Leica CL

Características

Código -
Producción - 1973 - 1975 (Serial number: 1300001 ? 1440000) unos 65.000 ejemplares
Variantes: Leica CL 50 Jahre (1975)
Tipo de Cámara: film-cartridge loading 24x36 telemétrica
Finder; bright-line range- and viewfinder with automatic parallax correction
Rangefinder base length; 31.5
Finder magnification; 0.6
Frame lines; 40/50;90
Finder indications; Rangefinder spot, frame lines, selected shutter speed with moveable needle and index needle, indication exposure meter area, battery check
Rangefinder; manual, mechanical, contrast and split image measuring method
Exposure meter; Integral method over 7% of frame area (moveable meter arm element [diameter 7.5 mm] in front of film plane)
Exposure handling; manual selection of speed and aperture, with match needle alignment in finder
Meter sensitivity: 1/2 sec at 1:2 with ISO 100
Film speeds (ISO); 6 to 3200
Shutter speeds; 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/50 (flash)1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000, B
Shutter control and type; mechanical, vertical cloth
Flash ; 1/60 automatic (hot-shoe)
Flash synchronization; 1/50
Film transport; manual by lever, rewind crank, mechanical
Tamaño 121 x 76 x 32 mm
Weight body (grams); 365

Referencias

Leica CL en photoethnography.com por Karen Nakamura

The Leica CL (for Compact Leica or Compact-Light-measuring) (internal designation: E530 compact) is a true Leica and fits into the genealogical tree, but forms a small branch of its own. The CL is a Leitz design, as is the shutter, but the body and the shutter mechanism were manufactured by Minolta and Copal.

Exposure metering is basically adapted from the one used in the M5 and squeezed into a smaller body. This body is an all-metal design and as a first for Leitz offers a detachable back/baseplate for easy loading. The same side-slinging type of carrying the camera as on the M5 body has been used. The rangefinder base is not as wide, but just sufficient for every day snapshot use, the main type of photography envisioned for the CL. The viewfinder shows the meter read out, the selected shutter speed and three frames for 40/50 and 90 mm lenses. It is a clean and practical design: the fame lines with index ’50’ are for a standard 50mm Leica lens; when a 90 mm lens is inserted, the 50-frame disappears and a new frame with index mark ’90’ appears. The shutter (again a first for Leitz travels) vertically, has flash sync at 1/60 and is continuously variable (except between 1/30 and 1/60).

The CL had one big advantage over contemporary compact cameras: it offered state-of-the-art image quality and was small and lightweight enough to be carried along all day, one of the main advantages of the original Leica camera. With the CL, Leitz showed the world that it was on the move again and that they saw a future in photographic products. In the 1970s professional cameras added features and bulk beyond any expectation and the CL was Leitz answer to re-miniaturize the miniature.

The CL had a price tag of about 50% of the M5 and should appeal to Leica users as as a second body or to affluent persons who wanted a Leica but did not need a system camera. Leitz allocated 35000 units per year for the first year, but after one year reduced the production allocation to 15000/year and stopped the production a year later in 1976. Minolta continued the production with the CLE, according to Leitz engineers based on proposals and drawings from Leitz.

The CL can take nearly all the Leica M lenses. Exception are some lenses that protrude deep into the body and could hurt the meter arm, these include: 15mm/8 Hologon, 21mm/4 Super Angulon, 28mm/2.8 Elmarits before serial number 2314921. The eyed lenses, including the M3 wide-angle lenses, the 135mm/2.8 Elmarit, and the 50mm/2 Dual Range Summicron, cannot be mounted either because they are incompatible with the body shape. The 90mm/2 Summicron and 135mm/4 Tele-Elmar are incompatible too. The collapsible lenses can be mounted but they must not be fully collapsed, and Leitz advised to stick to the barrel an adhesive strip of adequate width, to limit the collapsing movement. Another limitation is that the rangefinder is only coupled until 0.8m.^[4]



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