New Leica CL Owner

[the.ronin]

Feeling real lucky to come across a Leica CL from a camera store with a 100 day warranty. 😀

I had shot a lot of street with a Olympus 35 RC a Canon (forgot which not the QL G3 though) and a medium format Texas Leica Fuji. I stopped shooting and sold all the cameras. I wanted to get back into it but wanted a little more higher end equipment so honed in on the Leica CL.

I've read as much as I can and continue to learn more. I know about the iffy metering on earlier models, the hacks and DIYs out there and history. Any practical tips always appreciated though.

Also, I am tempted to replace the top and bottom plates with evidently new and genuine replacements. Would this devalue the camera at all? I also plan on doing the diode mod but also wondering if this kind of mod would devalue? Thanks.

 

[pyeh]

Congratulations on your new CL. I don't have any real tips to offer, except to say that the CL is my absolute favorite M-mount camera - it's the smallest and lightest, has a large-spot meter and a good size viewfinder.
I've found the meter iffy on both newer and older cameras ( I have 5 of them; call it a disease) but you can always use an external meter, especially for negative film.
I have one in which the meter just died on me overnight, two where the meters are consistently wrong (need adjustment) and one where the rangefinder suddenly stopped working (strange I know). The RF arm will spring in and out, but the patch won't move. Definitely needs looking at.
I use the full VF for 35 mm FOV (it's slightly small) and I also use the 50 framelines a lot. When I want to use a 40, then there it is, all set up. For me this is much more useful than the Minolta CLE, which otherwise would also be a favourite camera.
As to swapping body parts and adjusting the diode (do you mean re-calibrating the meter for silver oxide 1.55v batteries?) I don't know if it would affect value, although I'm sure a lot of people would like the re-calibration. In swapping shells you would have to retain the old hot shoe so that the serial number remains unchanged.

 

[the.ronin]

Thank you! The CL is much cleaner than I thought - but the rangefinder was a bit dirty. I took the top off and cleaned it carefully with a cotton swab and all purpose lens cleaner. It looks great now. But the focus element in the middle seems to still have guck on it making it hard to see the overlapping image. Would you know what I need to clean to get to that? I didn't want to go probing too deep with the cotton swab since I am still getting to know this
camera.

There is one ding at the top ... so I am still considering replacing the top. Is removing the hotshoe straightforward enough? I didn't bother to look when I had the top off.

I popped in a normal 1.5v cell and the light meter moves but haven't done tests to see how it fairs against my handheld meter. From my noob Sunny-16 guess, it seems ok.

Now going through my first roll ... I went with Ilford XP2 400 B&W film. I llike it cos I can develop it with a C41 kit.

The focus area is bugging me though.

 

[pyeh]

Ronin, I am absolutely the wrong person to ask when it comes to DIY camera repair. I'd say the hotshoe would have wires to contend with but if soldering is in your ambit then you should be good to go.
Hopefully someone more useful than I will chime in soon.
Good luck.

 

[the.ronin]

Thank you pyeh. I am kicking myself for not taking pics while I had this thing taken apart. I'm 99% certain there are just metal connectors from the main body to the top cover where the hotshoe is secured so no soldering. But I am ok with soldering too - which you def need to do if you want to solder in a diode for it to meter off of modern batteries accurately.

I was too embarrassed to admit ... I stripped one of the screws that hold the strap lug in place which in turn partially secures the top cover. In my effort to remove the screw, I did not even notice that I cracked the viewfinder window!! Oh man. It happened to be a straight crack along the center so it was hard to tell. But this replacement top is brand new so I'm hoping to forget all of this since I had not even shot a single frame yet LOL ***.

 

[the.ronin]

Yea ok, no dice on removing the hotshoe. The main assembly is just secured by a little hex nut. But the 3 terminals themselves seem to be riveted in or something.

My CL modification journey has not gotten off to a good start LOL.

But I will be developing some test rolls today so I am soooo hoping they look decent because in the end thats all that matters.

 

[css9450]

This video might be of some use: Looks like there are no wires going to the hotshoe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E3IVyJxypw

Congrats on the CL! Its a neat little camera. I like mine... I just shoot it without a battery in it; that's what handheld meters are for. My other "vintage" cameras are meterless, so this one gets used the same way as them.

Hope to finish off a roll from it this week so I can post some pics.

 

[the.ronin]

Thanks css - yes, there are no wires. But the three connectors are like rivets holding the hot shoe in place. I'm not sure how to remove them.

I'm very excited to see how these first two rolls come out. I did some test shooting in exposures on a roll of Ilford XP 400 c41 B&W and Fuji 400 color. I had to dust off my little C41 developing tools ... the blix bottle which I forgot about for 2 years had yellow crystals in it *** LOL.

 

[the.ronin]

I developed my first two test rolls and they look pretty good!! It's been a while so my Sunny16 instincts and distance estimation was a bit off but I got maybe 2 or 3 good shots out of the hastily and not completely exposed rolls. Now that I know I can be content with what this CL can shoot, I'm taking shots in earnest and already went through half of a XP400 BW roll here in downtown Long Beach, California (a street photog's wet dream lol).

I am still trying to get my prism replaced or repaired and the top cover also replaced. I know I'll be spending more on this CL than the camera is worth but I really wanted a single film rangefinder for street and rely on my Nikon D90 for everything else not street.

Will post pics soon after I go through 2 more rolls! Aside from the XP400BW, I have an Ektar100 color and am very curious to see how sharp an image I can get with the Ektar100. Would very much appreciate what you guys think.

 

[Palaeoboy]

Have you tried cleaning the rangefinder patch window from the outside? Its such a tiny thing and right where fingers often push gunk into it. Its small size means its often forgotten to get cleaned out because its hard to get a tissue in there. Every CL I have handled has seen a brightness improvement if you give it a good clean out.

 

[De_Corday]

When I had a CL I had a dinged up top plate as well... IMHO, leave it be unless it interferes with the film advance or other operation. As I told myself when I dropped my M6 last week, Leicas look better with dents.

The CL is a phenomenal camera. The problem areas that developed on mine were the meter (which you know) and the advance system... Towards the end of my CL's time in my bag, the frame spacing was getting uneven, and the advance lever wasn't snapping back cleanly. Ended up getting a deal on an M6 and so I never did get it fixed up.

I found mine focused my VC 40 /1.4 perfectly. It was a great on-assignment camera because I could fit it anywhere, it was quiet and easy to handle, a nice compliment to a DSLR on a job. Enjoy yours!

 

[the.ronin]

Thanks guys. Yea I was totally ahead of myself and got too excited opening the thing up. I'm well past the test rolls and now and have gone through a few rolls of my favorite Ilford XP2 400 BW and some various color rolls. I do (and I use the term "do" very loosely LOL) mostly street so I'm using the meter or focus patch much if at all anyway. Here are few so far ...

http://www.robsphotojournal.com/?s=leica+cl

I'm keeping this CL for sure. The quality along with the compactness is perfect for me. I'll also try my best to repair things here and there. I'll end up spending way more than the value of the thing but for me, this ones a keeper.

 

[ACullen]

I'm looking for some advice regarding my new to me Leica CL whilst using a CV40mm 1.4.
Both camera and lens are new to me. I wanted a smaller M film package plus I wanted a 1.4 lens for low light work.

I'm going to a concert in a few days and want to use the 40mm 1.4 to take photos of the musicians who will most likely be around 3-5 meters away from me. Would the CL's poorer focus accuracy likely to be problematic if shooting at f1.4 at those distances ? Would i be better advised to use my M2. I had been leaning towards the CL because it's more discreet and has better placed tripod thread for use on a small monopod.

Anyone care to offer their experiences of using the CL with a 40/50mm @ 1.4? with subjects at the sort of distance I describe

thanks

 

[dugrant153]

I'm looking for some advice regarding my new to me Leica CL whilst using a CV40mm 1.4.
Both camera and lens are new to me. I wanted a smaller M film package plus I wanted a 1.4 lens for low light work.

I'm going to a concert in a few days and want to use the 40mm 1.4 to take photos of the musicians who will most likely be around 3-5 meters away from me. Would the CL's poorer focus accuracy likely to be problematic if shooting at f1.4 at those distances ? Would i be better advised to use my M2. I had been leaning towards the CL because it's more discreet and has better placed tripod thread for use on a small monopod.

Anyone care to offer their experiences of using the CL with a 40/50mm @ 1.4? with subjects at the sort of distance I describe

thanks

I use a 50mm F1.5 LTM lens on my Leica CL (although currently it has a 28mm on it) and found focusing to be pretty spot on for the most part. Just have to be super careful about it. At 40mm, I suspect you may have a smidgen more depth of field at same apertures.