Minolta CLE

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The Minolta CLE was a 35 mm rangefinder camera with TTL measurement and automatic timing for the " Leica M " bayonet.

development

Minolta CLE with M-Rokkor 40 mm / 2
Minolta CLE shutter curtain

In 1972, Leica and Minolta signed a cooperation agreement for the development and construction of an inexpensive entry-level camera with a Leica M bayonet. The result was the Leica CL , developed by Leica but built by Minolta in Japan , which appeared in 1973 and was built until 1976. Leitz stopped production and a. because the inexpensive CL caused the sales figures for the M models to drop. Minolta then developed the camera on its own to the CLE. The model was introduced in 1981 and was available until 1984/5, with a total of almost 35,000 units delivered.

description

The Minolta CLE has an electronically controlled shutter with a shortest shutter speed of 1/1000 s and a built-in TTL (“through the lens”) light meter. It was the first camera with an M-bayonet with automatic exposure and automatic TTL flash control. The camera already offered features in 1981 that Leitz only introduced in 1998 with the M6 ​​TTL.

With the more modern lock, the controls on the outside have also changed. The time setting button on the front of the housing, which is characteristic of the LEICA CL, has moved to the top of the housing and offers setting options from 1 to 1/1000 of a second, B and A for automatic timing. In setting "A", the camera controls the exposure time "automatically" (based on the set film sensitivity, aperture and lighting conditions). The measurement is carried out with a silicon photodiode which is attached to the bottom of the camera. For this purpose, the light is reflected from the shutter curtain before the exposure and from the film surface onto this measuring cell during the exposure. As a result, the camera also reacts to changes in the lighting conditions during the exposure and changes them accordingly.

The rangefinder of the CLE has finder lines for 28 mm, 40 mm and 90 mm lenses. The Minolta CLE is considered reliable, but electronic faults can practically no longer be remedied today without the supply of spare parts. However, a number of components from the Minolta XG series have been adopted, so that some spare parts are compatible. The CLE was only offered in black, there was also a “CLE Gold Edition” of 300 for the Japanese market.

Lenses

Minolta manufactured three lenses for the CLE, the M-Rokkor 28 mm, f = 1: 2.8, wide angle, the M-Rokkor 40 mm, f = 1: 2, standard and the M-Rokkor 90 mm, f = 1: 4, tele. Many Minolta 28mm wide angle lenses have coating problems (white spots). In addition, the Leica lenses for the CL (such as the Leitz 40 mm f = 1: 2 Summicron-C) and most of the M lenses, provided they do not protrude too far into the camera, also fit.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ CLE statistics
  2. ↑ Spare parts supply for the CLE
  3. ↑ See Minolta CLE
  4. ↑ Ken Rockwell on the CLE

Web links