the neglected, overlooked and underrated Leica CL

[brick33308]

I decided to sell my M11P because I hardly use it, instead most of the time reaching for my M11M. But what to do about the infrequent times I want to shoot color?

After looking at all the alternatives including the Fuji X100vi, I came across the Leica CL. I recall hearing about the CL in the past but never paid attention to it since I was too high and mighty a full frame user to consider using a "lowly" crop sensor.

I read everything I could about it, and then I found a mint used copy (that the seller accurately described as a 10 condition), picked it up for an excellent price, and then bought the Leica TL 18 pancake lens to go with it. And I've got a mint TL 11-23 coming tomorrow.

Here's a picture of it with the TL 18 attached followed by my first 2 pics. The color one is sooc, and I like its colors better than sooc colors from my M11P . Second one was shot at ISO 1250, and I applied just a tiny bit of noise reduction.

I'm VERY happy with these images. I love its size, its gorgeous Leica quality, and the fact that I can with a very small adapter use all of my M lenses on it (but those lenses won't be AF like my 18 which is fine).















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[Le Chef]

It’s an amazing camera that still appeals to photographers who understand what it takes to create an image.

 

[brick33308]

another quick snap







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[Jay OC]

Congratulations, you will enjoy the camera. Ont thing that appeals to me about it is how easy it is to adjust the settings with the wheels and buttons on the top of the camera. I typically shoot in aperture priority mode. Using the controls, I can change aperture, iso setting, and exposure compensation without moving my eye from the viewfinder.



There have been a few times where I have considered selling it as I use thr M10-R most often. It then I pick it up and remember how pleasant it is to use.

 

[brick33308]

I'm just shocked by the quality of the images shot by this camera and a lens that the pundits say is the least capable of the TL lenses.

 

[Tomm111]

I really think the CL is Leica's black sheep. Well designed, decent set of lenses, exceptional set with an M to L adapter, great images, but a cropped sensor, not as sexy looking as the TLs but has a viewfinder which makes it much more functional. It is the camera I take most of the time. It came out around the same time as the original Q, so a lot of folks went for the full frame Q, then the Q2. It was an uphill battle for the CL.

The 11-23 is my most used lens, then I will use longer M mount lenses, 50 Summicron, 90 Elmarit, and a 135 tele-Elmar. Other than Leica lenses I use a 55 7 Artisans (I have a nice copy of the lens and it focuses closer than the Summicron) supposedly a copy of the original 50 Summilux. I also use a 105 and 200 Micro Nikkors, lenses I remenber from my medical photographer days.

Just a fun camera, congrats.

 

[Jay OC]

To tell you the truth, it most instances I cannot see much if any difference between the CL and M10-R images. In good lighting conditions they are, to my eyes, indistinguishable. As a side note, the raw files for the CL and M10-R are both typically in the 45MB range.

 

[brick33308]

I really think the CL is Leica's black sheep. Well designed, decent set of lenses, exceptional set with an M to L adapter, great images, but a cropped sensor, not as sexy looking as the TLs but has a viewfinder which makes it much more functional. It is the camera I take most of the time. It came out around the same time as the original Q, so a lot of folks went for the full frame Q, then the Q2. It was an uphill battle for the CL.

The 11-23 is my most used lens, then I will use longer M mount lenses, 50 Summicron, 90 Elmarit, and a 135 tele-Elmar. Other than Leica lenses I use a 55 7 Artisans (I have a nice copy of the lens and it focuses closer than the Summicron) supposedly a copy of the original 50 Summilux. I also use a 105 and 200 Micro Nikkors, lenses I remenber from my medical photographer days.

Just a fun camera, congrats.

I've read that many people consider the TL sexier/prettier than the CL, but I don't agree. I think the CL continues the sleek, gorgeous minimalist design that I love on the Q and M cams.

My 11-23 arrives today, and I expect it will likewise become my most used lens on the CL. I'm getting my (used) L-M adapter Friday and look forward to using my really great M lenses on the CL, understanding of course they're manual focus. But I've also read that manual focus on the CL using the EVF is a pleasure.

I had the original Q, then the Q2, then the Q3. The Q3 bricked, Leica sent me a replacement which I promptly sold for all I paid and used the proceeds (in February) to buy my first M, the M10. I chose it because it had a 24mp sensor, same sensor in the original Q which was my favorite of all the Q series.

Fast forward to now. My decision in part to get the CL is it's 24mp sensor which, for me, is just perfect. Yes I've got the M11M (my favorite cam of all time) with its 60mps which affords great latitude in cropping. Buy in the little I've shot with my CL I'm realizing that I just don't need to crop.

I'm just dazzled and amazed by the CL. What an absolute pleasure to hold and shoot. I expect that for a long time it will remain my only color cam, and I look forward to selling my M11-P when it comes back from Leica repair in a couple of weeks.

 

[brick33308]

a few more test snaps with the "lowly" TL 18 to tide me over until I have time to go out on a real shoot with the CL









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[Jay OC]

Leicas, orchids and bromeliads. What more do you need?

 

[Karl Huber]

I decided to sell my M11P because I hardly use it, instead most of the time reaching for my M11M. But what to do about the infrequent times I want to shoot color?

After looking at all the alternatives including the Fuji X100vi, I came across the Leica CL. I recall hearing about the CL in the past but never paid attention to it since I was too high and mighty a full frame user to consider using a "lowly" crop sensor.

I read everything I could about it, and then I found a mint used copy (that the seller accurately described as a 10 condition), picked it up for an excellent price, and then bought the Leica TL 18 pancake lens to go with it. And I've got a mint TL 11-23 coming tomorrow.

Here's a picture of it with the TL 18 attached followed by my first 2 pics. The color one is sooc, and I like its colors better than sooc colors from my M11P . Second one was shot at ISO 1250, and I applied just a tiny bit of noise reduction.

I'm VERY happy with these images. I love its size, its gorgeous Leica quality, and the fact that I can with a very small adapter use all of my M lenses on it (but those lenses won't be AF like my 18 which is fine).

I used one extensively quite some time ago and had my heart set on getting the version II I believed was coming which would include optical stabilisation. Unfortunately, there was no version II of any flavour and I was quite disappointed.

 

[JoshuaR]

I owned a CL for one winter and then sold it. I often regret doing that. To me, the most amazing thing about the camera was the colors. The color on the CL blew my Fuji X-mount cameras out of the water, and sometimes I think it's more beautiful than what I get out of my M10-R.

I shot it mostly with the tiny 18mm and also with adapted Voigtlander lenses, the smallest I could find. The 21mm f/4 pancake was the only one where the quality left something to be desired. The pictures I got (below) with the Voigtlander 35mm Color-Skopar and 50mm f/1.5 were really wonderful.

What were the downsides? Well, the EVF was a little small, and around the time I sold the CL I'd also decided that I didn't want to use EVFs any more, and I went all in for the M system. I found manual focusing with lenses 50mm and longer to be a great experience, while with wider lenses it was more difficult. (That carries over to the SL2-S, which I own now in addition to my Ms; it has the best EVF I've ever used, but manually focusing wide lenses is still quite difficult.)

The positives of the CL were very real, especially the small size. With a wrist strap and the 18mm it became a pocketable camera. I've often thought seriously about buying another CL and putting my Brightin Star 28mm lens on it, creating a very nice GR IIIx-like experience. I also wonder what it would be like to use a CL with my 90mm and 135mm M lenses for telephoto and sports, instead of using them on my SL2-S. The 135mm would end up being around 200mm on APS-C. And a CL with a 135mm would be dramatically smaller. I've considered trading my (giant, heavy) SL2-S for a CL, but the SL2-S offers things the CL doesn't—giant EVF, outrageous low-light performance, video—and so I probably wouldn't actually take that step. Right?!

<Opens MPB.com in another tab.>

I was in a Leica Store recently, playing with a D-Lux 8. It was a nice camera, but my ultimate conclusion was, "I would much rather buy a used CL!"

All of which is to say, congratulations, and I'm a little jealous.


35 Color-Skopar




50 Nokton




18mm Elmarit-TL




35 Color-Skopar

 

[brick33308]

a few thoughts:

first, I agree on the colors, your's are beautiful. I've got a M11P that I'm selling as soon as it comes back from Leica repair, and it's sooc colors aren't pleasing to me the way those of the CL seem to me.

second, I'm coming from a M background, and can't really compare that experience which I still love (including my favorite camera of life, M11 Monochrom) to the experience of shooting AF on the CL. And I actually find the EVF perfect, makes it so easy to stick the single point AF on any subject and hitting the shutter.

third, I absolutely LOVE the TL 18, and extremely pleased with it, probably because I had such low expectations of it.

I bought a used M-L adapter, and am looking forward to using some of my M lenses, particularly the 35 Cron APO.

Buying the CL was really just an experiment, trolling around for a color cam since I'm getting rid of the M11P. I considered the X100vi, but decided no, I wanted interchangeable lens camera. I was expecting that I'd play with the CL and my reaction would be meh. Instead I was knocked off my socks.

Back to colors and clarity, here are a couple of other test shots. Tomorrow I'm going to get out for a proper street walkabout and put the CL through its paces, using a TL 11-23 that I bought from my CL seller (he said if I don't love it, send it back for a refund). But already I know it's even sharper than the TL 18, and the FF equivalent of 17-35 is a range that I find useful, so I'm thinking I'll enjoy it. But after those 2 lenses, I'm expecting and hoping that I'll love shooting manual focus with my M lenses on the adapter.















--

IJF Photostream - Irwin

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Leica Monochrom images - Irwin

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[Godfrey]

The digital Leica CL is a fine camera, I did a lot of shooting with one from about 2018 to 2022 when I sold it to part-fund an M10-R. I always used M and R lenses on it, never had any of the TL series lenses. There's really nothing negative of any substance to complain about with it.

 

[agfa100]

There is something to be said about using a aps-c camera with M lenses. In the last year or two there has been alot of talk about the Ricoh GXR with the M module. I have not used mine in years had to get some new batteries and have been having fun with it again.

 

[brick33308]

There is something to be said about using a aps-c camera with M lenses. In the last year or two there has been alot of talk about the Ricoh GXR with the M module. I have not used mine in years had to get some new batteries and have been having fun with it again.

I shot these today using the CL with my Summicron 35/1.4 steel rim reissue M











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[Jay OC]

Nice set. I need to start using my M mount lenses on the CL again

 

[brick33308]

Nice set. I need to start using my M mount lenses on the CL again

thanks!

 

[jaiyenyen]

I’m also an owner of a CL and indeed it’s a great camera, well beyond what I thought it would be. The only draw back for me is it struggles to focus in low light I’ve found so I quite regularly switch to manual focus, which won’t be a problem to you being used to M lenses. Manual focus on the CL is assisted by the zoomed in view on the EVF or screen. The JPEgs I see on the screen are astonishing so the processor built in must be pretty amazing. This has got me thinking about buying a M body with built in memory. I use Sigma Contemporary lenses on my CL, fabulous results

 

[brick33308]

I’m also an owner of a CL and indeed it’s a great camera, well beyond what I thought it would be. The only draw back for me is it struggles to focus in low light I’ve found so I quite regularly switch to manual focus, which won’t be a problem to you being used to M lenses. Manual focus on the CL is assisted by the zoomed in view on the EVF or screen. The JPEgs I see on the screen are astonishing so the processor built in must be pretty amazing. This has got me thinking about buying a M body with built in memory. I use Sigma Contemporary lenses on my CL, fabulous results

the last pics I posted above were all taken with a Leica M lens. Manual focus on the CL couldn't be easier - just spin the zoom wheel, turn the focus tab, voila!