[Leica] Q2

[hlritter at bex.net (Howard L Ritter Jr)]

Looking for LUGgers? opinions/experience with the Q2. And with Topaz Labs? 
Gigapixel AI and Sharpen AI software.

After decades of flogging a 35mm, then FF DSLR or mirrorless, on various 
outings and expeditions, I have finally come to the realization that the 
opportunity to use a lens longer than 50mm for a few percent of my shots, 
most of them not particularly memorable, isn?t worth the bulk and weight of 
a 24-70 or -85 zoom. I?ve gotten progressively unhappy with the lack of 
decent compact primes for my Sony mirrorless FF a7Rii, and the resultant 
need to tote the 24-70. My everyday-carry lens on an M body is 35mm and I?m 
much more apt to wish I had something shorter mounted than longer. I?m not 
above going out with the M240 or MM sporting the lovely 21-35 Vario-Elmarit 
R on an M adapter and EVF.

So I?m going to Iceland (again) next week with my son for a circumnavigation 
of the island by the Ring Road, with side trips to the volcano and the 
Snaefjellsness Peninsula. This prospect really stimulated some analytical 
thinking, and I went ahead and ordered a Q2 from B&H. It arrived yesterday 
and I?m familiarizing myself with it. It?s a real gem, well advanced from my 
M240 in terms of being a thoroughly modern FF digital camera, and it really 
feels right to/for me. It?s going to replace my Sony a7Rii, Sony RX1-R, and 
a few lenses. 

My reasoning is that with a 28mm prime lens and a 47 MPx sensor, I can crop 
and enlarge to the equivalent of 90mm and have a 4.5 Mpx image file. I?ve 
found that Gigapixel and Sharpen can produce an image file 4x as large as 
the original (2x the pixel dimensions) that looks at least as good as a 
native image file made with a lens of 2x the FL. So the 4.5 Mpx crop can be 
up-res?d and sharpened to look like an 18 Mpx file taken with a 90 mm lens. 
And the 24 Mpx images from my late, lamented NEX-7 that I see as background 
on my 25? iMac?s 250-dpi, 15-Mpx screen every day remind me of how 
stunningly detailed 15 Mpx can look 2? across the desk even at 13 x 21?.

Any helpful advice or reports from Q users?

Images to follow.

?howard