Minolta cle

Tommaso Avati · Jan 4, 2021

Hi everybody.
I am new to film photography and just purchased a Minolta cle which arrived today from Japan. I really love and feel comfortable with it but I have some little concerns. My lenses are Nokton 35 1.4, Ultron 28 1.9 and Leica 90 2.8.
28 frame lines are always visible. And I can see some weak 90 lines when I mount the Leica. But nothing happens with the 35mm. The camera doesn’t show any lines, nor 40mm ones.
Am I doing anything wrong?

voceumana · Jan 4, 2021

The CLE does not have viewfinder framing for 35mm lenses--just for 28, 40, and 90mm. That is the design of the camera, so you are not doing anything wrong.

Tommaso Avati · Jan 4, 2021

voceumana said:
The CLE does not have viewfinder framing for 35mm lenses--just for 28, 40, and 90mm. That is the design of the camera, so you are not doing anything wrong.

Ah. Too bad. Thank you very much though

craigclu · Jan 5, 2021

Out of curiosity, I just double checked my Leica CL and with a ZM 35, it displays the 40 frame (shows the 50 at the same time). The CL and CLE must differ in this regard? The 35 resides in another bag and body and I didn't have a memory of how the CL interacted with a 35. I don't tend to use ultra-critical framing in most of my RF activities so for me, the tiny fudging would be a minor issue but it's interesting to know the quirks.

BradS · Jan 5, 2021

Hello and welcome!

Here’s a pdf of the user manual. It’s probably worth reading the whole thing but the notes on page 17 appear to answer your question.

https://www.cameramanuals.org/minolta_pdf/minolta_cle.pdf

Tommaso Avati · Jan 5, 2021

BradS said:
Hello and welcome!

Here’s a pdf of the user manual. It’s probably worth reading the whole thing but the notes on page 17 appear to answer your question.

https://www.cameramanuals.org/minolta_pdf/minolta_cle.pdf

Yeah I read it. But for some quite misterious reason I thought that a 35mm lens was supposed to invoke the 40mm frame lines. Thank you though.

Huss · Jan 5, 2021

My CLEs (i had two of them) showed the 40mm frame lines when I used a 35mm lens on them.

Tommaso Avati · Jan 6, 2021

That’s what I expected indeed

Huss · Jan 6, 2021

Tommaso Avati said:
That’s what I expected indeed

I'm sorry, I was mistaken... I used this as a point of reference when I first bought my CLEs.

https://www.kenrockwell.com/leica/cle.htm

He is very useful and down the page explains which frame lines come up with which lenses. This is correct.
35mm lens shows 28mm frame lines.

It's been a while and I thought my 35mm lens brought up the 40mm lines because I sold one body w/ 35mm lens as a kit.

Tommaso Avati · Jan 6, 2021

Ah. Ok

Charles Escott-New · Jan 6, 2021

Tommaso, I am sure you will enjoy your CLE. I have a CL and I prefer the position of the strap lugs on your camera, the Leica has two on the same side so the camera hangs side down if you use a strap. These lugs make it more uncomfortable to hold the camera. My solution for my CL and M5 was to purchase a half case with a lug built in to right side. I also prefer the handling with a case. The CL has a weak point in that the tines on the white plastic take up spool are prone to break. Various remedies are described, mostly involving double sided sticky tape. Now I see a 3d printed spool is available as a replacement with instructions on fitting, it would be nice to hear if anyone has used this. Has the CLE a metal spool? I love this camera for its size, I use it with a tiny 7 Artisan 35mm f2 lens. All the best to you, Tommaso, I would love to see some photos taken with it of your beautiful city, Charles.

Tommaso Avati · Jan 6, 2021

Charles Escott-New said:
Tommaso, I am sure you will enjoy your CLE. I have a CL and I prefer the position of the strap lugs on your camera, the Leica has two on the same side so the camera hangs side down if you use a strap. These lugs make it more uncomfortable to hold the camera. My solution for my CL and M5 was to purchase a half case with a lug built in to right side. I also prefer the handling with a case. The CL has a weak point in that the tines on the white plastic take up spool are prone to break. Various remedies are described, mostly involving double sided sticky tape. Now I see a 3d printed spool is available as a replacement with instructions on fitting, it would be nice to hear if anyone has used this. Has the CLE a metal spool? I love this camera for its size, I use it with a tiny 7 Artisan 35mm f2 lens. All the best to you, Tommaso, I would love to see some photos taken with it of your beautiful city, Charles.

Hi Charles, thanks for writing. I am not sure about the spool as I just loaded ONE roll so far, two days ago, and it is still there. I frankly don't remember but it seems to me that it was plastic. 7Artisans 35mm should be a niece lens on that camera. What film do you use mostly. I am really new at film photography and I am trying to learn as much as I can. One day I will probably buy a Lab Box, too, and develop films at home, and scan negatives with some scanner.....

Charles Escott-New · Jan 6, 2021

It is the small white section at the base of the Leica spool that sometimes breaks but I believe that Minolta didn't make this design error. I have used Ilford film for over 60 years, I used to walk past the old factory everyday, mostly FP4 or HP5, but recently I have switched to the fine grained Delta 100. For colour prints I use Fujifilm although sometimes I treat myself to Kodak Portra 160 and 400. All the best, Charles.

Spinosaurus · Jan 8, 2021

Of course you can obtain a 35mm viewfinder to use if you want relatively critical framing as the hot shoe is positioned directly above the lens. It is worthwhile calibrating the distance adjustment on the viewfinder to use it effectively if that is adjustable on the viewfinder. I basically estimated the image area in the viewfinder by putting a ground glass on the film plate, focusing on an area and see what area on the sides corresponded to what I saw using a magnifier on the ground glass. Did not use a 35mm that much since the 40mm isn't that different and I could mostly use my legs to get framing but of course you don't get the same perspective. Have fun using the CLE, it's a beautifully constructed camera and a joy to carry around.

Tommaso Avati · Jan 8, 2021

Spinosaurus said:
Of course you can obtain a 35mm viewfinder to use if you want relatively critical framing as the hot shoe is positioned directly above the lens. It is worthwhile calibrating the distance adjustment on the viewfinder to use it effectively if that is adjustable on the viewfinder. I basically estimated the image area in the viewfinder by putting a ground glass on the film plate, focusing on an area and see what area on the sides corresponded to what I saw using a magnifier on the ground glass. Did not use a 35mm that much since the 40mm isn't that different and I could mostly use my legs to get framing but of course you don't get the same perspective. Have fun using the CLE, it's a beautifully constructed camera and a joy to carry around.

Yeh, I happened to have one stored somewhere here and I tried. It is a valid alternative even, if i love this camera for its form factor and I prefer it plain, and compact.

Spinosaurus · Jan 8, 2021

If you decide you really like the 35mm view over others, you will use it enough to start to get a feel for what the area of the viewfinder will be covered by that lens. I agree that the form factor is one of the beauty's of that particular Leica/Minolta model and a viewfinder on top can detract from that form. I have at least one viewfinder that is very compact though but they can be hard to find these days. I have seen people put a marker line on the outer viewfinder window with a translucent marker that could help and of course the mark can be removed if necessary with isopropanol. You now have me interested in digging out my Leica CL just to hold it again and maybe run a roll through although at this time my film stored in the refrigerator is very old.

Tommaso Avati · Jan 9, 2021

Spinosaurus said:
If you decide you really like the 35mm view over others, you will use it enough to start to get a feel for what the area of the viewfinder will be covered by that lens. I agree that the form factor is one of the beauty's of that particular Leica/Minolta model and a viewfinder on top can detract from that form. I have at least one viewfinder that is very compact though but they can be hard to find these days. I have seen people put a marker line on the outer viewfinder window with a translucent marker that could help and of course the mark can be removed if necessary with isopropanol. You now have me interested in digging out my Leica CL just to hold it again and maybe run a roll through although at this time my film stored in the refrigerator is very old.

Yeah, I shoot mostly 35mm with my M240 and my eyes are so used to that FOV that I actually don't need a viewfinder. I shoot moreover with camera at waist. Was just wondering if my Minolta was faulty or it this framelines was a normal behavior. Thank you very much for your help.

Minolta cle

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