Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Best Selling in Film Cameras
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Save on Film Cameras
I have owned and used both the Leica CL and the Minolta CLE. Both are made in Japan by Minolta after a close cooperation, joint-venture project with Leitz. Neither camera provides the robust performance and rigid film plane stability of the larger Leica M cameras, but 2nd best is in this league is still better than all the rest. The main reasons for owning a CL body are: 1) you have access to use of the great Leitz lenses besides the excellent Summicron 40, 2) it is one of the most ergonomic cameras ever made, 3) after the M5 disaster and until the M6 and M7 it was the only metered Leica M body, and 4) is is so easy to carry. I carry my present CL cross-shoulder, under my right arm and under my jacket - - inconspicuous but easy to bring into action in under 2 seconds (without the case). The 40mm has great depth of field and makes wonderful images. And if you want really economic shooting with good results, try one of those Jupiter 12 lenses with an M adapter - another great black & white lens, The Jupiter + adapter will only set you back $100. The 90mm is also great - probably the best roll of film I've ever taken was shot one evening in New York with the 90mm - razor-sharp images throughout. My CL has proven to be both durable & reliable. I bought it with a broken takeup spool, but Sherry Krauter had the parts and did a cleaning while she had it. I like to find clean Leica cameras that are not working ( = low price), then send them for cleaning and repair. If you are serious about your shooting you don't want to be using a camera with 30-year-old grease in it - a professional CLA will give you a camera that's working like-new . The same with lenses - every vintage lens has some haze in it - and the best ones deserve cleaning before serious use. Good luck, and don't spare the film.Read full review
I bought the body of a Leica CL with the meter not calibrated. I found in internet how to calibrate and now I am experimenting with different kind of films, probably the best one Portra 160. I bought a lens Leica 40mm f2 and I like the colors. This is a camera for street photographers, it look small and people don't care about it. And very easy to use, but my advice is the user have to learn how to work with a Leica depth of field and the Sunny rule for apertures. Leica is Leica.
Great little rangefinder camera for the price. If you want access to many M-mount lenses or want a more compact M-like camera, it's a great buy. It's not going to totally satisfy your want for a full sized film M camera, but it's a darn fine piece of engineering for what it is and it feels great to use. Best part: Size. Nobody seems to notice this thing, it's awesome to carry around and would be AMAZING as a backup camera. The image quality is, of course, superb. Negatives: Location of rangefinder patch-- forget about using large lenses on this thing. For example, My Nokton 50 1.1 blocks about 75-90% of the rangefinder patch. If I try to focus on something close to me the double image completely disappears. Short Base length causes it to be wildly inaccurate below f/2. It hangs sideways from the strap. This design is puzzling to me and has no clear advantage that I can see, it just seems to make it more awkward to shoot, but not by much. And finally-- The Meter. If it works, it aint gonna work for long. Unless you like sending your camera in for repairs every few months, I'd suggest giving up on the internal meter, buy one with a broken meter for a nice reduction in price and use a hot-shoe mountable meter. It's much less of a compromise than you'd think, you get very used to it. I'm very happy with this camera. It looks awesome, it's tiny and seemingly invisible to people on the street and the photos it takes are just as gorgeous as any Leica M camera on the market, IMO. For the price (with non-functioning meter) it's hard to pass this camera up.Read full review
I rate the CL (Leica and Leitz-Minolta are the SAME camera, BTW) an Excellent because of its extremely compact size, ergonomics, and lenses that will give you the best resolution 35mm has to offer. The light meter is a semi-spot. The vertical carry feels right to me. The CL is my carry-around on trips and hikes. You can use a 28mm on it, as the viewfinder gives you a very rough approximation of the 28 view out to the edges, but an external finder would be a better way to go. This is not a particularly durable camera. Mine needed a CLA soon after I bought it. The slower shutter speeds and the light meter are potential trouble spots. These problems CAN, however, be repaired by Sherry Krauter (.com), a renowned expert on the camera. For me, the potential for trouble in a 35 year old camera is worth the risk. The 40mm and 90mm lenses, Leitz or Minolta, are THAT GOOD.Read full review
I purchased this Leica because it s compaCT, LOWER COST AND RECEIVED GOOD REVIEWS. The only problem with this camera is the extremely hgh cost of lenses, Leica label. The camera itself is very good, I found it after an extensive search on eBay. Some of the cameras of this type were extremely overpriced. This one is clean, has no cosmetic defects and has proven to be very satisfactory.