Leica CL & Meter

[roguewave]

Can anyone explain exactly how the CL meter works and if there's any info on calibrating it. Any help would be appreciated. I got the pdf from David Young's site, but there are only a couple of lines that I think are rather vauge. Thanks, Ben

[luigi bertolotti]

Well, how it works is rather simply to say :
1) Shutter must be cocked
2) The cocking/advance lever has to be pulled out of the rest position - meter is on
3) operating both on stop ring and/or shutter times front knob, the needle has to be positioned horizontally, i.e., at the center of the cut out on the vertical black line.
4) The measuring area is rather large (with 40mm, more than the VF area) but center weighted.

This said... the meter is NOT a masterpiece in terms of precision... I think it has been always regarded as a weak point of CL... I don't think there is a way to calibrate it "at home". With my CL, which I used most of time in easy light condition (I used it mostly as a "carry always" when skiing or mountaineering) I admit I mostly used the old "f16 rule" ... often with no battery at all...

[roguewave]

Luigi, thanks for the info. You are very accurate in your description of the certitude of the meter. I have "recalibrated" an outdoor & indoor ASA setting for shooting Tri X & the new T Max 400 films based on several readings with 2 other meters (bracketing). I got the CL for use with the VC 15 for work in the subway. I really wanted to get some kind of metering in a small camera that lets me be more discrete. Thanks for the info & the lesson plan. Much appreciated. Ben

[luigi bertolotti]

Uhm... using the CL with the Voigt 15mm in subway, you say ? Very nice and compact combo, and can forget the RF... but... the metering I fear becomes VERY VAGUE:.. the light sensor of the CL is onto a small arm that "sprouts out" when the shutter is cocked: it will be very near to the back lens of a super WA... I think the reading can be "strange" and untrustable (for instance, the same happens with the Super Angulon f 3,4 on M8). Anyway, 15mm on CL is a fine combo : Camerquest site dedicates some info & pics on the topic : Leica Minolta* CL: Voigtlander makes also a small external meter (see the same site)... could be a solution...

[ihw]

There is an excellent thread on how to calibrate the CL meter on the Photo.net discussion forum (entitled 'Trimming of Leica CL Light Meter'. The methodology described is said to have originated from this forum, but I couldn't find it!
Regards
Ian

[MPerson]

From my CL file:

Photo-Net

Leica CL at CRR