Last night, seeking relief from an uncharacteristically overcast and muggy August day, I grabbed the Leica Q and walked, looking for felines to add to my “Cats of University Heights” series. Instead, I saw a bunny, sitting smack in the middle of New York Street, about halfway down from Madison—or, coming the other way, dead end into the canyon. I approached cautiously, getting closer and closer captures; necessity without a telephoto. The digital camera has a fixed 28mm f/1.7 Summilux lens. Noise from a nearby house startled the rabbit, which sprinted into a yard.
So I persisted, until my approach drove the cottontail to scramble further—and eventually out of sight. The 24-megapixel full-frame shooter uses (inside the lens) a leaf shutter, which is virtually silent. I didn’t worry, then, that camera clicks would spook the critter.
For the first shots, in the street, I let Leica Q autofocus. But for the front yard captures, I switched to the magnificent manual mechanism—a lens ring that is easily manipulated and magnifies the subject in the electronic viewfinder for properly setting the focus point.
The Featured Image is a crop of the original (directly above), provided to, once again, demonstrate the fantastic perspective and crisp detail that the camera captures. Either you are the telephoto, or you crop in close. Benefit is shooting with a prime lens. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 320, 1/60 sec. 28mm; 7:30 p.m. PDT.