M lens question for CL owners

[Ray Vonn]

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Does anyone use their CL as basically a body for their M lenses and if so, how's the experience compared to an M camera?  Is anyone able to compare M lens use between the CL and say, a Fuji/ Sony? The way the camera looks, I'd just want to use my M mount lenses on it, not these new lenses😁

[tommonego@gmail.com]

If you have the Leica M adapter then you have focus peaking with the CL, what's in focus gets a red highlight with a Leica lens.

I use a couple of M lenses on my CL a 35 Summilux (original style) and a 90 Elmarit. I preferred the 35 on my M2s because I like 35mm on full frame, never have been enthused with the 50mm focal length. The 90 I like better on the CL than the M2 mostly because the edges of the frame on film weren't as sharp as they should have been, with the CL's cropped sensor that problem no longer matters. For a 35mm equivalent on the CL I use the 23 TL Summicron which is a nice lens, I also have a 25 f3.5 Canon RF lens that I don't use because of the 23. Just didn't like my primary lens to be an f3.5. 

To sum it up yes the M lenses work well on the CL, get the Leica adapter. I know it is heresy but M lenses work great on the A, aperture priority setting. You will have to get used to the APS-C sensor format as the lenses will behave differently than on a film camera, but using the center of the image you use the best part of the lens. 

Have fun,

Tom

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[lct]

I use only M and LTM lenses on my digital CL and i did the same more or less on my Fuji X-E2. Main differences are the sensor stack's thickness of the Fuji making it impossible to get sharp corners and edges at fast apertures on wider than 35mm M lenses and the much better EVF of the CL. Not to say that corners are always sharp with the CL but they are sharper by a significant margin. Also i don't like much the sensor of the Fuji in that i must work on colors significantly more in PP. Let alone that 6-bit coded lenses are recognized by the CL contrary to the Fuji. Otherwise both cameras are APS-C and cannot compare to FF ones IMHO. 

 

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[ramarren]

3 hours ago, Ray Vonn said:

Does anyone use their CL as basically a body for their M lenses and if so, how's the experience compared to an M camera?  Is anyone able to compare M lens use between the CL and say, a Fuji/ Sony? The way the camera looks, I'd just want to use my M mount lenses on it, not these new lenses😁

I don't own any L-mount lenses. I had two (SL24-90 and SL90-280) when I had the SL, but when I sold that kit and bought the CL body-only, I decided to stick with only my R and M mount lenses. I prefer using the R mount lenses on the CL mostly: their ergonomics are more consistent and were designed for TTL viewing/focusing cameras, but a few of my M mount lenses work just as nicely. I also prefer to focus manually either on the focusing screen or by the focusing scale most of the time. I bought the CL to use for those situations when TTL viewing and focusing is essential (macro, copy work, and the more extreme short and long lens uses); I have found it to be a delightful all around camera and returns virtually the same performance as my M-D typ 262 does and my SL did. 

In the past, I had other TTL/"mirrorless" bodies that I used these same lenses on Ricoh GXR (with M mount camera unit; APS-C) and Sony A7 (FF) being the most notable:

• The Ricoh was a brilliant camera with a sensor optimized for M-mount lenses that performed as well as the CL given the age of its 12 Mpixel sensor and the time of its design. It was a bit more complicated than the CL with respect to controls and options in use but worked very well.
• The Sony A7 sensor was not a good match to any but perhaps a couple of my M-mount lenses (50mm or longer); it was a better match to the R lenses down to about 35mm and then started to fall apart. I never got on well with the clumsy A7 body controls/menus and the awful, cheap shutter. Using the same lenses on my FF Leica M-P 240, SL, and M-D 262, these bodies outperform the Sony A7 by quite a margin. The CL does as well, with the acceptance that the CL produces a tighter FoV with the same lens. 

In your shoes, I'd buy a CL body-only and see how it goes with your existing lenses; you can always buy a TL or SL series lens later if you feel you want something else. Be sure to buy the Leica M Adapter L to get the best functionality of the camera: You want the more natural, more ergonomic use of the dial controls to manage EV compensation and focus-assist magnification, you also want Leica's lens profiles to be applied for your Leica lenses. (I've also found the Leica mount adapter to be more precisely manufactured for the mount register than most third party adapters, so the focusing scale remains accurate.) You'll have to accommodate the fact that the field of view with the APS-C format sensor is going to be reduced with all your M lenses, if you are familiar with their field of view when used on a Leica M, for example if you use a 35mm most of the time on your M, you'll need a 24mm lens to give you the same field of view. 

[Boojay]

I mostly use the CL with it's TL lenses for travel and everyday photography, but of course it's fine with M lenses, next to the SL or maybe T/TL/T2, I would think the best body for them other than an M,  taking into account the APS-C crop factor.  I do also have a Sony A73, and a Voigtlander adaptor for M mount, (with close focus which is nice to have).  I'm not into wide angle and mostly use 50/75/90, it's ok, advantage being FF and also being able to make use of IBIS.   The Sony A73 stays for longer lens choices rather than ability to use Leica M lenses, and if there were better telephoto options with the CL I probably wouldn't keep. it   If I didn't have an M10, it would be a different answer because unlike some I do notice the difference in FF and APS-C. 

 

 

[g2van]

6 hours ago, Ray Vonn said:

Does anyone use their CL as basically a body for their M lenses and if so, how's the experience compared to an M camera?  

I started with an M and only recently got the CL. I use the CL with both the TL lenses as well as M lenses. For me, the CL is definitely easier to focus with M lenses than the M10 because the EVF is very bright and it has focus peaking. With the M (without LV or EVF), rangefinder focusing is tricky with some subjects and definitely a challenge in portrait mode.

With EVF, the M10 doesn't show focus peaking unless it is in "zoom" mode - whether manual or automatic - focus peaking only seems to work when it zooms in.  I don't how to get around to get focus peaking without "zoom" on the M10.  So because of this focusing even with EVF on M10 is slower than the CL because of the extra step.

[jaapv]

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I have the CL with the 18-56 and 55-135 and am quite happy to use that set, but nowadays, when I grab the camera to walk out of the door, it wears the Summicron--C 40 IMO the most versatile prime lens for the CL. By far the most impressive lens you can use is the Summilux 24, but it is a bit on the heavy and bulky side for the body.

Edited July 6, 2019 by jaapv
typo in lens type, changed 35 to 40

[ramarren]

1 hour ago, jaapv said:

I have the CL with the 18-56 and 55-135 and am quite happy to use that set, but nowadays, when I grab the camera to walk out of the door, it wears the Summicron--C 35, IMO the most versatile prime lens for the CL. By far the most impressive lens you can use is the Summilux 24, but it is a bit on the heavy and bulky side for the body.

Summicron-C 35mm? Don't you mean the Summicron-C 40mm? I've never heard of a 'C 35mm...

When I'm not in "ultra wide square vision" mode, and want a light, small kit to walk around with, my 'do anything' choice is the Pentax-L 43mm f/1.9 Special. I've used my Summilux 35 v2 on the CL as well, and it is a lovely performer just like on FF, but it's hard for me to pull that lens off the M-D body...  

I also occasionally fit the Voigtländer Color-Skopar 28mm f/3.5, my personal favorite of the modern Color-Skopar lenses. It is as if it were made for the CL, with its tiny size and ~42mm e equivalent FoV—so much like the original film CL with Summicron-C 40mm f/2. Not super fast but truly a lovely performing small and light lens on APS-C from wide open on down. 

[lct]

1 hour ago, jaapv said:

nowadays, when I grab the camera to walk out of the door, it wears the Summicron--C 35, IMO the most versatile prime lens for the CL

Summicron-C 35... You mean that lens? Bit bulky if you ask me... 

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[Ray Vonn]

Much appreciated everyone, thank you.

[jaapv]

3 hours ago, lct said:

Summicron-C 35... You mean that lens? Bit bulky if you ask me... 

 

    No, my typo... Summicron-C 40.... I'll correct my post

[Merv-O]

On 7/5/2019 at 7:18 AM, Ray Vonn said:

Does anyone use their CL as basically a body for their M lenses and if so, how's the experience compared to an M camera?  Is anyone able to compare M lens use between the CL and say, a Fuji/ Sony? The way the camera looks, I'd just want to use my M mount lenses on it, not these new lenses😁

I use my CL exclusively with M-Mount lenses. I love the APS-c renderings and the ease of the adapter with the 6-bit lenses....The key to the CL is its  extremely effective focus peaking technology. I use it similarly to the M-Series rangefinder. I find that it is more accurate with the 50mm vs. the 35mm (slightly shorter focus ring) though the focus peaking is very accurate and the sensor is sharp. 

I have no empirical proof of this, but I believe Leica designed the digital CL to operate seamlessly with M-mount lenses. As such, the adapter (pricey at $395) creates a solid connection for the M-mount lenses and the results are tangible. I use my TL with the 3 T/L lenses I have (18-56, 11-23 & 55-135) asa it does not have focus peaking and though I enjoy its use, I find it more a glorified point and shoot than a true mirrorless manual camera. 

One final note: I recently purchased an inexpensive 7Artisans 55mm prime lens to knock around the city and it works well with the CL though it is a bit softer than the Summicron (it should be given its sub-$200 price point), I don't mind banging it around the city. In any event the 86mm portrait effective length on the APS-c sensor is a nice cheap telephoto. Viva la CL.