Is the CL a mini M?

[mustafasoleiman]

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The CL comes at w131 x h78 x d45 mm x 403 g

The M10 comes at w139 x h80 x d38.5 mm x 660g

 

So except for the weight we are loosing 8mm in width, 2mm in height and actually losgainingng a whopping 6.5mm in depth ( not including the M to L adaptor)?

 

Not much of a CL as a mini M like the original CL was!

 

Alex

durini.com

@alessandro_durini_di_monza

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[Jeff S]

https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/279083-poll-how-to-describe-best-the-leica-cl…/

 

Jeff

Edited November 22, 2017 by Jeff S

[earleygallery]

No. The CL isn't a rangefinder camera nor does it have an M mount.

[mustafasoleiman]

No. The CL isn't a rangefinder camera nor does it have an M mount.

Of course not... what I was trying to say was the fact that the size difference between the two is very small.

I am looking for a smaller Leica to carry when I don’t need my m10, but the CL does not seem to fit this need as well as the original CL did with respect to the m4/5/6.

I have not said that it is a rangefinder and it may not have an m mount but with the m to l adaptor it can take m lenses, which for me is a requirement, so it could have fit the need if only it was much smaller than the m10.

 

I don’t really care how you define it... a camera is a camera, and a Leica is a Leica... and if it mounts m lenses then I will consider it for my needs.

 

Alex

[Jeff S]

So far, out of 38 people voting in poll I linked, none described it as a modern M. Size wouldn't appear to change the equation.

 

Jeff

[earleygallery]

There's a number of small digital bodies that can take M lenses. My Canon M is tiny and can take LTM and M lenses.

[Stealth3kpl]

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I was comparing the weight of an M240 plus 50 Summicron Mk5 to a 35 Summilux-TL mounted to a CL. There's not much in it. 

Pete

[pgh]

$4K USD! 

I can't for the life of me fathom why one would spend the money on this instead of a Sony or Fuji except for the 'snob' appeal. Heck, get 2 fujis and a few lenses. 

 

I still get it with the M...to a degree, because it offers something nothing else does. M lenses and digital mirrorless rangefinder focusing...which this doesn't seem like to me. The Fuji X100 / X pro series seems more in spirit with the M than this. 

 

If Leica doesn't start competing on something other than brand cachet and a rangefinder focusing mechanism....well...I guess at this point they don't mind being a luxury brand. I miss the days when they were a camera brand, known for no nonsense, functional but quality tools. 

[Eric1]

if you want a mini-M i would suggest getting a film M. they're slimmer and smaller than a digital M.

[luigi bertolotti]

When, years ago, I regularly used my Leica CL as an alternative to the M (M2, then M4) that considered as my  "standard" camera, the practical differences that I experienced were :

 

- TTL metering

- A significant advantage in size/weight

- A certain (minor) limitation on focals (in practice, 135 only... 35 was "manageable", and anyway 40 was so next to...)

 

For the rest... it was my usual Leica experience, no doubt

 

Now, considering M 240 as my standard camera, I think that I'd feel SEVERAL differences... with, as noticed, a less significant advantage in size : so my feel, at the moment, is that I don't regard it as the "mini M - "digital CL"... but

 

- Two days from introduction... very early feel

- Of course, never handled and operated

. I find it, anyway, an interesting camera... Always considered the TL a good item...wasn't it that I can't imagine to work with LCD only: the new CL has added something that I regarded as a real minus of the TL line.

Edited November 22, 2017 by luigi bertolotti

[mustafasoleiman]

When, years ago, I regularly used my Leica CL as an alternative to the M (M2, then M4) that considered as my  "standard" camera, the practical differences that I experienced were :

 

- TTL metering

- A significant advantage in size/weight

- A certain (minor) limitation on focals (in practice, 135 only... 35 was "manageable", and anyway 40 was so next to...)

 

For the rest... it was my usual Leica experience, no doubt

 

Now, considering M 240 as my standard camera, I think that I'd feel SEVERAL differences... with, as noticed, a less significant advantage in size : so my feel, at the moment, is that I don't regard it as the "mini M - "digital CL"... but

 

- Two days from introduction... very early feel

- Of course, never handled and operated

. I find it, anyway, an interesting camera... Always considered the TL a good item...wasn't it that I can't imagine to work with LCD only: the new CL has added something that I regarded as a real minus of the TL line.

Pretty much my point... I was not claiming that the new CL is an M camera... I was just coming from the point of view of the old CL... which with some disadvantages had significant size/weight advantage over the M bodies.

 

This CL has again some disadvantages like the lack of a rangefinder which is not offset by the advantage of a significant if at all size/weight reduction.

 

This is not to say that it is not a very good camera in its own right and I think the built in viewfinder makes it a sensible camera.

 

The fact that it can use Leica M lenses and it is a Leica (which has advantages from the interface point of view when you use an M10) made me hope that it could be a worthy descendant of the original CL.

 

I know there are other cameras that can use M lenses and I am now using a Sony F6, but they are quite different from the Leica interface, image qualities and built quality... and I know they cost a fraction, that is not the point.

 

A

[earleygallery]

$4K USD!

I can't for the life of me fathom why one would spend the money on this instead of a Sony or Fuji except for the 'snob' appeal. Heck, get 2 fujis and a few lenses.

 

I still get it with the M...to a degree, because it offers something nothing else does. M lenses and digital mirrorless rangefinder focusing...which this doesn't seem like to me. The Fuji X100 / X pro series seems more in spirit with the M than this.

 

If Leica doesn't start competing on something other than brand cachet and a rangefinder focusing mechanism....well...I guess at this point they don't mind being a luxury brand. I miss the days when they were a camera brand, known for no nonsense, functional but quality tools.

Leica don't do cheap or even moderate as we know. One certainty is that any new Leica will be very expensive compared to other brands.

 

They are marketing as a luxury brand - true - and I expect a lot of people today do buy Leica for the name. The Leica stores clearly show the kind of market they've after.

 

But they're a tiny player in the photo market in terms of share, so they can successfully target that luxury brand market, trading on the back of the 'old' Leica company who made their name as the camera of choice of so many famous press and street photographers.

 

I can't afford the newest offerings but that doesn't stop me enjoying my Barnack, M and R cameras and lenses.

[Guest]

Mini-M?

Konica III M

[6bit]

I wouldn’t mind a M11 with EVF. If the CL was a M but with EVF and M mount (full frame sensor) I would buy today.

[Irakly Shanidze]

CL is more like a mini SL. I found it super convenient in prepping for video shoots, namely for scouting locations, vantage points, perspective. The beauty of it is that for video it uses the same frame size as the SL for 4K: Super-35. So, instead of de-rigging the SL, which is heavy even on its own, I can put the same lens that i want to use in a project on a tiny CL body, shoot everything handheld, or from a small tripod, and then use the footage as a reference.

[Jeff S]

Without weather sealing and a joystick, I find it lacking as a mini-SL.

 

Jeff

[bocaburger]

I look at the CL as less of a mini-sized M than a maxi-priced Nex.

Edited November 29, 2017 by bocaburger

[Foxtwo]

Don't know, but for an APS-C it's a cool little camera. I'd like to spend a day with one to see how well it handles. Feels very substantial in the hand, familiar to M owners and appears that it might be a lot of fun.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Jeff S]

Don't know, but for an APS-C it's a cool little camera. I'd like to spend a day with one to see how well it handles. Feels very substantial in the hand, familiar to M owners and appears that it might be a lot of fun.

If you're in the US, you can rent one... https://www.lensrentals.com/rent/cameras/photo/leica?page=2&sort_by=popularity

 

Jeff

[jlindstrom]

CL is the mini R/mini SL.