Q3 43vs Pentax 17
Leica
Q3 43 (2024)
Starting from £6995 new
Best for Documentary, portrait & reportage photography
View Q3 43
Pentax
Pentax 17 (2024)
Starting from £400 new
Best for Film photography enthusiasts & diptych storytelling
View Pentax 17
GearScore™ Verdict — Which should you buy?
Documentary, Portrait & Reportage Photography — Q3 43 (2024): The Q3 with the most human lens — 43mm, 60MP, and Leica rendering at its most natural and versatile.
Film Photography Enthusiasts & Diptych Storytelling — Pentax 17 (2024): The best new film camera of the decade — manual controls, a sharp lens, and a half-frame format that doubles your roll and forces a new way of seeing.
Who should buy what
Q3 43 (2024)
- Portrait and documentary photographers who find 28mm too wide and 50mm too tight
- Q3 owners who prefer a natural 43mm perspective over the iconic 28mm Summilux
- Reportage photographers who want the discreet Q3 form factor with a more intimate focal length
- Leica system users who want a fixed-lens body that excels across multiple genres
Quick take: The pentax 17 is the most affordable; only the q3 43 is weather sealed. Scroll down for the full spec breakdown.
Full specifications
| Specification | Q3 43 (2024) | Pentax 17 (2024) |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £6,995 | £400 |
| Sensor | 60MP full-frame BSI CMOS | 35mm half-frame (18 × 24mm) |
| Resolution | 60.0MP | — |
| Video | 8K/30p, 4K/60p 10-bit — L-Log | N/A — film camera |
| Autofocus | Phase-detect AF with face and eye detection | Zone focus (0.35m / 1m / 3m / ∞) |
| Stabilisation | 8-stop IBIS (combined with OIS) | N/A — film camera |
| Burst Rate | 15fps electronic | Manual wind-on |
| Battery Life | ~350 shots (CIPA) | 2× CR2 lithium batteries |
| Weight | 743g body only | ~165g (without batteries) |
| Dimensions | 130.0 × 80.3 × 91.1mm | 113 × 66 × 44mm |
| Weather Sealed | Yes | No |
| Viewfinder | EVF 0.79× 5.76M-dot OLED | Optical viewfinder with half-frame framelines |
| Screen | 3.0" fully articulating touchscreen, 1.84M dots | N/A |
| Mount | Fixed Summicron-M 43mm f/2 ASPH (43mm — closest to human field of view) | 35mm film (ISO 25–3200 via DX coding + manual dial) |
| Memory Cards | Single UHS-II SD slot | 35mm 135-format film cartridge |
| Connectivity | USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, Wi-Fi 5GHz, Bluetooth 5.0 | N/A |
Suitability by genre
| Genre | Q3 43 | Pentax 17 |
|---|---|---|
| Portrait | ||
| Street | ||
| Travel | ||
| Landscape | ||
| Sports | — | |
| Wildlife | — | |
| Everyday | — | |
| Low Light | — |
GearScore™ suitability scores are based on aggregated purchaser reviews weighted by photography genre. See how scores are calculated →
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