A while back, when I was just putting a foot into the Leica digital waters, I bought a couple of their digital CL cameras. Sweet, compact, interchangeable lens cameras that used APS-C sensors to keep them small and easy to carry around. While Leica sold a small group of lenses for the CL, L mount partner, Sigma stepped in to supply faster, less expensive APS-C designed lenses for the system. The three I ended up holding onto were the 16mm f1.4, the 30mm f1.4 and, my favorite, the 56mm f1.4. The 56mm is equivalent to an 84-85mm field of view on a full frame camera.
While initially overshadowed by subsequent purchases of newer, higher resolution, full frame cameras from the company I have found the Leica CLs to be great tools for those times when you either want to travel a lot lighter or when you need their smaller sensor size to supply greater reach in the telephoto range. Also, the greater depth of field for a given f-stop is helpful when you want to use fast, wide angle glass at near wide open apertures but still keep enough in focus to make a photo work well. I pulled out the CLs recently and put them back to work. They are quite fun to carry around while out walking with no agenda.
I was out walking on Sunday, a week ago, when I dropped by Jo's Coffee and ran into my friend (and fellow photographer) David. I made this casual portrait (above) as we were sitting and chatting. It seemed just right. The 56mm Sigma lens (Contemporary) kept the span from David's nose to the back of his hat in adequate focus at f2.8 but successfully blurred the background just as much as I wanted.
While I understand that Leica is a smaller camera company than most and it's a stretch to think they have the comfortable bandwidth to serve up a number of different product lines concurrently, I really wish they had not pulled the plug on the CL (compact Leica) system. They left many users wishing and hoping for a CL-2 camera that never arrived. There are times when "small and light" but still highly capable is a nice option to have. While I like the various fixed lens compact cameras out on the market I always find myself wishing they offered the choice for a different lens instead of the focal lengths the herd demands (relentless 28mms). Leica was on the right path with the new Q3-43 but how nice it would be to have an even more compact Q variant with an APS-C sensor and a fast normal lens on the front; like the Q3-43 does in the full frame arena...
I thought about selling the CL cameras a while back but hesitated. Now, when I go and look for additional bodies I find that they are going back up in price on the used markets. Maybe Leica can look to those rising price trends as product demand research and come to the decision to re-launch that format. But...probably not.
One of my friends took me to task when I originally bought the CLs and an assortment of APS-C only lenses. He suggested that if the camera system was discontinued that the lenses would eventually become useless and would lose their value. I might have agreed had I not tried using the Sigma APS-C L mount lenses on a Leica SL2, with the camera set to shoot APS-C. The lenses work quite well when used that way and the camera provides image stabilization! You are still getting file sizes over 20 megapixels and, if Sigma follows other lens makers then APS-C lenses are designed to give a higher resolution with over 50% contrast to compensate for their intended use on a smaller, more densely packed imaging sensor. All nicely bundled with auto focus and full lens automation.
In a pinch, at corporate events with speakers at far away podiums, I have resorted to using the APS-C mode on the SL2 to gain more reach with a telephoto lens on the front. I could easily do the same thing by using the longer ff lenses (like 135mm and above) with the CL bodies. Nice that the lens mount is the thing that keeps the older bodies and lenses from being obsoleted entirely. And, depending on your intended use, not obsolete at all !
The strength and weakness of the digital CL are the same. The battery. It's a bit small and runs down fairly quickly. 250-300 shots. But the strength of it is that the CL uses the same battery as many Panasonic compact cameras and both of the recent Sigma fp variants. This means the market is filled with compatible batteries as cheap as $12 each, to batteries I have more confidence in, like Sigma branded and Panasonic banded batteries in the $40 price range. But if you absolutely have to have the Leica branded battery you can still find them for around $125 each. I have a bunch of the Sigma batteries. I've yet to have on fail.
I just liked the portrait and thought you might enjoy the technical backstory. Hope all is well.
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