Jump to content

CL review


Recommended Posts

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Thorsten von Overgaard has published a mixed text and video CL commentary.  He doesn't like it much, even after giving it his signature lens shade and a Rock and Roll strap to make it feel more personal.  Some of his complaints are sensible ("Leica, why yet another user interface?"), others seem silly.  It's a hoot.

  • Thanks 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

I wouldn’t call that a „review“. It’s a camera strap exchange video (personalization ) and ad for a different lens hood. It’s message remains a mystery to me. The camera is out for more than a year and all we see a guy in coat reiterating trivial stuff everybody can get from the Leica home page. much talk about nothing.

Link to post
Share on other sites

vor 57 Minuten schrieb frithjof.b:

I wouldn’t call that a „review“. It’s a camera strap exchange video (personalization ) and ad for a different lens hood. It’s message remains a mystery to me. The camera is out for more than a year and all we see a guy in coat reiterating trivial stuff everybody can get from the Leica home page. much talk about nothing.

Oh, you have to look at the video a second time. Then the mistery will be gone.

Just for you: He clearly states that after a Q and an TL II a CL makes little sense. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Question: « where is the shutter dial on the Leica CL? ».
http://www.overgaard.dk/Leica-CL-mirrorless-digital-camera-review-Page-2.html
Answer: At the same place as that of your Leica Ms i.e. at the left of the shutter button, unless you prefer the right dial that is. Shutter speeds are not engraved on the dial but are dsplayed on both the top LCD and EVF.

Edited by lct
Link to post
Share on other sites

I just watched “Bohemian Rhapsody” and there is a scene where the A&R man tries to reject the song “Bohemian Rhapsody” for being too long, not what the market wants, lyrics that are nonesense, etc. As anyone knows the song became a huge success because the band rejected the “common sense” of the A&R man and pushed it through. So-called experts don’t always get it right and you should form your own opinion not just blindly follow what has been said.

  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

What's the point of gurus if we cannot follow them blindly? :D. More seriously, i fail to understand what Thorsten found difficult in the CL's exposure process. Can hardly be more simple to me. I don't have to turn an iso dial with my left hand whilst using the same hand to focus or change aperture at least. 

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

I read his written review when I was considering my CL purchase about a year ago...

I thought then that the man was an arrogant, presumptive ass and after rereading it I still do today ...

"The shutter speed is the main control of light, because it's the one light control that doesn't change the look of the image." 

Gee, golly gosh, I'd had it all so wrong all these years....

as for his arrogance in presuming that all roads lead to an M, well I'm sorry they don't,
some of us have been down that road

some don't wish to go down that road

A year ago I wanted a small system with quality lenses.

You know what I can find the shutter and aperture controls in the freezing pre-dawn cold and make that wee bugger sing

It's not that difficult as long as you remember that E= I x T

 

As for the rest of it all

    time better spent with a decent glass of scotch 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

Yes, this CL review certainly does come off as an oddity.

Funny - Thorsten Von Overgaard's video review of the Leica TL2 was most likely the catalyst for my Leica CL purchase. He gave the TL2 a glowing review and knowing that its guts are essentially the same as the CL, I decided to go with the model that had the EVF. 

Seems like perhaps he's changed his tune on pairing the crop-sensor Leica's with M lenses. In this TL2 review he touted the benefits of being able to pair it with the entire line-up of Leica lenses. In this CL interview, he's pretty much stated that M lenses won't make a difference on this camera. I suppose everyone has the right to change their mind. 😄

BTW - I've had my CL for almost two months now and I'm absolutely thrilled with it. I have three lenses that deliver superb sharpness and I truly love the usability and IQ that comes with the CL. Great camera!!!

Link to post
Share on other sites

I spoke with Thorsten over a year ago just before the CL was introduced. It was then, and still is very clear that he prefers the M forever. And he really knows how to use it. But his stated preference for the TL2 over the CL in a video where is is wearing gloves is amusing since gestures in the T are challenging with gloves.

I first got a T, then just got the CL with the 18. I love that the CL with 18 can truly fit in my pants pocket, with a EVF. Couldn’t do that with the external EVF on the T. I agree with Thorsten that a CL is not a sexy as a M, but then an M in my pocket was a bit too big and much too heavy. The S isn’t t sexy either nor does it fit in my pocket, but pairs well with a CL.

Thanks Gary for letting me handle your CL last year. Thanks Josh and David for a nice purchase of the CL & 18 at the latest combo price.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I found Thorsten's series of digital M reviews exceptionally useful when deciding to dump my M2 for a M9 back in 2011, so I have plenty of time for him, despite his elephant skin and scientology foibles. He certainly knows and loves the M system inside out, and his comments and advice were practical and comprehensive. This review comes across as a waffly rant - just another conservative old guy* who can't handle a new interface. And anyone who finds cameras sexy has a problem; I only fondle things that can fondle back.

(I should declare an interest as someone who has dumped his M240 in favour of the L-mount system - CL/TL2/SL)

 

* he's probably 20 years younger than me.

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

I figure it took me over a half a century to learn how to be twelve again ... LOL! :D I read his review of the M9 about a year or two after I acquired the M9. I found I agreed with a couple of things he said... Not many. I figure the youngster will catch up someday. 

Was re-reading a few of the posts here. Seems that for many, anything that doesn't feel exactly like a 1951 Leica M3 can never feel like a Leica. For those folks, well, Leica's made a lot of other cameras over the years. They don't all feel the same. 

What does it mean to "feel like a Leica" anyway? I think we would have to agree about that before there could be any consensus on whether a particular model felt like one. 

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

On 1/1/2019 at 7:31 PM, Alex U. said:

Oh, you have to look at the video a second time. Then the mistery will be gone.

Just for you: He clearly states that after a Q and an TL II a CL makes little sense. 

what’s the point. If I own a Q and a TL2 a CL does not make any sense. I agree. But not all potential CL buyer fall in that category who can write off any Leica purchase from the income tax. 

Having handled the Q and the CL side by side, the CL made more sense to me personally, since the TL2 does not have an EVF, and the Q is a  28mm equivalent fixed lens camera. I can’t disagree with the view more!  was that all? ... o yes, he mumbled that the Q, SL and the APSC Leicas have similar IQ... not surprising looking at the specs of the sensors and factoring in how people shoot pictures. Speculation on sensor differences between CL and the TL2..does he give us new insight or facts? non.... its good that he talked about something he heared about.....how does it help the viewer?

His problems with the different interface... fine... I do not need a „reviewer“ to tell me his personal problems. That appears to be the main theme of this youtube video anyway, starting with the strap exchange episode. He misses the key point: Leica particularly made the interfaces different to appeal to different crowds. Maike Herberts pointed that out in her interview. There are people who buy the CL because of its interface!

Its nice that he romanticizes the Leica M. I started out with a Contax IIIa rangefinder in the 1970s.Still own it with a pre war Leica IIIa, inherited from my grandfather.  Done with it and do not want to go back to a non TTL manual focus system. My eyesight is to bad now. But you personal mileage will vary, nothing wrong with that. I know people who end up with an M .... but they also have a Nikon D850 in their bag for all the cases where a manual rangefinder is the wrong tool to shoot with.

The great thing about Leica in 2019 is that thanks to Kaufmann, who was a school teacher before he bought the majority of Leica, the company offers a large variety of different models with different interfaces. From smartphone camera lenses to the S3. Only that will ensure that Leica survives and generates a new customer base.

Kaufmann understood that we are all different people who have different needs. Some people just do not get it. They think that their personal way is the only right way. 

  • Like 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...