"New" Minolta CLE

mac_wt

mac_wt

Cameras are like bunnies
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I bought a Minolta CLE for a good price because the auto-exposure feature is broken. This seems a rather common problem. Now I have a few questions.

1) Does anybody have (an electronic copy of) a manual they would want to share.

2) In the viewfinder on the left are the shutterspeeds. Should there be a needle indicating the chosen speed?

3) As Minolta doesn't support the CLE anymore, and as I didn't spend to much money on this one, I might try a repair myself. Apart from the AE, everything seems to function just fine. Rangefinder is OK, viewfinder is clear, film advance is very smooth and shutterspeeds look and sound OK. This camera was heavely used an looks like it. Any instructions for getting inside the camera? Did anyone try this/succeed at this?

4) On the web I found the CLE shares some (a lot) of its components with the XG line of slr's. Which type would be a good donor for parts for the CLE?

Regards, Wim.
 
No There is no needle to indicate shutter speeds, rather an LED lights up beside the appropriate shutter speed. Unfortunately for you they only light up in aperture prirority auto. There is no metering in manual with the CLE. The fault you have described is not common at all. The fact that the camera still fires indicates that the electrontic circuitry is still working. Usually when the electronics fail they fail completely or LED's become eratic. There is only one person I know that has a CLE workshop manual. A CLE officianardo on photonet called Joel Matherson, you may want to speak to him, he has helped me on numerous occaisions with CLE problems.
 
I've had erratic diode behavior along with erratic shutter speeds twice with my CLE in 23 years. In both instances different nearby camera repair shops found that the problem was just dirty electrical contacts under the shutter speed dial. The little cutie must share my allergies to dust, lint, and pollen.

The fact your shutter seems to be working ok, yet the diodes are not, surely is some other problem. But still it could possibly be fixed by your local repair shop... even if it might require replacing electronic parts. My local one-man repair shop has replacement electronic components like capacitors on hand, and I recall seeing a grab-bag of these on eBay a few months ago. So we're not at the mercy of Minolta for service!

Yes, as I hear it, it's either the XG-5 or XG-7 that supposedly shares the same or very similar circuit board.

My CLE is still my favorite 35mm RF... It's so innocent looking yet works so well... I have considered getting a second body, but they're a bit pricy. And it looks like there's finally to be an improved successor, albeit larger, in the new Zeiss-Ikon.
 
Wim,

I also find it puzzling that the shutter still works because if the electronics go then everything shuts down. The shutter speed is indicated by the LED's in the viewfinder but they only light with the shutter speed dial in the "A" position. One of the few knocks on the CLE is the lack of metering in manual mode.
 
That there's no metering in manual has never seemed a drawback to me; not the serious one anyway that is sometimes expressed. Just today I was poking around inside a building due to be demolished, and with some difficult lighting I did some "manual metering" with the CLE... Set to A, point to area to be metered, note suggested shutter speed, set to that manual shutter speed or another according to judgement, compose as desired and shoot. For variations of the shot or similar scenes, no need to meter again for each one. But I usually leave it in A, sometimes fiddling the compensation setting.
 
Thanks for the replies. So it seems to be a not so usual problem. It still fires in A-mode, but I can see a red light in the left top corner of the viewfinder (probably indicating underexposure?) and it choses a very slow speed. I guess it's the metering itself that is wrong.

Wim
 
Ahhhhh, if you see one of the red arrows up top, you simply have the eratic LED problem. Often it can be fixed by working the shutter dial round and round to clean the contacts underneath. It happens alot if the camera sits idle for a long period of time. If that doesnt work its easily fixed by a camera repairman, no parts are required, just a bit of a clean.

PS Minolta does still service these cameras, just not in the USA, you have to send them to Japan.
 
I have been interested in this camera due to its 28mm framelines. Can anyone give me a ballpark figure of what I should expect to pay for a CLE body in user condition? I sometimes keep tabs on Ebay auctions, but the prices vary considerably, especially as many bodies include a lens, or sometimes all three M-Rokkors.

TIA!
 
The red LED opposite the arrow on top over the "1000" indicates overexposure, the one on the bottom under the "2" indicates underexposure. The meter reads off of the grey pattern on the first curtain and at the moment of exposer reads the light reflected off of the film itself and adjusts accordingly. If you dry fire it unloaded the meter is reading off of the black (I think, mine's loaded at the moment so I can't open it to look) pressure plate and will give a slow shutter speed. Since you are getting some sort of light try pointing at a medium light sourcw and running through all the apertures a couple of times to see if you can get that LED moving.
 
Succes!

Succes!

I tried turning the aperture dial a few times, but with no change. Then I put in some film and tried a few shots, but still no change. I had not much hope for an easy solution, as the previous owner had clearly indicated that this didn't work.
This morning I received my Leica CL back from Solms where it got an extensive CLA (including removing two small dents).
While changing the lens from the CLE to the CL, I tried turning the dial on the CLE again. With succes!!! 😀 I now own a fully functional Minolta CLE AND an as new Leica CL. 😎 Now I want to waste some film!
 
Congrats Wim !! A Minolta CL and a CLE, that should be the dream of a Minolta rangefinder lover, plus with, let's say' a black Hi-matic 7sII to bring in the secret pocket 🙂
 
jan normandale said:
Hi I just hit this thread and I'm wondering about shutter noise comparitively to other cameras. Is this quieter same or louder than say a Leica M?
Click to expand...
Jan, my sense is that the CLE sound level is comparable to the Voigtlander Bessa, and louder than my M2.
 
The CLE is great, nice and compact. I picked up a 132px flash to use with mine after my CLE flash got corroded.
 
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