Leica CL

Leica CL

The CL is natively an M-mount camera, meaning it accepts almost all Leica M lenses. However, it was sold with a specific "C-series" lens kit: the Summicron-C 40mm f/2 and the Elmar-C 90mm f/4. Because of this, the CL's viewfinder has a unique set of framelines: a combined 40mm/50mm frame that is always visible, and a 90mm frame that appears when a corresponding lens is mounted.

One of the CL's technical quirks is its short effective rangefinder base (18.9mm). While accurate enough for 40mm and 50mm lenses, it is widely considered insufficient for consistently focusing fast telephoto lenses (like a 90mm f/2) or ultra-fast primes (like the Noctilux 50mm f/0.95) wide open. The metering system uses a CdS cell on a swinging arm that physically moves in front of the shutter curtain (identical to the M5 mechanism), requiring the user to cock the shutter to activate the meter.

History

The Leica CL was born out of necessity during the "SLR Crisis" of the 1970s, when rangefinder sales were plummeting.

The Japanese Connection (1973) Facing high labor costs in Germany, Leitz partnered with Minolta to manufacture the CL in a new factory in Osaka, Japan. It was sold under three names depending on the market:

• Leica CL: (Global market)
• Leitz Minolta CL: (Japan market)
• Minolta CL: (US/Japan later batches - rarer) Despite being a sales success (approx. 65,000 units sold), the project was cancelled after only three years (1976). Rumors persist that the CL was too successful and began cannibalizing sales of the flagship Leica M5, prompting Leitz to kill the project to save the M-line [1].

The Successor: Minolta CLE After the partnership dissolved, Minolta took the CL chassis, replaced the mechanical shutter with an electronic one, added Aperture Priority (Auto), and widened the viewfinder to 28mm. This became the Minolta CLE (1980), often called the "unofficial Leica M7" because it introduced automation decades before Leica did [2].

Legacy Today, the Leica CL is the most affordable entry point into the M-system. However, its meter requires banned 1.35V mercury batteries (PX625), forcing modern users to use WeinCell replacements or voltage adapters.