Minolta CLE (Leica M mount)greenspun.com : LUSENET : Leica Photography : One Thread |
Dear friends,
I am thinking of buying a mint- Minolta CLE, I always liked this camera.
How many of you own one? Is it a camera that you can trust -as they are about 25 years old-? I have heard that many of them have problems and that there are not many spare parts any more. Is it true?
Your experience will be very useful.
Thanks,
Jordan.
-- Jordan Koussis (jordan@koussis.com), December 05, 2001
It's an absolutely nifty little camera, current in the mid-80s. I bought one that had mostly sat on the shelf in a university photo department and use it often. The 40mm M-Rokkor is excellent. After replacement of the foam light seals and a professional cleaning, it has been 100 percent reliable and the aperture-priority metering is accurate. The CLE has no metering in manual mode. My repairman (in the U.S.) says he can't get any parts from Minolta but some internals are shared with the XG series SLRs. Andrew Schank is pretty knowledgeable and uses a CLE. My feeling is that CLE prices are often high enough that the Hexar RF or the Leica M4-2 and M4-P are also worthy of consideration for a working user. If you haven't already, look up the CLE pages at www.cameraquest.com
-- Josef Brugger (jbrugger@pcez.com), December 05, 2001.
I bought a nice CLE together with the 28/40/90 rokkors last year and think that this is a very nice little camera the AE works very well as does the TTL flash the lenses are OK (the 40 is the best but I found that the 90 is very usefull on my M3 as the focusthrow is small and fucus is silky smoth so the distance can be set very fast) The wievfinder in the CLE is very good for the 28 / 40 mm and OK for the 90. And ofcourse you can use most of the leitz lenses!
-- Kaj Froling (kf@draupnir.dk), December 05, 2001.
Hi Jordan,i was also looking for this camera, but the fact that it's already 25 yrs old and still costs ~2/3 of a brandnew hexar RF, it might need a service in the coming years so you can still add some money to the price, moreover the avaibility of parts made me decide to go for the hexar. No regrets so far! As written in the other answers; read the info at the cameraquest wenbsite.
Joop
-- Joop (mes@nat.vu.nl), December 05, 2001.
I have one, and it's my favourite camera. What attracted me to it in the first place was its small size and convenient aperture-priority auto-exposure. It makes a perfectly pocketable super-wideangle camera when used with the Voigtlander Color-Skopar 21mm f/4 lens. The exposure meter is reliable and it produces accurate exposure reading in most lighting conditions (except when there's strong backlight or a high-contrast lighting situation, such as a shadowed foreground with a bright sky in the background). I have sent my CLE for a CLA at the local (Hong Kong) Minolta service centre and the technician told me there's very little that the camera can go wrong and most of the parts are still available if needed. My only gripe with the camera is its lack of a flash syn port, which makes it impossible to use an electronic flash together with an external viewfinder mounted on a double accessory shoe.
-- Hoyin Lee (leehoyin@hutchcity.com), December 05, 2001.
Jordan: The short-base rangefinder, lack of metering in manual mode, lack of exposure lock (memory) in AE mode, and the parts issue make the CLE much less attractive IMO than the Hexar RF especially in light of their relative costs. The Hexar also offers motor wind/rewind and instant loading (though lacks TTL flash), and I don't recall if the CLE has a frame preselector.Hoyin: Most large camera stores or mail-order outfits sell a little adaptor that slides into the hot-shoe and provides a PC socket for an external flash. On top of this adaptor is a plain (not hot) shoe into which a viewfinder will fit. The adaptor is about 1.5cm tall, so the viewfinder will be slightly raised...probably not a big problem except up very close you might have to crop looser within the parallax lines.
-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), December 05, 2001.
Hi Hoyin,Here are links to the B&H site which show the Pentax TTL cable system. This will allow you to use a auxilary viewfinder and TTL flash at the same time. You can hold the flash in your hand, as I do, or use an accessory bracket.
F5P 3' Extension Cord
Hot Shoe Adapter F
Off Camera (Hot) Shoe Adapter F
a href="http://www02.bhphotovideo.com/default.sph/FrameWork.cl ass?FNC=ProductActivat or__Aproductlist_html___112755___PEOCSAF___REG___CatI D=654___SID=EA717139E10<"> http://www02.bhphotovideo.com/default.sph/FrameWork.class?F NC=ProductActivat or__Aproductlist_html___112755___PEOCSAF___REG___CatI D=654___SID=EA717139E10<
You may have to remove the travel limit on the "Off Camera (Hot) Shoe Adapter F" so that the flash goes all the way on. This also works well on the M6TTL with the SF-20.
-- John Collier (jbcollier@powersurfr.com), December 05, 2001.
Sorry about that. Here is the last link again.http://www02.bhphotovideo.com/default.sph/FrameWork.class?F NC=ProductActivat or__Aproductlist_html___112755___PEOCSAF___REG___CatI D=654___SID=EA717139E10
-- John Collier (jbcollier@powersurfr.com), December 05, 2001.
Its a great camera and should still be in production with a few minor updates-it would sell well in today's market in my opinion. I'll never sell mine. I find the finder to be better than the current Konica camera, and the camera is much more compact and quiet as well. I love the electric remote control release-vibration free photgraphy at its best.Yes, if it breaks down badly you end up with a 40mm Rokkor to use on your other M cameras, as repairs are very limited. Contrary to what Steven Gandy says, a top Minolta repairman told me having an older Minolta XG SLR for parts is not likely going to be of any use.I use mine with the 25mm Voigtlander, 40 Rokkor, and 90 Elmarit. I also use an off camera TTL cord for the flash so you don't get the "deer in the headlightls" looking flash shots. Minolta also made bounce flashes that will work on it as well. If you can find a deal on one, take a chance on it is my advise.
-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), December 05, 2001.
Hi John, thank you so much for your useful suggestions. I never knew such gadgets exist! I'll certainly try out the flash combo in a local camera shop. Many thanks again!
-- Hoyin Lee (leehoyin@hutchcity.com), December 05, 2001.
Hello, A Leica user for some 40 years, both screw mount & 'M' bayonet, I purchased a second user CLE some 8 years ago and now use nothing else. There is an excellent nine page article on the CLE at http://www.cameraquest.com/cle.htm which I think will anser most of your concerns.
-- David Seaman (Lincolnshire,England) (david@leicam.freeserve.co.uk), December 06, 2001.
I highly recomend this camera, i have had a couple of them. The first I had fixed because i dropped it and the repairer had no problem getting parts for it, not all the parts are XG series but a reasonable amount are. The no parts myth seems to manifest itself from repairers not ever working on them before so they simply say "no parts" to cover themselves. I ended up dropping it again but I was abseiling at the time and it fell out of my pack I didnt see it again but I bought another one 6 months ago and it only cost me the equivalent of $250 US for the body so I cant understand people above saying its close to the Hexar in price. I think the ones that go on sale in the USA have inflated prices (why not if people will pay more there I guess) but I bought this one in Germany and that was average price for its condition. The aperture priority auto is a dream. TTL flash is very acurate. I often hear complaints about the lack of metered manual but in auto there are + or - 2 stops compensation available which I have never required more than that to go to manual. I have a CL as well and its meter doesnt work and thats fairly common for them, the CLE's meter is way more reliable but people seem to pick on the CLE more than the CL (I suspect is the Minolta badge phobia) The CLE finder is great much better than the CL's. Another common critisim is that the CLE is electronic but I have never been let down and always carry a spare set of tiny batteries. Shutter speed acuracy is way more precise with the CLE's electronic shutter, 1/2 sec is acutally 1/2 a second on my CLE but on my CL it decides on the day what speed it will be! If i had to find user faults with the camera I would agree with Hoyin in that strong backlighting really throws the meter which can be annoying and the other is the on/self timer switch which i think is a bit to fiddly even though i have skinny fingers. I like the sensor touch meter activation and the quality of this camera is very high. The 40mm lens is superb. If you get one at a good price, go for it.
-- Joel Matherson (joel_2000@hotmail.com), December 08, 2001.