An interesting travel and street camera+lens for people who want AF and a decent zoom range.

Photo made with Leica CL (digital) and the Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 lens.

shot at f4.0. Leica Monochrom HC profile in camera. 

 One thing the heat wave of the last several weeks taught me was just how nice it can be to lower the weight and size impact of your daily carry camera when working in the hot weather. I'm in pretty decent shape and usually it's no big deal to carry around a bigger camera equipped with a beefy lens. My "go to" all weather solution is usually one of the SL or SL2 Leicas combined with whatever fast 50mm lens has captured my interest in the moment. But when the "mercury" and the humidity rise up in tandem they can be formidable impediments to a nice, comfortable walk.

Last week I started carrying around my "bantam" weight camera system. I was sad when Leica discontinued their last APS-C format camera; the Leica CL. It's a great and minimalistic choice for people who just want to take nice photographs. The camera uses a 24 megapixel sensor, has NO external ports and only three buttons on the back. It's sleek, beautifully designed and, as a bonus, uses a battery type that's widely used by other camera makers which keeps the price of replacement batteries low. And that's rare in the Leica sphere... Oh, and did I mention it has those lovely and easy to decipher Leica menus? Such a nice change from "other" systems...

I've been pairing the CL with a selection of Sigma Contemporary lenses. My favorite for casual shooting in daylight is the 18-50mm f2.8 zoom lens. It's small, lightweight and sharp from wide open on up the aperture scale. You have to be careful with filters though as the image circle is tight and too thick a filter ring might cause a bit of vignetting in the far corners. I generally shoot this lens one stop down from wide open to gain a bit of depth of field or "technical slop allowance" to compensate for my cavalier approach to fun photography. 

The zoom lens is equivalent to a 27 to 75mm range on a full frame camera which is just about right for casual/travel and street photography. The CL family offered a Leica branded zoom in the range of 18mm to 56mm which gives one a bit more range on the long end of the zoom but it is a variable aperture lens and only offers f5.6 at the long end of the zoom. And opens to just f3.5 at the short end. I'm sure it's a great daytime lens but the lack of speed is always vexing even when it shouldn't be. 

If you are already photographing with full frame L mount lenses you can use these on your CL as well. The Leica full frame lenses, like the 24-90mm, seem huge when used on the very small CL bodies. When I choose L mount lenses from among my full frame inventory I look mostly for smaller, lighter lenses like the Sigma 24mm f3.5 (a nice near 35mm eq.) or the Sigma 90mm f2.8 (eq: 135mm) or the ubiquitous Sigma 45mm f2.8. Any of these three balance nicely on the CL and work natively when it comes to AF and exposure control. 

I don't often use the Leica CL for work stuff but I did think about it at one point and while pondering whether or not it made any sense at all, given the range of my current full frame camera choices, I did pick up three Sigma primes that were designed especially for the APS-C format. Those are: the 16mm f1.4, the 30mm f1.4 and the 56mm f1.4 Contemporary lenses. These don't have the external aperture rings or the metal build quality of the i-Series Contemporary lenses but they are quite fast and each is a really good optical performer. Of the three the 56mm is my favorite. It's a stand out example of how to make APS-C sing. 

But, sadly, these tend to stay home and I opt mostly for either the lightweight Sigma zoom or interesting TTArtisan fully manual lenses like the 23mm f1.4. It's actually really nice! And fast. And it slots in between the Sigma 16mm and 30mm lens if you are looking for that 35mm focal length equivalent. 

If you are out hunting down the (now) rare Leica CL (digital) try to find one under $2,000 complete with the 18mm f2.8 Leica lens that many of the bodies came kitted with. Since the announcement of its discontinuation the CLs have become quite elusive and we seem to be at an infection point at which the scarcity is beginning to drive prices up. 

If you are a strict rationalist this is NOT the camera or system for you. If you are a spec-diver you'll be much happier with something like a Panasonic S5 or a Sony A7ii. More "value?" for your money and both are very good, full frame picture takers. And you'll never have to explain how you justify spending the extra "Leica Tax" for a camera that has few features, few conveniences and which has now been discontinued. If you like to muck around and take chances or if you understand that the look and feel of some products has its own value then certainly, begin the hunt. And if you find a good condition CL at a great price and then decide you don't like it --- you know who to contact....

One warning. CL stands for "compact Leica" but it's kind of strange that Leica would use the same product name as they did on a film camera they made back in the 1970s. The film camera can accept M series Leica lenses and.....it only takes film! Some people have found CLs on the web for sale and are excited about the apparent bargain prices until they take a much closer look and find that the product on offer is the film version not the more recent digital model. All of a sudden a 40+ year old user camera that takes M lenses doesn't seem like so much of a bargain at $600-$800, if you've been looking for a much more recent digital camera. But if you are a film guy..... all bets are off. 

That's what I'm thinking about today. Hope all is well and you folks are getting some good Summer swimming in.

KT

A first draft. Life is too short to revise stuff that's already working.