How repairable is a Leica CL/Minolta CLE?

[bambam]

Hi

I'm developing a bit of a hankering for a Leica CL or maybe a CLE - this all stems from an Amateur Photographer article many. many years ago.

Before I jump in and see what is around, I thought I'd check to see how repairable they are? Looking at a few on Ebay to get going and quite a few say 'meter not working'; 'rangefinder not very bright/desilvered'. Having said that, I've also seen some ads for meters as a repair.

Is there anything else to check out with them or to be aware of??

Cheers

 

[ChrisR]

Well the meter IS quite unusual, in that the metering cell is on an arm that flips down (a meter on a stick). I think that's a significant vulnerability. Likewise, rangefinder alignment drift is possible, but can be corrected. The RF patch on mine was OK, and OVF was fine.

I think I'd recommend personal inspection before buying, or a reputable seller that you can talk to like ffordes, but the fleabay guarantee might work ok if you want to take (not much of) a risk.

ETA: the only other issue with mine that I can remember was that the base came away from the body once; this was due to me not fastening it properly after loading the film. What made it worse was that I was carrying it on a monopod at the time. Fortunately I also had the strap in my hand, so it didn't hit the floor!

 

[bambam]

Well the meter IS quite unusual, in that the metering cell is on an arm that flips down (a meter on a stick). I think that's a significant vulnerability. Likewise, rangefinder alignment drift is possible, but can be corrected. The RF patch on mine was OK, and OVF was fine.

I think I'd recommend personal inspection before buying, or a reputable seller that you can talk to like ffordes, but the fleabay guarantee might work ok if you want to take (not much of) a risk.

ETA: the only other issue with mine that I can remember was that the base came away from the body once; this was due to me not fastening it properly after loading the film. What made it worse was that I was carrying it on a monopod at the time. Fortunately I also had the strap in my hand, so it didn't hit the floor!

Thanks. Have you had yours long? Do you use it much and what do you think of it??

Cheers

 

[ChrisR]

I had my Leitz Minolta CL (later models were called Leica CL) for about 8 months, and used it for about half that time (for a One Camera, One Lens, One Film exercise). I found it a bit frustrating, and bought a Bessa R3A which I used instead (naughty me). I much preferred the Bessa although it was a bit chunkier (I think the RF baseline of the Bessa is longer, which allows focusing with a 40mm f/1.4 lens rather than a f/2 for the CL). Young @Andysnap of this parish loves his Bessa, even if he only found out by selling his first!

I did try a CLE in a shop, but the lack of metering in manual mode put me off, despite Ken Sweet Rockall's assertion that you can easily meter in A mode and then move to M and put the settings in... ain't going to happen!

In the end I decided that I preferred the SLR experience to the rangefinder experience. In addition, buying a set of lenses beyond the Minolta M-Rokkor 40mm f/2 was way beyond the resources I could put into my photography. So it all got sold!