Photography has never been a cheap hobby, and there have always been a few manufacturers at the top end of engineering able to reach higher and higher.

Regarding digital, Leica made several false starts - its M8 and M9 were excreble - and it finally understood that you couldn't spend all the money on machining brass to protect the innards made of cheese.

The Q2 is/was/whatever in a league of its own and the closest thing I have yet found to my old G2. The lens is pretty much too good, it resolves everything, and everything is there, always, and you want for nothing. The rest of the camera is a joy to use, I've had it for five years and they have nailed the usability. It is constrained, of course, but as an everyday camera that is a joy to use, it's amazing. Couple that with brand cachet and awareness, and no wonder they're finally doing brilliantly. The new digital strategy also shed some of the duller old-school gatekeepers like the late Erwin Puts with his whining about the "soul of Leica products being eradicated" (see https://photo.imx.nl/blog/files/75caecf5a21140ab6c9b46f825ef...).

And many of the comments about the Q-series talk about rediscovered the joy of photography and shooting. I lent my Q2 to a friend for an extended play and they were in love with in and what it let them do.

Joy-to-use. Wins the oh-I-like-your-camera-competition. Superlative image quality and colour. Luxury brand that reminds you how awesome you are when you look it, which, let's face it, is the only reason you look at a Rolex or Omega on your wrist too.