Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/05/13
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Just about any M series Leica lens will work on the CL in some fashion. My owner's manual suggests that the following lenses are useable: Summaron 35mm f2.8 (also f3.5) - use full viewfinder frame, Summicron 35mm f2.0 - use full viewfinder frame, Summilux 35mm f1.4 - use full viewfinder frame, Summicron 50mm f2.0 Summilux 50mm f1.4 Noctilux 50mm f1.2 Tele-Elmarit 90mm f2.8 Elmarit 90mm f2.8 also any Leica screw mount lens with adapter. The manual suggests that collapsible lenses be prevented from collapsing the full distance by putting a band of Dymo tape around the barrel to prevent damaging the swing meter cell. Some of these recommendations are unduly conseervative. I've found that the 50mm collapsible f2 Summicron and even the 90mm collapsible f4 Elmar can be used without the tape and still allow clearance for the meter. If you can find the Summicron 40mm f2 lens or the Minolta Rokkor equivalent, do so. They are ideally matched to the CL body. A 50mm collapsible Summicron is a feasible alternative. The 90mm Leica lens for the CL is excellent but harder to find. A very good alternative to the Leica 90 mm CL lens is the Canon 100mm f3.5 screw mount lens fitted with a 90mm screw to bayonet adapter. This lens is a little jewel, exceptionally sharp and easy to handle, and about a quarter the price of the Leica lens. The CL viewfinder frames are a little on the small side so that the 90 mm frame really covers the field of a 100mm lens. It covers the field of the Canon lens exactly. Another good low cost lens, also requiring an adapter, is the 35mm f2.8 Canon Serenar. Any shorter focal length lens will also work but an accessory finder must be used. Lenses longer than 100 mm will not focus accurately enought with the short base CL rangefinder. I use the CL with 40 and 100mm lenses as a lightweight travelling kit. They cover 90% of the subjects encountered with Leica quality. In the 25 years I have owned this system, I have never had a mechanical failure. One design flaw, however. If the battery fails in the middle of a roll, there is no way to replace it without taking off the back, requiring either a film rewind or going batteryless to the end of the roll. The CL with a 50mm f1.2 lens and ASA 800 or 1600 film makes a super wedding or available light camera, small quiet, with match needle metering and capable of taking pictures in almost coal cellar darkness. It doesn't attract the attention that a fully decked out M series Leica would. Good luck with your "new" camera. - LarryZ