Leica CL CL reviews

[LocalHero1953]

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I'm pleased to see that Penny (in the comments) likes the idea of owning many cameras. We should all feel vindicated.

[scott kirkpatrick]

The stylonylon blogpost was interesting because she is working mostly with Olympus (she has "ambassador" status for her frequent flyer miles), and has enjoyed the Leica X models in the past.  Most of the LUF regulars come from the M or the SL or even the S models. 

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The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[scott kirkpatrick]

 

I thought that Reid's CL review and his follow-on Fuji comparisons were very fair and quite positive.  His reviews are always understated and technical. Within the context of his reviewing style, he seems to really like the CL.

 

My only complaint about his site is that, as others have noted, his B&W images--for reasons I don't understand--appear to be low contrast, bland and flat, from medium light grey all the way to medium somewhat darker grey.  Like a Polaroid printout from 1970.  But his images aside (and maybe he has reasons for those images in terms of his analytics?) Reid Reviews is a very honest, thorough and technically superb review site and I never fail to learn something.  

 

His focus seems to be on technical excellence  and, unlike certain other review sites, there's no "you gotta buy this now!!!  (site links helpfully enclosed) It is beyond amazing!! It cures potato famine, levitates and is so incredible that it is the best camera I have ever used (this week)!!!!!" snake oil  hype. I want my review sites to be smart (unlike TCS whose Leica reviews are simply bizarre) and, above all, honest. While I read (sometimes) the hype-masters, often for their inadvertent humor, I trust Reid Reviews. 

 

I also trust Reid Reviews for some areas that he focuses on, but I have subscribed long enough and argued with him by email enough times to know where some of his limits are.

 

Any reviewer has some model in mind of who he/she wishes they were.  Sean's models are probably Garry Winogrand or Tod Papageorge.  And he is a former art student who admires engineers for their ways of achieving objective truth, but hasn't had that sort of an education.  It's an uncomfortable mix, must be hard to live with, but I think I can learn from his observations.

[miro]

 

Leica CL: A Room with a View

http://www.overgaard.dk/Leica-CL-mirrorless-digital-camera-review-Page-2.html

[scott kirkpatrick]

 

Leica CL: A Room with a View

http://www.overgaard.dk/Leica-CL-mirrorless-digital-camera-review-Page-2.html

 

Interesting, that he only considers the CL a way station on the path to the true destination, the M. He rambles on a bit.   And he seems to have gone Hollywood in the past few years.

[microview]

A good deal of waffle in this long review!

[Jake]

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I don't have a review to post, but a comment about an issue I haven't seen addressed anywhere. 

 

Lens cap. You cannot remove it with the palm of your hand. You must pinch it in the middle. This I find to be an oversight. 

 

Slippery fingers can easily make you lose a lens cap into a grate, down a cliff, wherever. $45. That's right. $45 for a piece of badly designed plastic. Then to cover the lens you cannot use one hand, unless you set the cap down and re-pinch, or train your hand to do magician style card manipulation. I can use on hand if I jam the edge of the cap into the lens, coming dangerously close to scratching the glass. I can only think the designers thought you're supposed to take the cap off, and leave it off for the duration of the shooting "experience" - be it 5 minutes or 10 hours. 

 

Does anyone else find this annoying or am I just used to my nikon and olympus lens caps that have the lock release on the edges and in the middle?

[jaapv]

So buy a few 2$ ones on eBay and put this one in the safe. Actually I don't use lens caps. Protective filters...

[Jake]

So buy a few 2$ ones on eBay and put this one in the safe. Actually I don't use lens caps. Protective filters...

Some people like to complain that filters as protective glass is just reducing image quality by adding. . . more glass. More glass to clean, to collect dust, to collect scratches. I think it was this guy : 

 

http://www.bythom.com/nikon.htm

 

At any rate, do all 52mm filter size lens cap work? And doesn't it break some kind of Leica code if I use a nikon or canon cap on a Leica camera? 

[vikasmg]

I don't have a review to post, but a comment about an issue I haven't seen addressed anywhere. 

 

Lens cap. You cannot remove it with the palm of your hand. You must pinch it in the middle. This I find to be an oversight. 

 

Slippery fingers can easily make you lose a lens cap into a grate, down a cliff, wherever. $45. That's right. $45 for a piece of badly designed plastic. Then to cover the lens you cannot use one hand, unless you set the cap down and re-pinch, or train your hand to do magician style card manipulation. I can use on hand if I jam the edge of the cap into the lens, coming dangerously close to scratching the glass. I can only think the designers thought you're supposed to take the cap off, and leave it off for the duration of the shooting "experience" - be it 5 minutes or 10 hours. 

 

Does anyone else find this annoying or am I just used to my nikon and olympus lens caps that have the lock release on the edges and in the middle?

 

I have the same problem with these lens caps.  I take Jaap's point but surely it would be better is Leica just did a better cap.  With the present design it's also difficult to stand the camera on the lens front for a short time while, for instance, you remove the SD card to back up on your computer.  With a spring loaded cap below its either that or lean the camera on the side or open and close the bottom door twice.  All easily possible but irritating.

 

The Q has a push-on cap that works well if you're careful about how you slip it on, but it's not as well designed as the old, more solid feeling metal caps that Leica lenses used to have.  A trivial but sad negligence.

 

- Vikas

[microview]

The Q has a push-on cap that works well if you're careful about how you slip it on, but it's not as well designed as the old, more solid feeling metal caps that Leica lenses used to have.  A trivial but sad negligence.

 

 

 Also, lots of complaints `i seem to remember (?) about the lining of the cap wearing away. Anyway I put on a filter – like Jaap.

[jaapv]

Some people like to complain that filters as protective glass is just reducing image quality by adding. . . more glass. More glass to clean, to collect dust, to collect scratches. I think it was this guy : 

 

http://www.bythom.com/nikon.htm

 

At any rate, do all 52mm filter size lens cap work? And doesn't it break some kind of Leica code if I use a nikon or canon cap on a Leica camera? 

Oh yes - you break the Leica code of honour - the factory staff will form a hollow square, you will be dragged in, the red dots ripped off your cameras and you will be cast out into the canikon void...

 

Specific protective filters by B&W and Heliopan are made of a special thin and strong glass which will minimize any image degradation (which was nil to for all practical use anyway), and are Nano-coated, which makes them far easier to keep clean than any lens.

 

Yes - generic lens caps will fit.

[mhoutman]

 

 

Leica CL Mirrorless Camera Review by Patrick Leong

 

http://findingrange.com/2018/02/28/leica-cl-mirrorless-camera-review/

 

[thighslapper]

I don't have a review to post, but a comment about an issue I haven't seen addressed anywhere. 

 

Lens cap. You cannot remove it with the palm of your hand. You must pinch it in the middle. This I find to be an oversight. 

 

Slippery fingers can easily make you lose a lens cap into a grate, down a cliff, wherever. $45. That's right. $45 for a piece of badly designed plastic. Then to cover the lens you cannot use one hand, unless you set the cap down and re-pinch, or train your hand to do magician style card manipulation. I can use on hand if I jam the edge of the cap into the lens, coming dangerously close to scratching the glass. I can only think the designers thought you're supposed to take the cap off, and leave it off for the duration of the shooting "experience" - be it 5 minutes or 10 hours. 

 

Does anyone else find this annoying or am I just used to my nikon and olympus lens caps that have the lock release on the edges and in the middle?

 

My main gripe is that the caps are domed so the lens ..... or the camera plus lens cannot be rested cap side down. 

 

Flat please, and side pinches as per the SL. 

[hektor]

a sony a6xxx would be an alternative to the CL but the latest model comes with a 410 page manual and some users here have stated that they don’t read manuals.

 

I bought a Sony A6XXX after becoming disillusioned with the Leica TL.  However the Zeiss/Sony lenses are noticeable not as good as the Summicron-T 1:2 / 23 ASPH or Vario-Elmar-T 1:3.5-5.6 / 18-56. ASPH I bought with the TL which is about to be part traded on a CL.

[Jake]

Some of this may have been covered, so apologies if this bores anybody. Just wondered if anybody else has had the same observations. I'm new to the site, so. . . 

 

Image quality for the CL is what everybody says. Great in low light/ lens is better than expected, censor and processor are above average quality, etc, etc. At any rate, I'm not qualified enough in the technology to make an informed, reasoned analysis over electronics. However, I'm still trying to get sharper images for guerrilla portraiture i.e. street photos -  getting used to what settings work best. But some other annoying observations aside from the lens cap :

 

The battery charger light should remain off, or red, and then turn on green when charged. It's exactly the opposite. Green means go, not stop. Why isn't there a direct plug in from the charger? Another cord adds to the junk we need to carry around. An option would have been nice. The function wheels should have more friction. They fly around while handling with great ease. The lens strap is non-adjustable? Seriously? The battery doesn't last, but it's a good thing they aren't proprietary. I also wonder about security with the wifi access. Removing the card to download pictures is just like loading and removing film, so I'm ok with no cables - and there is wireless transfer. I also wish it could take timed, bracketed, photos, and connect to a power source. 

 

Flash is a small problem, but it's not unique to the CL. I wonder why flash standards haven't been created so any flash can work with any camera? Light is light. Should be accessible by all. I understand every camera is different, blah blah blah. Been saying this for decades, but capitalism gets in the way. Like always. I'm sure I'll get shite for this. 

 

I come from olympus (among others), which placed the shutter speed on the lens mount, so I'm not unaccustomed to adapt to multiple cameras and use. It would be nice if it were a traditional set up with shutter speed on top with aperture on lens, but I can deal. Both dials should be programmable. It should have a rear focus button, or at least a programmable one. 

 

My observations after a few weeks. I really do like this camera, though. I just wish it didn't cost $4K. 

[LocalHero1953]

No need for you to get grief about non-capitalist cameras - the FED was superb.......wasn't it?

 

More seriously, what is the lens strap you refer to? Or is that a typo?

[Jake]

Camera Strap, I meant. Sorry. 

 

I wish I owned a FED. But If I remember correctly, russian cameras and optics were above average in the early-mid Soviet era. I don't presume to be an expert, though.

 

Found this to be interesting : 

 

https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/how-the-soviets-revolutionized-wristwatches/

[mikbau]

The light turning off when done charging isn't unique to Leica - my Fuji does the same (and I think my Nikon does as well)

 

As for a charger w/o the cord...I have one from Wasabi that I use for my Fuji....it works with their batteries as well as the brand names, and the plug folds in to the body of the charger. I have one on order for the CL along with a couple of batteries. 

 

Michael

Some of this may have been covered, so apologies if this bores anybody. Just wondered if anybody else has had the same observations. I'm new to the site, so. . . 

 

Image quality for the CL is what everybody says. Great in low light/ lens is better than expected, censor and processor are above average quality, etc, etc. At any rate, I'm not qualified enough in the technology to make an informed, reasoned analysis over electronics. However, I'm still trying to get sharper images for guerrilla portraiture i.e. street photos -  getting used to what settings work best. But some other annoying observations aside from the lens cap :

 

The battery charger light should remain off, or red, and then turn on green when charged. It's exactly the opposite. Green means go, not stop. Why isn't there a direct plug in from the charger? Another cord adds to the junk we need to carry around. An option would have been nice. The function wheels should have more friction. They fly around while handling with great ease. The lens strap is non-adjustable? Seriously? The battery doesn't last, but it's a good thing they aren't proprietary. I also wonder about security with the wifi access. Removing the card to download pictures is just like loading and removing film, so I'm ok with no cables - and there is wireless transfer. I also wish it could take timed, bracketed, photos, and connect to a power source. 

 

Flash is a small problem, but it's not unique to the CL. I wonder why flash standards haven't been created so any flash can work with any camera? Light is light. Should be accessible by all. I understand every camera is different, blah blah blah. Been saying this for decades, but capitalism gets in the way. Like always. I'm sure I'll get shite for this. 

 

I come from olympus (among others), which placed the shutter speed on the lens mount, so I'm not unaccustomed to adapt to multiple cameras and use. It would be nice if it were a traditional set up with shutter speed on top with aperture on lens, but I can deal. Both dials should be programmable. It should have a rear focus button, or at least a programmable one. 

 

My observations after a few weeks. I really do like this camera, though. I just wish it didn't cost $4K. 

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica L-Mount

[jbripley]

Here’s a fairly glowing review of the CL. I like the focus on the handling, usability and fun of using the camera.

 

https://www.casualphotophile.com/2018/03/25/leica-cl-mirrorless-digital-camera-review/