the Optical slave mode. Alternatively, I use cheap one pin triggers with the receivers plugged into the Bron strobes. Never use TTL. I have not used my Q3-43 for any real stuff in the studio. I have the S3 for that.

[@albertmeyer8983]

Leica does not sell this sf26 flash anymore, so what is the point?

[@srana2000]

Can you please compare other high end camera with Leica like Sony and Canon as Hassblad and Leica are difficult to find in my country '

[@ChrisM-yq2pq]

So many videos about those

[@mathphotographer]

I did these type of comparisons from time to time on my channel. Having said that, its always difficult to compare different camera brands since the platforms and concepts are typically very different and hard to put side-by-side.

[@NBBuccaneer]

Although Leica do not advertise the fact, both the Q and Q2 also have leaf shutters.

[@mathphotographer]

Spot-on correct. Its the concept of the Q-cameras to rely on the leaf shutter in the lens.

[@klarion]

Serious photographers don't think flash photography is obsolete... Just a note because I don't seem to understand why you said that.. and why would Leica think that.

[@Mattrossphoto]

To me natural light photographers are lazy or too weak to carry equipment 😂 my paras come everywhere with me. I rarely use available light it’s usually gross and subpar

[@mathphotographer]

Spot-on, I don't think I said that flashes are obsolete in photography. What I wanted to say is that Leica maybe is "lazy" to add a small flash in the box of the Q3 (in contrast to the D-Lux cameras where you get a tiny flash for free in the box) because the sensor performs so well in low light. But I use flashes often and as said in the video very often in dim light to brighten the face of a person or getting some "fill light" into a scene.

[@mathphotographer]

Having said that, natural light is often more my path to an image :)

[@mathphotographer]

@@Mattrossphoto Lol - liked your statement. I am clearly also sometimes too lazy to carry a flash and then, naturally light photography kicks in 😂

[@Mattrossphoto]

@@mathphotographer I just have leaf shutter envy I’m on Gfx100sii 😂

[@mp_martin]

It’s a pity that Nissin isn’t allowed to release a Leica compatible i40 or i60. Leica should be ashamed that they only rebrand their flashes.

[@mathphotographer]

Agree but we also need to be a bit "mild" here in our judgment. Leica do not produce flashes so they rely on brands who have that expertise. And yes, their spectrum of offered flashes is a bit thin at the moment as I pointed out in the video but there are alternatives we can use as I showed.

[@yevgenypshenichny781]

The Nissin G10 works with the Leica controller well enough. You just need to use the recent firmware on the Nissin.

[@domipro123]

@ 1:34. ...serious photography... using a lens hood that way??

[@mathphotographer]

@@domipro123 Haha well spotted :) That clip is a generic video ... and yes, she should flip the lens hood :)

[@tobiashupf]

Tell me, are you German? 🙈

[@mathphotographer]

@@tobiashupf I was born in Germany but I am Swiss :)

[@rafibenatar2519]

Fuji x100VI can same thing as well for much less $$$$$$

[@mathphotographer]

The Fuji X100VI clearly is a remarkable camera and comes at a much more affordable price tag.