Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/02/13
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]>ted grant wrote : >I'm not completely familiar with the CLE story, but from postings here and >what I understand to be it's early demise from Leica production, it didn't >sell very well and was cut from the team. is that correct? Hi Ted - The CL was made in Japan by the Minolta folk. I believe most are familiar with the body and the lenses. However, after the CL was discontinued, Minolta produced the CLE as a follow on body that could use both the lenses manufactured for the CL as well as most of the M series lenses. I an one of the lucky (or unlucky - - take your pick) people that sprang for the CL, and then for the CLE. IMHO, the CLE body was a significant improvement over the CL. My CLE accepted my 35, 50, 90 and 135 M series lenses (I had the earlier Canadian 35, without the interior ring). Of course, the framelines didn't match - - - and I did a *lot* of guessing at first. I finally settled on use of the 35 and the 90 Tele Elmarit on this body. I used the CLE for several years - - until gremlins appeared in the form of erratic exposures due to the now-infamous cracks in the motherboards. I still use my CLE in the manual mode (shutter speed and apature set by hand), and keep my older 35mm mounted on the body. It's one helluva combination! With TTL flash, apature priority, small size, selectable plus-or-minus two stop bracketing at half-stop intervals, and a flawless film advance mechanism, it should have been a winner. Why Minolta ceased production, I'll not wager; however, I believe that it had to be the QC problems with the circuit board. As you know, the Japanese are *very* finicky when it comes to items that are sold in Japan that are made in Japan. If something is wrong, the retail establishment that sold the product usually is expected to make good for the error. I'd buy a newly-minted CLE in a microsecond - - provided the QC problens are overcome. As an aside, when Pat and I were in Tokyo, in August of 1984, we saw a complete CLE kit in a camera store for around $3800 US ! George Berger gberger@his.com