I have been wanting a new digital camera for some time. The camera I had was a Canon 5D, along with a variety of lenses. I loved that camera. It was my teacher and my friend for many years. It helped me fall in love with photography and gave me the flexibility to make mistakes live and then fix them, something film can’t do.

However, it was big and heavy. While my 50mm lens was usually on the camera, when traveling, I would pack other lenses to take with me. By the time I had packed everything, my camera bag often weighed more than my suitcase. And let me tell you, I am not a light packer! It finally reached the point where I no longer took a digital camera on our vacations.

I have been missing the flexibility of a digital camera. Finally, my sweet husband came to me with an idea. He suggested I sell my Canon 5D and a few of the lenses (I still have my Canon 1N) and buy a small, compact camera that I could travel with. After some hesitation, I agreed. Change is hard!

I have gone through a couple of compact cameras, and none of them fit my needs- mainly because they had too many bells and whistles. I want to be able to toggle easily between my shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. I like them at my fingertips. I was looking for a digital camera that feels and functions like a film camera. I think I finally found it in the Leica Q2.

The Leica Q2 is compact, easy to use, and feels like a film camera in my hands. I recently took it out for butterfly hunting —the perfect activity for a digital camera. While photographing butterflies, I typically need to take 10 images to capture one image. Those little guys are fast!

While I am still getting used to this camera, I am enjoying it. It has everything I was looking for and a few things I didn’t realize I would appreciate. It is so compact; I’ve had it in my bag since I got it, and it’s helping me shoot more. Despite my initial resistance, I am thankful I made the change to something new.

~Staci Lee