Re: [Leica] Leica Users digest V20 #39

[LRZeitlin@aol.com]

In a message dated 5/28/01 7:07:33 AM, 
owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us writes:

<< I'm looking into possibly buying a Leica user to
carry with me daily.  Is the Leica CL w/ a 40
Summicron
(not the Leica Minolta or Minolta CLE) a viable
alternative to buying a M4-P or an M6 user
with 35 Summicron?  The CL/40 combo would certainly
be cheaper...yet I've heard the CL model has meter
and finder shortcomings...

I know the CL and its lenses are not really compatible
with the M series...any former or current CL owners
that can speak of the advantages/limitations of this
camera?
 >>

The Leica CL is a great carry camera if you don't subject it to heavy 
professional use, say more than ten 36exp. rolls a day. It's half the weight 
of an M series camera yet will mount most M series lenses (with a few 
exceptions). The view through the finder is quite good, although not up to 
the standard of a pristine M6 but far better than most older user Ms with age 
degraded rangefinder elements. The shorter RF baseline limits you to normal 
f2.0 lenses and f3.5 short telephotos. You can fit and focus any wide angle 
you can mount. The match needle meter works fine and can be easily adjusted 
by any repair person. The 40mm f2.0 Summicron usually supplied with the 
camera as a normal lens is of excellent quality. Some rate it as one of 
Leicas best normal lenses. Despite the protests of Leica purists, the Minolta 
40mm F2.0 supplied with the Minolta version of the camera performs equally as 
well.

Despite the early Leica disinformation about differing rangefinder cam 
slopes, the lenses sold with the CL work just fine on any M series camera. 
Incidentally, there is no difference between the Leica and Minolta CL 
versions of the camera except the engraving of the name

I have owned a CL since its introduction and have used it pretty hard over 
the last 20 years. It is a favorite camera to take on vacations because of 
its small size and weight. Moreover, it does not scream affluence when taken 
to lesser developed countries. It looks like any old P&S, hardly worth a 
theft attempt. (Of course this may be a turn off for you.) I have found that 
the 40 mm f2 Summicron and the tiny, but superb, Canon 100mm f3.5 with a 90mm 
screw to M mount satisfy most of my picture taking needs. The 90mm frame in 
the finder almost exactly covers the image size of the 100mm lens. 

If you get a CL and want it professionally evaluated or CLAd, I recommend 
Sherry Krauter. She trained in Germany as a CL technician and taught the 
first Leica CL repair classes in the USA.

Larry Zeitlin