Re: Reliability / repairability of CLE

[Chuck Warman <cwarman@wf.net>]

At 09:51 AM 8/26/97 -0400, Vince Lamberti wrote:

>I would appreciate feedback on the reliability and in particular
>repairability of the Minola CLE.  I was scrounging through UseNet archives
>and uncovered the following message (posted earlier this year) :
<snip>
>>Personally, I'd agree with this if it were not for the long-term
>>repairability considerations. It appears from reports on the Leica Users
>>Group that some CLE users have found their cameras can't be repaired any
>>longer. This has not happened with the CL.

I owned a CLE, which I purchased new in 1983, until I sold it two months
ago.  During all this time, it was my primary 35mm user camera.  Overall,
it was the most satisfactory camera I've ever owned.  As far as reliability
goes, it never gave me a moment's pause; in fact, I don't recall it ever
being  in the shop during the entire 14 years.

Repairability (plus lust for a Contax G2) is why I finally sold it.
Minolta no repairs them or carries an inventory of parts.  Though I've been
told that several repairmen have stockpiled parts (Don Goldberg comes to
mind), I decided that the value probably would never be much higher than
now, and I didn't want to get stuck 5 years on with an unusable,
unrepairable, unsalable camera.

So I sold the entire outfit (camera, dedicated flash, 4 lenses) to some
slick out-of-town jasper from Noo Yawk, who probably knew all sorts of
inside stuff that I don't, and made himself a killing.  But I got my G2 and
am happy as a clam.

Chuck
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
Chuck Warman     
cwarman@wf.net    (Wichita Falls, TX)