The Eternal CL and M Leicas

[Afterswift@aol.com]

Fellow Leicaphiles,

I've no doubt that the all-mechanical RF camera will be with us for as long
as we have photographers who want to have full interpretive control.
Eventually we all arrive at this point, I think. Certainly I have. Tho I have
access to AF Nikons, etc., when I really want to study and compose, expose as
I wish, it's with a CL or M3 that I work. We really don't have an alternative
to the Leica RFs at this point. 

Since freedom of choice in the marketplace is basic to capitalism, I'm sure
that Nikon, Canon and Minolta will produce Leica types along the lines of the
CL and M's.
A sophisticated consumer is developing in both professional and advanced
amateur communities.

The mechanical reading meter in the CL has a spot quality. Perhaps it relates
to that little round sensor that appears front and center of the shutter and
moves out of the way with remarkable alacrity when the shot is made.

The fact is that the CL puts all expensive point and shoot cameras to shame.
How the old Leitz designers packed a focal plane shutter into the CL is a
mystery to me.
Add to that a respectable rangefinder and viewfinder with parallax
compensation, and you have a powerful field camera. The lens duo is
remarkable in its own right.
The CL is a bold design, in contrast to the electronic Minolta CLE. Which
explains why we talk about the CL in contemporary terms.

Bob Rosen