Leica CL and aurora borealis

[sere]

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Hello, 

I recently had the chance to get a Leica CL + 18mm f2.8 in good conditions at a very good price. I already have a Sony A7C, but I wanted to try this little Leica and (maybe) make the switch between them. I am loving the CL, it has a good IQ, it is more pocketable and I am getting good results in testing it (though I think I would exchange the 18mm with the 23mm in the future, and get a zoom). My only worry is that the CL is not wheather sealed and I don't really know how it could manage some trips I have planned for next year, especially a trip to Lapland to see the aurora borealis.

Has anyone tried the camera in cold temperatures or does anyone have this kind of travelling experience with the CL?  I am loving the it, but if it's not a camera I can use (also) in this kind of trips I am afraid I'll have to keep the A7C and sell the CL. Unfortunately I can't keep both.

Thanks everybody!

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[jaapv]

I have been taking it skiing in all conditions and temperatures for years. It has been soaked in the rain and baked in tropical desert conditions and never missed a beat. In general “weathersealing” is nothing more than a marketing term and few if any makers back it up with an IP rating. And if they do it is something like IP53 or IP54 which comers down to spray (AKA rain) coming down maximally 15 degrees from the vertical for 10 to 30 minutes. Any decently built camera can handle that and Leicas are built better than most. The number of cameras damaged by weather reported in this forum is zero or maybe one over the decades. As a contrast, an iPhone is IP 68 which means submerged to 1m for ½ an hour. 
The only thing to watch is to keep your batteries warm. For any camera. 

[tommonego@gmail.com]

I have had my CL out at 0 F (-17C) and it behaved flawlessly. I have al;so used it in Costa Rica rain forests. In the best conditions the Cl uses batteries fairly quickly, always have a spare if you are out for any time. I generally travel with 4 and a USB charger. The other thing with the CL is it is an 8 year old design and may not behave with fast memory cards, I use 95 or 100mbs cards and have had 0 problems. 

As for lenses, for wide angle I use the 11-23 mostly, an excellent lens but slow, so I keep a 23 when I want a little more speed or when I want to keep the camera under a jacket, the 23 is a dexent lens but not as good as the 11-23. For longer lenses I use adapted M lenses and a couple of Nikon Micro lenses. 

The CL is a fun camera enjoy it. 

[sere]

9 hours ago, jaapv said:

I have been taking it skiing in all conditions and temperatures for years. It has been soaked in the rain and baked in tropical desert conditions and never missed a beat. In general “weathersealing” is nothing more than a marketing term and few if any makers back it up with an IP rating. And if they do it is something like IP53 or IP54 which comers down to spray (AKA rain) coming down maximally 15 degrees from the vertical for 10 to 30 minutes. Any decently built camera can handle that and Leicas are built better than most. The number of cameras damaged by weather reported in this forum is zero or maybe one over the decades. As a contrast, an iPhone is IP 68 which means submerged to 1m for ½ an hour. 
The only thing to watch is to keep your batteries warm. For any camera. 

Thank you so much, jaapv! I am so happy to read that! I know Leicas are built really well and I noticed it the very first time I took the camera out of the box.

Your feedback is very encouraging and, of course, hugely appreciated, thank you!

 

[sere]

2 hours ago, tommonego@gmail.com said:

I have had my CL out at 0 F (-17C) and it behaved flawlessly. I have al;so used it in Costa Rica rain forests. In the best conditions the Cl uses batteries fairly quickly, always have a spare if you are out for any time. I generally travel with 4 and a USB charger. The other thing with the CL is it is an 8 year old design and may not behave with fast memory cards, I use 95 or 100mbs cards and have had 0 problems. 

As for lenses, for wide angle I use the 11-23 mostly, an excellent lens but slow, so I keep a 23 when I want a little more speed or when I want to keep the camera under a jacket, the 23 is a dexent lens but not as good as the 11-23. For longer lenses I use adapted M lenses and a couple of Nikon Micro lenses. 

The CL is a fun camera enjoy it. 

Thank you so much for yout insight too! I already ordered an extra battery (the Sigma one) and I plan to buy other two of them if I decide to keep the CL (and I think I will, in the end). I am currently using it with a SanDisk 128 GB Extreme PRO UHS-I, it is a formatted SD card from a previous camera and I am not experiencing any issue. Do you think it is too much?

Speaking about lenses, I like very much the 11-23, didn't try it, but read a lot about it. I'm not sure this is my ideal range of focals, as use to shoot more between 18 and 60mm: in this case the 18-56 would be more suitable, even though it seems to be a step down in quality (?) and in speed than the 11-23. The 23mm f2, yes, it would be perfect for all those situations where I need more speed, and it is not so much bulkier than the 18mm.

I can really say I rediscovered the joy of shooting with this camera! Such a wonderful feeling!

Edited October 21, 2024 by sere

[jaapv]

Do reformat the SD card. Using it from another camera without reformatting is a bit of a ticking time bomb. 

[tommonego@gmail.com]

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If the card works, that is what counts. Some folks were having issues with big 256/512gb 300mbs cards. A day of photography for me I may use 1-1.5 32 gb card, I have a couple of 64gb  cards they will last a day or maybe 2. As Jaapv said do format the cards in the camera, I have the format command in my favorites so it is easy to get to. 

I originally was going to use my M lenses with the CL, my main focal length is 35mm and I had a 25mm Canon LTM lens, but it was an f3.5, too slow for a main lens. I found a 23mm used and wanted to go wider so the 11-23 also used. I still use a 35 f1.4 pre asph, and a 90 f2.8 Elmarit.    

[sere]

On 10/21/2024 at 10:53 PM, jaapv said:

Do reformat the SD card. Using it from another camera without reformatting is a bit of a ticking time bomb. 

Yes, I think I did not write properly: I formatted the SD card that I took from the other camera before using it in the CL. I use the SD formatter software, but I read that you and @tommonego@gmail.com suggest to use the in camera formatting, so I will go for that too. Thank you so much!

I am waiting for the 23mm to be delivered, I am really curious to try it with the CL.

 

P.s. sorry for my not-so-good English, I write from Italy 😅

Edited October 27, 2024 by sere

[KitW]

I have used the CL to photograph the aurora. It did a good job, but for long exposures it immediately does a calibration exposure of the same length. i.e. if you do a 30 second exposure it immediately follows with a noise reduction procedure that lasts for 30 seconds also. I'm not sure how widespread this is with other cameras, but it is annoying and meant that I couldn't do a few things that I'd hoped e.g. I was going to make a video, fading from one shot to the next, but as there are big gaps between them, this wouldn't work.

I used a TTArtisan 8mm fisheye lens for most of my aurora shots. Not too expensive, and decent quality if you stop it down a bit.

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Edited October 27, 2024 by KitW

[TL3]

I tried shooting the aurora in the city with the CL on a tripod, unfortunately got this bullseye artifact in the centre of my images, wondering if anyone more knowledgeable has any tips on avoiding this in the future?

 

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[KitW]

Newton's rings

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