Hello everyone,

today I would like to share my DIY disassembly for infrared photography of my Leica Q3.
How will it perform under the IR spectrum?
Let’s find out.

First I have to remove the leatherette, that is safeguarding the screws.
Then, unscrew the four screws on the bottom plate.

I am greeted with more screws.

After taking care of those, I go back to the front.

Next up, off the flash hot shoe and the screws under it.

With al the screws taken care of, time to gently lift the display.

Quite heavy it is.
And the main circuit board is revealed:

Some more photos of the main board:

I am slowly getting there.
Below the main board the copper heatsink and below the heatsink…
You guessed it, the sensor!

It’s been a bit tough but I am almost there.
All there is left to do, is to remove the IR/UV cut filter and reassemble the camera.
Also, hope it will turn back on…

Ok, success!
but how does it perform?
First the bad news: because of the phase detection system, when shooting infrared, a bit of striping is apparent. It is present in a uniform way on the whole frame, from top to bottom. It is quite regular, I might be able to correct in post. 
I tried with an LCC profile, but even if it helps a little, does not solve the problem.
When shooting ultraviolet spectrum, the is no banding or striping I could see.
Also IR Chrome photography, the one that simulate Kodak Aerochrome, does not show stripes of any kind.

Let’s see some pictures:

What fo you think?
Did you spot the stripes? Depending on the scene, it can be more or less prominent.
Let’s take a closer look with some “extreme” levels adjustments:

From the picture you can see it is a uniform striping. Unfortunate but not visible on UV nor IR Chrome.

I still need to take some pictures with the IR Chrome. I will update this post when done.
In the meantime, what do you think?