Leica Model CL User manual

Congratulations!and, welcome to the  LEICA CL photographyis fun. But to
  World of Leicaphotography.The LHCA@  fully enjoy the many features of your
 CL (Compact LEICA) is the first com-  camera you must also know how to
  pact rangefindercamerawith interchan-  operate it. This little booklet explainsit
  geable lenses and selective through-   all, with numerous useful hints. Read
  the-lensexposuremetering.lt features    it carefully to get the most out of
  a bayonet lens mount identical with  photographyand your new LEICACL.
  that of the LEICA M models. The small
  size and light weight of the LEICACL
  makes it an ideal take-alongcamera.
  This camera is never in the way:  it
  will slip into a pocket or handbag.The
  LEICA CL will thus be your constant
  companion ready always to capture
  anything that takes your fancy.
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Contents                  page  Loading the film .            20
Brief run-downof camerafeatures 4  The film type indicator.        22
Lens changing                6   Unloadingthe film .           22
Fittingthe carryingstrap.          7   Flashsynchronization.         23
The rightcamerahold .            7   Care of your LEICACL and its
The bright-line view-and range-       lenses.                    24
finder                      9
The rapid-winding lever, release     Accessories
buttonand shutterspeed dial .    10  Interchangeablelenses .        25
The distanceand aperturescales . 11  Cases .                    26
Focusing.                 12  Enlargersand projectors .      27
The depth-of-fieldscale .         1 4  The LEITZguaranteeand
The exposure meter .           1 5   after-sales service .           30
Testingand changingthe battery  1 8  "LEICA FOTOGRAFIE"magazine. 31
Usingfilters.                  1 9

Brief run-down of calrera features
1. Automaticframe counter (p.211     8 Bayonet lock button (p. 6)
Z Rapidwinding lever (p. 10)         9 Accessory shoe with hot-shoe
3. Shutter speed index (p. 1O)           contact (p. 23)
4. Film speed setting (p. 15)       1ODepth of field scale (p. 14)
5. Releasehrtton (p. 1O)           11 Afrture  ring and scale (p. 11)
6. Shutter speed dial (p. 1O)        12 Focusingmount and distance scale
7. Red lens locating mark (p. 6)           (p. 11)
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    13 Rangpfinderwindow (p. 121       19 Base date locking latch (p. 20)
    14 llluminatirlgwindow for bright-line  20 Tdpod bush,114"
       frames (p. 12)                 21 Film rewind releasebutton (p.221
    15 Viewfinderwirdow (p. 12)         22Film type indicator(p.221
    16 Carryingstrap eyelets (p. 17)
    17 Findereyepiece(p. 9)
    18 Rewindcrank (p.221

Fitting the lens                  Removingthe lens
First removethe body cap from the  Gripthe lensby thefixedrearring(10),
camerabody by depressingthe bayo-  pressthe bayonetlock button(8),turn
net lock button (8), and turningthe  the lensto the left and lift out.
cap to the left,then lift out.
Tofit a lens,firstlineupthe redlocating
mark (7) on the lens mount opposite
the bayonetlock button(8) with its red
mark.Insertthe lens and turn to the
right to engagethe bayonetlock. An
audibleclickis producedwhenthe lens
is securelyseated.Alwayschangelen- When usinglensesfrom the LEICAM
ses in the shade(sheltercamerawith  system, note the informationleaflet
your body if necessary).           No. 120-ffi.
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Fitting the      g strap                llolding your GL
Firstthreadthe strapsuppliedwiththe  For a steadythree-pointsupport,grip
camera (Order No. 14 194) into the  the camerawith the right handso that
non-slippad.Thenpushthe plainend  the indexfingeris on the releasebut-
of the strap(or of the wriststrap,Order  ton or shutterspeeddialandthethumb
No. 14197) throughthe two eyelets  againstthe rapidwindinglever.Usethe
(16)in the sideof the cameraand pull   left handeitherto supportthe lensfrom
throughthe buckleat the otherend of  belowfor rapidfocusingand aperture
the strap.Adjustthe strapto a comfort-  adjustment,or to grip the left side of
ablelength.                       the camera. In addition,press the
                            LEICAfirmlyagainstyourforehead.
                                For verticalshotssimplyturn the ca-
                            mera90". Keepthe samegrip on the
                             cameraas for horizontalshots.


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between the lens axis and finder axis.
                              The rangefinderfield in the center of
                                     the viewfinder appears brighter than
                                     the surroundlngimage area.
                           On fitting 40mm, S0mm or 9omm len-
                                 ses  the  corresponding bright-line
                                 frame automaticallyappearsin the fin-
                                       der. The 40mm frame is alwaysvisible.
                             Wth a 40mm lens on the camera,the
                        Sommframe also remainsin view.
                            A scale above the finder area shows
                                     the selected shutter speed.
                              The exposure meter needle is visible
The bright-line view- and rangefinder   at the right of the finder field. To set
The combinedbright-linefinder system  the correct exposure,this meter needle
of the LEICA CL is coupled with the  must be centered insidethe rectangu-
lens.lt incorporatesa rangefinder,and   lar cut-out at the right hand edge of the
serves as a high-quality vieMinder.   finder.
The meter measuringfield is a circle
1/3 the height of the frame in use. For
the 90mm lens, the rangefinderpatch
can be consideredthe measuringfield.
You record on the film everythingyou
see within the appropriate brightline
frame. The bright-lineframes, too, are
coupled with the focusing movement
for automatic parallax compensation,
to allow for the difference in location

The rafiid-winding lever (2) advances  The shutter speed dial (6) selects the
the film by one frame with every full  exposuretime. You can adjustit before
lever movement.At the same time the   or after tensioningthe shutter. lt en-
lever tensions the shutter and auto-  gagesat all markedspeedsfrom 1/1000
maticallyadvancesthe frame counter.  to 112and B (time exposures of any
                                        length). Intermediatespeeds can be
The release button (5) has a thread to   set, and are fully operative,in the whole
take a cable release(OrderNo.14 067).  range except between 1/30 and 1/60
Pressthe releasebutton gently - with-  second. The setting index (3) for the
out jerking - until a soft click indicates  shutter speed is on the top of the ca-
that the shutter has tripped.         mera body. When using flash units set
                                     the dial to 1/60 second (engravedin
                                       yellow) or to a slower speed (See also
                                        flash table on page 23).

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The distarrce scale                 The aperture scale
The distance scale (12') shows the   Aperture values are  internationally
distance to which the lens is set. ln   stanQardizedand arrangedso that the
conjunction with  the  depth-of-field  amou'nt of light reachi-ngthe film is
scale (10) it also shows the depth of   halved every time you stop down from
the zone of sharpness.The distanceis  one aperture value to the next. Each
also important when calculatingflash   aperture interval is equivalent to the
exposuresfrom flash guide numbers.  interval between two speeds on the
All distances are measured from the   shutter speed dial (6). Like the shutter
fllm plane,i. €.,the back of the camera.  speed dial, the lens aperturering (11)
                                         clicks into position at each marked
                                                                  -                                      and also at half stop intervals.                                        setting
                                  With a  little practice you can thus
                                          identify aperture settings in the dark.


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Focusing                                ject throughthe finderandturn the lens
The rangefinderfield appears in the   focusingmount (12) until the two ima-
center of the finder as a bright and  ges fuse into one.
sharplyoutlined area. lf you block the   Split imagefocusing:Sight an edge or
largeviewflnderwindow (1O with one   other clear outline and turn the focus-
finger, only the central rangefinder  ing mount ('12)until the brokenoutline
field (a) remains visible together with  appearscontinuousin the rangefinder
the reflectedbright{ine frames (b),the   field. This is the more accurate and
shutter speed scale (c) and the expo-  hence the preferablemethod of focus-
sure meter needle (d). You can focus   ing.
the image by double-imageor split-
image matching.
For double-image (coincidence) fo-
cusing,for instanceon a highlightin
the eye in a portrait,observe the sub-
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 b-s
Doubleimage: unsharp             Singleimage: sharp

Brokenand doubleline : unsharp     Continuoussingleline : sharP

used. Stopping down increases the
                                         depth-of-field, opening the  iris dia-
                               phragm decreases it.
                               The depth-of-field scale shows the
                                        depth-of-fieldat any distance setting
                                          of the lens.
                                                           It, for instance,you focus the 4omm,
                          SUMMICRON-Ctl2 lens on 5 meters
                                       or 161l2teet (betweenthe 10 and 25
                                         foot marks on the distance scale) the
                                  depth of field attl4 extendsfrom about
                                  4 meters to 10 meters (13 112to 33
                                            feet). lf, with the same distancesetting,
The depth-of-field scale             you stop down to t111,the depth ex-
The LEICACL lenseshave a fixed ring  tends from about 2.5 meters(81l2feet)
with a depth-of-fieldscale (10), a rotat-   to infinity.
ing focusingmount with distancescale  Exact depth-of-field values are listed
(12) and an aperturering (11).           in the depth-of-fieldtable No. 110-57.
The lens reprofluces at maximum
sharpnessa subject plane (parallelto
the film plane) on which the lens is
actually focused. Optimum sharpness
graduallyfalls off in front of and behind
this subject plane,but within a certain
zone the image appears acceptably
sharp.Thisdepth-of-fieldzonedepends
on the subject distance, the  focal
length of the lens and the aperture
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The exposuremeter                          its rest position. After releasing, the
For accurateexposuremeasurement meter needle may move in the finder
you mustset the correctfilm speedon   but no exposurereadingsare possible.
the film speeddial.                 Hofd the camera horizontally for ex-
The film speeddial (4) showsequiva-  posure readings.The LEICACL expo-
lent ASAand DINspeedvaluesin two  sure  meter  measures  selectively
windows.Tosetthespeed,lightlypress  through the lens,i. e., it reads a central
downthe button(4) andturn it to bring  image portion. Use the rangefinder
the appropriatespeedvalueopposite  area as a guide to the measuringfield.
the indexmarkin the window.Youcan  This rangefinderfield, extended to a
set film speedsfrom ASA25 to 1600or   fuff circle, shows the measuring area
15 to 33 DlN.                         with the 9omm lens on the camera.
For meter readingsthe shuttermust  Wth  the 40mm lens the measuring
be tensioned (cocked)and the rapid  area is about twice as large within the
windinglever(2) pulledsllghtlyout of   finder field. We have deliberatelynot

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includedadditionalmarkingsto avoid
clutteringup the finder.
The meter needleof the built-inexpos-
ure meter appears to the right of the
finder. The exposure is correctly set
when the meter needleis lined up with
the central rectangularcut-out at the
right finder edge.This is controlledby
the lensaperturering(11) and the shut-
ter speed dial (6). You can preselect                                                          I
either the exposuretime or the apert-
ure. lf a red signalappearsat the right-
handside of the finder on adjustingthe
shutter speed dial, switch to a suitable  the spot on which you focus.
faster speed (shortertime) to make the   Selectivelight meteringalso copeswith
red signal disappear.Then stop down  problems of unbalanced brightness
or open the lens apertureto center the   distributior,e. g., predominantlight or
meter needle in the rectangular cut-   dark areas.
out. lf you cannotcenterthe needle,the
availablelight is inadequatefor a read-
ing.
The selected shutter speed is always
visibfe on a scaleabovethe finder area.
Selective measurement of a central
image area with the LEICA CL makes
close-upreadings- essentialfor many
subjectconditions                         - possibleat normal
distances.As a general rule, measure
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In the illustrationsone landscapehas  When shooting snow scenes in sun-
    a largesky areawhilethe other includes   light, measurean area of snow in the
     only foreground. Yet both need the   shade, or sight the subject so that the
    sameexposure;so measurea medium-  measuringfield takes in approximately
     tone area in both cases.              equal areas of snow and shadow.
                                  The circles marked in the illustratlons
                                   show examples of preferred areas for
                                            selectivereadings.


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Testingthe battery
Thebuilt-inexposuremeteris powered Do your batterytest beforechanging
by a 1.35volt mercuryoxidecell.Use  film!
a MalloryPX625buttoncellor equival-
ent cells of other makes- e. g. Varta
Pertrix7@2 or MalloryNationalH-D.
To test the battery hold the camera
horizontallyard view throughthe fin-
der. Turnthe shutterspeeddial (6) to
makea pointerappearin the cut-out'in  the top right-handcornerof the find-
er. Pressthe batterytest button (23).
lf the meterneedlenowmovesintothe
centralrectangularcut-outat the right
of the finder,the batteryis serviceable.
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Using filters                              To fit Series 5.5 filters, unscrew the I
                                    lens hood, place the filter in position
                               and secure it by screwing the hood
                                             in again (Note: screw thread at the
                                          front of the lens is not the same as the
                              LEICAE 39 filter thread).
                                   Through-the-lensmetering generally
                                    allows for the filter factgr. Fllms how-
                                   ever differ in their speclral response;
                                hence the readings may not be fullY
                                         reliablewith very dense filters. For in-
                                   stance with an orange filter the expo-
Changingthe battery                sure must be increased by one stoP,
Openthe cameraback (seepage 22).  with a red filter by about two stops.
Thebuttoncellis nowviSiblejust below  No precise values can be quoted, as
the film take-upspoolfor easychang-  the red-sensitivityof black-and-white
ing.                                    films can vary appreciably.

lsding  the film                          film leader can be - but need not be -
First check that the camera is empty  trimmed.Pushthe fllm leaderobliquely
by turningthe rewindcrank (18) in the  from above over one of the lugs of the
directionof the arrow. lf you feel a re-  take-up spool,as shown in the illustra-
sistance,proceedas indicatedon page   tion. Then insert the cartridge in the
22.                             empty film chamber. Check that the
The LEICACL only takes films in cart-   film edge runs parallelto the film track.
ridgeswith a standardizedspool, hav-  On carefully operatingthe rapid-wind-
ing lugs inside both ends.              ing lever (2) the sprocketsof the trans-
To load the film, unfold the base plate   post shaft must engagetheperforation
latch (19)and turn to the left.The whole   holesof the film. Fold down the pressu-
camera back and base plate can then   re plate and push the camera back on
be pulled off and remain attached to   again. Lock by turning the base plate
the carryingstrap. Fold away the pres-   latch (19) and fold down. Advancethe
sure plate to open the film'track.The   film by two frames, releasingthe shut-
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ter eachtime.                          After loading the film remember also
After the secondtransportmovement  to set the correct film speed (see
gentlytensionthe film by turningthe  page 1O.
rewindcrank (18) in the directionof
the arrow.
The film advancescorrectlyif the re-
wind crank(18) rotatesduringopera-
tion of the windinglever.Advancethe
film (afterreleasingthe shutter)once
more;the automaticframecounter(1)
now indicatesNo. 1 and the camera
ls ready for the first exposure.The
framecounter(1) only operatesif the
cameraback was correctlylocked in
position.

The film type indicator               Unloading the film
The film type indicator (22) in the ca-  Once the last frame is exposed, the
mera base can be set to the type of   rapid-windinglever (2) can no longer
film loaded in the camera, indicated  be operated. The film now needs re-
by the followingsymbols:             winding. Press the rewind release
El = black-and-whitefilm             button (21) to dlsengagethe transport,
:!2 = daylight type reversalcolor film   unfold the rewind crank (18), and turn
 A  -  artificiallight type reversalcolor   in the directionof the arrow.Keepturn-
    film                               ing until you feel a slight resistance,
NE : negativecolor fllm              then rotate the crank by a further turn
                                         to wind the film fully back into the
                                        cartridge.
                            Open the camera and remove the film
                                        cartridge.

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