Leica's $9950 Q3 43 Formula 1 Edition arrives as F1 hits Austin

Leica's special edition F1 camera adds carbon fiber, a Microvelour body, and a wireless charging grip to the Q3 43, not to mention $2000.

The Formula One circus heads to North America this weekend, with the US Grand Prix at the fabulous Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, kicking off the last six races of the year. And it has a new Leica camera edition in tow.

F1 has been owned by Liberty Media for several years now, and where the Americas-based races were once almost exercises in box-ticking, the combination of US ownership and the popularity juggernaut of Drive to Survive has seen them rise significantly in importance. Never mind that 20-year-old prodigy Kimi Antonelli can win the Drivers’ Championship five races early, and become its youngest champion ever, if he wins on Sunday and other results go his way, F1 in North America is now about serious marketing razzamatazz.

Now with added carbon fiber

Which brings us to the Leica Q3 43 Formula 1 Edition camera, a special edition of the Leica Q3 43, sold as a camera and accessories set. It has handcrafted carbon fiber parts, black Microvelour covering, official F1 branding, and naturally costs a small fortune.

The carbon fiber parts, specially manufactured in Germany, are fitted to the hand grip, thumb rest, and soft-release button. The soft-release button and the right-hand function button in the thumb rest are finished in Formula 1 red. The top plate is engraved with the F1 logo, the lens cap matches, and the rope strap bears both brands’ logos.

Thankfully, the godawful specially designed Formula1 font family that F1 uses in its broadcasts hasn’t made it anywhere near it.

The wireless charging hand grip is carbon fiber instead of the classic leatherette covering. It has an Arca-Swiss mount, can be removed at any time, and accepts a wrist strap. The camera starts charging when placed on the Drop XL Wireless Charger pad.

Leica Q3 43 base

Elsewhere, it is a bog-standard Leica Q3 43, if any camera of this pedigree can really be referred to as ‘bog-standard’. That gives you a 60 MP CMOS full-frame sensor, with a choice of 60, 36, or 18 MP in JPEG or DNG, any of which always use the entire sensor area. The ISO range is 50 to 100,000. Processing is handled by the Maestro IV processor with L² technology, and video recording goes up to 8K.

The lens is the Leica APO-Summicron 43 f/2 ASPH., which has seven aspherical surfaces and a built-in macro mode. The focus range is 60 cm (23.6 in) to infinity, with a macro setting of 26.5 cm (10.4 in) to 60 cm (23.6 in). Autofocus is a hybrid system combining contrast measurement, depth mapping, and phase detection, and the aperture runs from f/2 to f/16 in 1/3 EV increments. Dimensions are 130 x 80.3 x 97.6 mm (5.1 x 3.2 x 3.8 in).

One further differentiator, though, is a ‘Formula 1’ Leica Look developed specially for the camera. Leica says this applies greater contrast and saturation to still images, and can be transferred to the camera via the Leica FOTOS app.

Pricing and availability

The Leica Q3 43 Formula 1 Edition is available now for $9950, an impressive $2000 more than the base Leica Q3 43 currently is, but then this is Formula One.