Minolta CLE - the Leica alternative
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- Опубліковано 3 сер 2024
- This pocket rocket of a camera is great and cheaper way to get into the M-mount rangefinder system.
The design based of the leica Cl, was bettered by minolta. the 3 lenses for the system are exact leica copies, only rebranded as minolta. so your getting great quality leica lenses without the price tag - Фільми й анімація
Great review of my go-to travel camera. I've owned and enjoyed a couple of these for the last 2 decades. A tip on maintaining these - make sure to periodically turn the shutter and ISO dials to prevent buildup on the internal contacts, also remove the batteries for prolonged non-use. These are prone to 'blinking leds', typically from dirty internal contacts. As most keep the setting on A-uto.
A clarification on the 'this is a Leica Summicron' comment.
There are essentially 3 versions of this lens. The sample in the video is the latter Minolta version that included multi-coating. Confirmed by the location of the serial number, which is not on the front of the lens; it was moved to the body of the lens.
The optical design is the same for all versions. But where it was made and lens coating differs depending on which version.
The versions are...
Leitz 40mm f2 Summicron-C, made by Leitz Wetzlar Germany - single coated. Made with/for the Leica CL labeled body.
Minolta 40mm f2 M-Rokkor (some with 'QF' & serial # on the front of the lens), made by Minolta Japan - single coated. Made with/for the Minolta Leitz CL labeled body.
Minolta 40mm f2 M-Rokkor (NO serial # on the front of the lens), made by Minolta Japan - multi coated. Made with/for the Minolta CLE body.
Regardless, all excellent lenses.
I just got the 40mm Summicron for my Leica M. Mint condition, cleaned and regreased by Leica Germany in May of this year, for 425€. This puppy is sharpppppp. Absolutely love it.
I know I don’t need another camera but 2 minutes into this video sir you made me wanna buy one. You have the potential to be a salesman.
Good job on this boss thanks for exposing me to this system. One of my favorite episodes from you
Great episode! you definitely have convinced me of getting one now!
Great vid BUT one thing about the light meter.The shutter speed in auto mode doesn't choose the slower speed, it is actually a continuous interval so the shutter speed could be 1/78 s or 1/112 s etc
That Street Fighter artwork in the back is sick haha
Every Leica with metering is through the lens, by the way. M5 has a meter arm. The m6, m7, and mp all have meters on the shutter curtain. Look at your m7, the silver circle is your meter.
The bessa, the meters are also off the shutters.
Hogarth Ferguson ahh my bad. Don’t know why but for some reason I though the Leica metered different.
Nah, right on through the lens. It's possible that you thought otherwise because of the confusing "m6" and "m6 ttl". The ttl just refers to flash metering.
Most medium format rangefinders have leaf shutters, those meter above the lens. No biggie.
Also, I love your enthusiasm in your videos.
I was going to say his statement is 100% incorrect. Even the old M5 and Leica CL uses a meter on a rod behind the lens. But modern Leica’s meter off the shutter (dot or strip), again through the lens.
Actually the real difference is that it’s *off the film*, which no Leica can claim. The CLE has a unique metering TTL, it’s not that it’s TTL but *off the film*.
the CL is so small and so compact it must be amazingly handy to carry about every day!
the new one also looks quite lovely.
I used to have one. Loved it
Nice video! I love to watch your lens/camera reviews! That little 40mm M-Rokkor is such a great lens. I have shot two rolls of film with that lens mounted on my Bessa and results are just fantastic! I'm sure this Bessa+MRokkor combo will stay in my camera bag for a looooong time!
One unique feature of this camera is the ttl flash metering system. The camera makes completely automated long exposure retro flash metering. When shooting long exposures, when the background is properly exposed with ttl, the flash is fired and regulated with ttl to freeze the subject.
The music gave me big Charlie Brown vibes
Good review. I solve that Achilles heel by just opening the aperture a stop when speed is critical. Otherwise I use auto and keep an eye on the speeds. I have the three lenses of the set and I gotta say they are sharp. For some reason the 28 is prone to paint degradation on the element edges but it seems innocuous. Love mine. Keep spare batteries at hand.
Great video. I'm planning to buy one but I wanna use other M mount lenses like Voigtlander 40mm f1.4
It works with other M mount lenses.
nice rundown on the camera. it has a fantastic VF for 28mm. it's ridiculous that the light meter only works in aperture priority!
Great camera and lens, my main ones for the last couple of years. The 28 and 90 M-Rokkors are incredible gems as well and with a bit of patience you can get stupid low deals on them. I'm just sharing this info cause I got mine already, I wouldn't like this info out there if I hadn't. For 28 and 40, the camera is perfect; to shoot 90mm, occasionally it's fine, if it's an important focal length it's a bit harder because of the small framelines. But yeah, fantastic camera and lenses.
Bernardo Faria yeah I love it. I’m planning on picking up the 28mm also
I have the CLE with the 40mm, 28mm and 90mm lenses. The 40mm is a gem and the 28 is great as well if you can find a good copy. Sadly, most of the 28mm are suffering from white spots on the front element.
Eric Jones I know right! I’ve been trying to find a copy but they all look terrible
Shootswithcoops yeah I love the 28mm focal length for street shooting but I would say go with a Voigtlander Ultron 28mm or a Leica if you can afford it. My Minolta 28mm is suffering from the tiny white spots and is prone to ghosting/haze in contrasting light. The 90mm is a sharp lens too that I’ve used for portraits. However, the 28mm is the weak link in the chain.
You should try to find the last model Zeiss Ikon to play with. I unfortunately sold my black one to fund an MP and slightly regret it.
I want one with the 40mm f2 😎
Surely the Leica CL was made by Minolta and the lenses were rebadged Rokkors. I had a CL bought second hand and the flip up light meter developed a fault. Returned it to Leitz and they replaced it with a new on. Those were the days!
Hey Coop! I like your videos and passion for film. I’ve been looking at that camera and lens combo for a long time. To me 40mm is the perfect focal length not 50mm. Would you consider doing a video of a portrait shoot of someone with that lens? I’m curious about what the bokeh looks like.
December Sounds thanks man. Yeah sure thing. Sounds like a plan. Defiantly a lens worth buying
Awesome! Looking forward to it!
Great review mate! I've read in some reviews that meter might be floating between 2 stops because it might need cleaning on the contacts.
One question, where did you get the black led to replace the original red led of the timer?
Cheers
Ignacio Alcalde thanks mate. It’s just a bit of black tape covering it
It's a stepless shutter in auto and will expose at the correct speed, for example if the led is floating btw 1/1000 and 1/500 it might trip @ 1/630th if called for.
Enjoy your reviews. If you had to choose one, would it be the CLE or your M7?
Mark Becker thanks mark. Deff the M7 from a functional standpoint
Hey, I know this was posted awhile back, but I was wondering if you’ve ever seen strange behavior with the meter. The copy I just acquired will sometimes not respond immediately to touch (in aperture priority mode). Also, it will sometimes give an immediate reading that is either low or high and then normalize after a second to the correct reading. Has this behavior been your experience as well? Keep up the great content!
Nice video. Which adapter do u use for ur Fuji for the Minolta lens?
Thank you for that. The Minolta CLE is such a lovely camera or rather a gem.
BUT; the lenses for the camera was actually Minolta made and designed. The famous cooperation between the companies ment there was a lot of knowledge transfer but Minolta had a lot of experience of their own and have made many excellent lenses rivalling the best from Japan and elsewhere.
There are a few lenses from Minolta that impressed Leitz (the name of the company making Leica cameras = LEitz CAmera) to the level they asked Minolta to brand their lenses Leica. The M-Rokkor 28mm f/3.5 is one as was some others made for the Leica R mount.
Jealous ;-) You should make more videos about this camera...
absolutely love this camera. never had a m6 in my hands, so i cant compare. only slight issue with this camera: the lightmeter only works with the aperture priority. not too much of a issue for me (if i want over oder under exposure i just set the settings to + 1 / -1, or change the iso...). anybody has any experience with the voigtänder nokton 40mm, 1,4 mm on the cle?
When the CLE was introduced, I wanted one, but could not afford it. At the time, it was the camera Leica should have built if they wanted a truly modern camera. Skip forward a couple of decades and I can now afford one, but... Now, the CLE as a group have developed some problems, and repairs are impossible. Moreover, the excellent lenses Minolta made for the CLE have developed a problem of internal deterioration which causes white stuff to coat the internal surfaces. (Of course, you can use Leica lenses.) Since current prices approach the original prices, it's too much economic risk for me now.
Go to Kanto camera for repairs
Coops, is the Auto model only available with the M-Rokkor? Is there an adapter for my Contex RF Zeiss Sonnar 50mm 1.5?
How do you focus with these cameras? Is it manual focus when you look through the viewfinder? How does that correspond to what the lens sees?
One of my fave cameras though I use it with the 40/2 Cron. You UA-cam guys should read the manuals-when two shutter LEDs are lit, it means a speed between the two lit speeds is selected. The shutter has infinitely variable speeds. :-)
OverDubb oh man really! Didn’t even realise. That’s a great feature
Keep up the great content, man.
Thoughts on advantages/disadvantages compared to the M7? Thanks!
for arround the same money you can get a Leica body too off of ebay on good conditons tho so you can get this lenses for that leica body while you save for leica glass
Rodrigo Pagés but then he would have a Leica...
I’m so torn between the CLE and the Bessa R3A with a 40mm lens. Any insight/advice?
Love the video! Would give anything to own a CLE. I believe, though, that the aperture priority mode works steplessly - it'll select the most appropriate shutter speed for accurate exposure (if it's between 1/60 and 1/125, as in your example, it will choose 1/89, for example). It's possible that your CLE's meter tends toward overexposure, then? I have an XG-1 that is plagued with the same annoyance, no metering in manual mode. I gave up transferring the metered speed to manual, though, once I realized it got noticeably better exposures when I just let it do it automatically- don't mind giving up a bit of control if it'll do better than I can, anyway.
Saw a comment saying all Leicas are TTL- starting with the M5 they did feature TTL metering, but the CLE was absolutely the first M mount camera with TTL automatic exposure mode, a feature that wasn't present on an M mount camera until the Leica M7 of 2002 (also not present until later was ttl flash metering or an LED-equipped viewfinder, both featured on the CLE).
From a camera developer's point of view omitting metered manual makes complete sense: "If you don't trust the built in meter or if you think 2 stops exposure compensation in each direction are not enough, go buy a (Minolta) external light meter to get more accuracy. The aperture priority automatics do a well enough job for the rest." ;-)
hahaha，CLE is way too small in your hands！It is a good camera no doubt，I love my tiny CLE too！Nice video！
Leo Pan no camera is ever too small if it can go everywhere with you 24/7! :D
The shutter release button is touch sensitive for activating the meter ----> exactly same one on Minolta X-700. Unfortunately the price for a CLE these days (2019) is roughly $1000 USD, I'd much prefer the real Leica M3 ($800-1200 USD).
I found a body and the 40mm rokkor for $750, you just have to keep looking!
It looks like a perfect rangefinder. But while it's cheap from a Leica perspective, it's not all that cheap compared to most 35mm cameras.
I have been considering this instead of a Leica for a while.
How is the rangefinder patch compared to that on a Leica M? ...similar or smaller?
Peter Kirkeskov Rasmussen it’s not as bright as the M7 but roughly same size
to save money, do you think a leitz minolta cl with one of the Minolta cle lens would be a good combo? thanks :)
The Leitz Minolta CL is a great little camera, any of the M-Rokkor lenses would be great. The CL being older, meters tend to may not work in many CLs, but if you find a good one, buy it! I own a Like New CL, and both the 40/90mm, just perfection.
so i'm fairly new to photography, totally blind to rangefinders. Can anyone explain why they're so expensive? In theory, they have fewer parts than a dslr and therefore should be cheaper, why are they all so dam expensive? I looked up this one online and found one for $900, the leicas are all $1000+ and the Epson r-d1, the other leica "affordable alternative, is still in the $1,000 range.
I’m surprised nobody answered your question in 2 months especially when it’s not a particularly hard one. Rangefinders are more expensive because the rangefinder focusing mechanisms are more complicated and expensive to manufacture. Rangefinder glass are also more expensive because they’re smaller and lighter. Some of them are fitted with leaf shutters which are also more complicated and more expensive to manufacture.
Actually Not Nick . Apologies, responding to a comment more than a year old; just came across this video.
Useful explanation regarding costs of rangefinders... although it then makes me wonder regarding the relatively low costs of some fixed lens rangefinders ( excellent cameras such as Olympus 35sp, Canonet q17, yashica electro35 etc. etc.) Apart from the fixed lens all other factors mentioned are the same as removable lens rangefinders. I do wonder if perceived desirability and the idea of a luxury product, impacts more on price for these cameras.
what focal length lenses can you use for range finder and for this one also ? Are there 80-200 , 70-300mm ?
Kristiyan Petrov only 28mm, 40mm and 90mm framelines
but how does the 40mm f2 Rokkor compare to the 35mm 2.8 ZM that you own? the zeiss is probably better
Something up with your motion blur dude it’s really jittery
I predict that in less than 2 years it will cost at least $2000.00 to buy a working Minolta CLE with a minolta 40mm f2 lens. Reason being, that more people are shooting on film and there is no new supply of cameras to meet the demand. Plus as the years go on many old film cameras fail or become broken through use.
I got mine with a mint Rokkor 40mm f/2 for $600. I’m glad your prediction was wrong for me, but you’re right; they’ve certainly jumped in price. I see some CLE bodies alone going for $1,700+
why not just shooting in aperture priority?
Is there a all mechanical version of this camera?
Yes, the original Leica CL
you look lIke a skinny version of Ethan Klein
omg he does
it's the beanie
I don't see that at all :D
That's slightly insulting... lol
My problem with these cameras is if the electronics go out is the camera repairable.
You can buy a Leica CL with a Summicron for cheaper
You can now, the CLE did used to be cheaper I think
Minolta made the lenses for Leica cameras , Minolta had the brainy idea of copying Leica lol , would say that did in their relationship between the two camera company's
If you are in love with this camera, then why only the one video?
Kiev made some lenses that got for 20$ on eBay. That's the cheapest
Yup me again.......Did you ever wonder why the Leica 40m.m lens has a rubber hood? Think about it..........
if it only meters in av, then get a $500 leica light meter to put in the hotshoe. or be a real badass photographer & use your eyes & brain to meter by heart
The fact that it's plastic is such a bummer.
Jake Shaw it doesn’t feel plastic this is a very solid camera and I’m not convinced the entire body is plastic. Read up on it. Who’s going around dropping their brass Leica and saying no biggie? Let’s face it no camera is meant to be dropped but I wouldn’t be worried about this Minolta.
@@benfreidlin5610 I did some digging a while back. As far as I could tell the top and bottom plate are 100% plastic but I'm happy to be corrected. I get that it feels solid, that's fine. Personally I feel like plastic just lacks a bit of the romance that I ascribe to well designed products. Having said that, it's not a deal breaker. :)
Jake Shaw fair point.
Plastic is an excellent material for cameras. It is very rugged and durable, will not dent, and is much better to use with bare hands in cold conditions.
Are you serious? Main body of Minolta CLE is made of metal.
By ‘cheap’ I was expecting you say something around £200, not 1000. Might as well just buy a Leica
1000 Aus dollars is about 540 pounds sterling
Cheap when compared to a Leica camera body and lens
I've been in the market for a Leica M6 for the past few weeks now. Looking on eBay you'd be hard pressed to find anything for less than $1500 (CAD), and then you're looking at another at least 1000$ for a lens. With the CLE I've been finding dozens of them with the 40mm lens included for at most $1200 (CAD). IMO it's worth it to save something like $1200 and have a very similar experience. When I have the means for a leica I'll sell the Minolta and buy myself an M6.
sound far too low. normalize your sound
What is film? LOL
OK......1) There are women to whom are also take photos........so please correct your english grammer, and don t call them........GUYS. 2)....You did not go into the CLe flash system. And finally....3 ) PLEASE.....PLEASE........ PLEASE .........GET RID OF THAT U.V. FILTER KRAP.....AND USE A HOOD. WHY? I can see flair on top of the lens. You call it refection........i call it....FLAIR. And i did not see the strap......by the way, i own 2 MinoltaCLe.
Paul Green pffft
music is annoying.....................bye