Minolta CL film User manual

www.butkus.us
LEITZ MINOLTA CL
"@tinolfc





                  OWNER'S MANUAL             O

The LEITZ M  I NO LTA C L  is the
f irst compact rangef inder camera
with interchangeable lenses and selec-
tive through-the-lens exposure meter-
ing. lt features a bayonet lens mount
identical with that of the LEICA M
series cameras. The small size and
light weight of the LEITZ MINOLTA
CL make  it an ideal take-along
camera. This camera is never in
the way: it will slip into a pocket or
handbag. The LEITZ MINOLTA CL
will thus be your constant companion
ready always to capture anything that   When you buy a new mercury battery,
takes your fancy. LEITZ MINOLTA     give the old one to your dealer.
CL photography  is fun. But to fully   A mercury battery  is thoroughly sealed
enjoy the many  f eatures of your    so that the contents will not leak out
camera you must also know how to    while you are using it in a camera.
operate it. This little booklet explains    To prevent possible pollution, however,
 it all, with numerous useful hints. Read    when you want to buy a new mercury
it carefully to get the most out of    battery, take the old battery along and
photography and your new LEITZ    give it to your dealer so that he can
MINOLTA CL.                             dispose of it for you           ly.

www.butkus.us





CONTENTS                  page                                     page
Namesof parts                ......   4  Loadingthefilm       ....19
Testing the battery                6   The film type indicator .           . . .21
Changingthebattery    ......    7  Unloadingthefilm  .......21
Using filters                          7   Care of your LEITZ MINOLTA CL
Fitting the lens                   8   and its lenses                          . .22
Removing the lens                 8
Fitting the           carrying               strap              I                                      ( Accessories )       yourHolding                                   9       CL
The bright-line view- and rangef inder. 1 1    fnterchangeable lenses   .....23
Focusing                ......12    LEITZ overseas Service
The exposure meter                    . . .14   Stationlist.           ......24
Flashsynchronization   .....  18
Flashtable                ....18

Digitally signed by Mike Butkus

                                                          email=mike@butkus.org,                                                                      c=US      Mike Butkus DN:org,Date:cn=Mike Butkus, o, ou=Butkus.                                                              2025.01.19 17:27:25 -05'00'

Names of Parts
1. Automatic frame counter              8. Bayonet lock button
2. Rapid winding lever                       9. Accessory shoe with hot-shoe
3. Shutter speed index                    contact
4. Film speed setting                     10. Depth of field scale
5. Release button                      11. Aperture ring and scale
6. Shutter speed dial                   12. Focusing mount and distance scale
7. Red lens locating mark
4

www.butkus.us





13. Rangefinder window             19. Base plate locking latch
14. llluminating window for bright-   20. Tripod bush, 114"
     line frames                     21. Film rewind release button
15. Viewf inder window             22. Film type indicator
16. Carrying strap eyelets            23. Battery test button
17. Finder eyepiece                  24. Camera back
18. Rewind crank

Testing the battry
The built-in exposure meter is powered   meter needle now moves into the
by a mercury oxide cell. Use a    central rectangular cut-out at the right
Mallory PX 625 button cell or equi-    of the finder, the battery is serviceable.
valent cells of other makers. To te-   Do your battery test before changing
st the battery, hold the camera hori-    film!
zontally and view through the finder.
Turn the shutter speed dial (6) to
make the battery test signal appear
 in the cut-out in the top righthand
corner of the  f inder. (This wi ll
appear when the dial is set at "60"
and the ASA setting is "100".) Press
the battery test button (23). lf the

6

www.butkus.us





Changing the battery             Using filters
Open the camera back (see page 19).   M-ROKKOR LENS fit d40.5mm fitters
The button cell is now visible just   Through-the-lens metering generally
below the film take-up spool for easy   allows for the filter factor. Films,
changing.                            however, differ in their spectral re-
                                        sponse; hence the readings may not be
                                           fully reliable with denser filters. For
                                        instance, with an orange filter the
                                  exposure must be increased by two
                                           stop; with a red  f ilter. by about three
                             stops. No precise values can be
                                       quoted, as the red sensitivity of black-
                                       and-white films can vary appreciably.

www.butkus.us
Fitting the lens                 RemovingRemoving the lens
First remove the body cap from the   Grip the lens by the fixed rear ring
camera body by depressing the bayonet    press the bayonet lock button (8),
lock button (8) and turning the cap to    turn the lens to the left and lift out.
the left; then lift out.
To fit a lens. first line up the red
locating mark (7) on the lens mount
opposite the bayonet lock button (8)
with its red mark. lnsert the lens and
turn to the right to engage the bayonet
lock. An audible click is produced
when the lens is securely seated.
Always change lenses in the shade
(shelter camera with your body  if
necessary).
8

www.butkus.us





Fitting the carrying strap          HoldingHolding youryour CL
First thread the strap supplied with the   For a steady three-point support, grip
camera into the non-slip pad. Then    the camera with the right hand so that
push the plain end of the strap through    the index finger is on the release button
the two eyelets (16) in the side of the   or shutter speed dial and the thumb
camera and pull through the buckle at    against the rapid winding lever. Use the
the other end of the strap. Adjust the    left hand either to support the lens
strap to a comfortable length.         from below for rapid focusing and
                                        aperture adjustment, or to grip the left
                                           side of the camera. In addition, press
                                         the camera to your forehead.
                              For vertical shots, simply turn the
                                    camera 90o. Keep the same grip on the
                                    camera as for horizontal shots.

www.butkus.us

The bright-line view- and range-
finder
The combined bright-line finder system   finder. The 40mm frame is always
 of the LEITZ MINoLTACL  is coupled    visible. With a 40mm lens on the
 with the lens. lt incorporates a range-    camera, the 50mm frame also remains
 finder, and serves as a high-quality     in view.
viewfinder. The meter measuring field  A scale above the finder area shows
 is a circle 1/3 the height of the frame    the selected shutter speed.
 in use. For the 90mm lens, the range-   The exposure meter needle is visible at
 f inder patch can be considered the    the right of the  f inder  f ield. To set
measuring field. You record on the    the correct exposure, this meter.needle
film everything you see within the    must be centered inside the rectangular
appropriate brightline  f rame. The    cut-out at the right hand edge of the
bright-line frames, too, are coupled         fi nder.
with the focusing movement for auto-     1. Shutter speed needle
matic parallax compensation, to allow    2. Shutter speed scale
for the difference in location between    3. Battery test signal
the lens axis and finder axis. The    4. Exposure meter needle
rangefinder field in the center of the    5. Red signal
viewfinder appears brighter than the    6. Proper exposure point   .
surrounding image area.                7. Rangef inder field
On fitting 40mm, 50mm or gOmm    8. 90mm frame
lenses, the corresponding bright-line    9. 50mm frame
frame automatically appears in the   10. 40mm  f rame
                                                                                        11

Focusing
The rangefinder field appears in the   eye in a portrait, observe the subject
center of the finder as a bright and   through the finder and turn the lens
sharply outlined area. lf you block the    focusing mount (12t. until the two
large viewf inder window (1 5) with one    images f use into one.
finger, only the central rangefinder    Split-image focusing: Sight an edge or
field remains visible together with the    other clear outline and turn the focus-
ref lected bright-line frames,the shutter    ing mount (1 2) until the broken outline
speed scale and the exposure meter    appears continuous in the rangefinder
needle. You can focus the image by    field. This is the more accurate and
double-image or split-image matching.    hence the preferable method of
For double-image (coincidence) focus-    focusi ng.
ing, for instance on a highlight in the
12

www.butkus.us





Double image : unsharp                  Single image :  sharp


Broken and double line : unsharp

www.butkus.us
The exposure meter
For accurate exposure measurement,   rest position. After releasing, the
you must set the correct  f ilm speed on   meter needle may move in the finder
the film speed dial.                    but no exposure readings are possible.
The film speed dial (4) shows equiva-   Hold the camera horizontally for ex-
lent ASA and DIN speed values in two   posure readings. The LEITZ MINOLTA
windows. To set the speed. lightly   CL exposure meter measures selectively
press down the button (4) and turn it   through the lens, i.e., it reads a central
to bring the appropriate speed value   image portion. Use the rangefinder
opposite the index mark in the   area as a guide to the measuring field.
window. You can set film speeds   This rangefinder field. extended to a
fromASA25to 1600 or 15to 33 DlN.    full circle, shows the measuring area
For meter readings,the shutter must be   with the 90mm lens on the camera.
tensioned (cocked) and the rapid wind-   With the 40mm lens the measuring
ing lever (2) pulled slightly out of its    area is about twice as large within the
14

www.butkus.us





finder field. We have deliberately not   adjusting the shutter speed dial, switch
included additional markings to avoid   to a suitable faster speed (shorter time)
cluttering up the finder.                 to make the red signal disappear. Then
The meter needle of the built-in ex-    stop down or open the lens aperture to
posure meter appears to the right of    center the meter needle in the re-
the finder. The exposure is correctly    ctangularcut-out. lf you cannot center
set when the meter needle is lined up   the needle, the available light is in-
with the central rectangular cut-out at   adeguate for a reading.
the right  f inder edge. This is controlled
by the lens aperture ring (1 1) and the
shutter speed dial (6). You can
preselect either the exposure time or
the aperture.  lf a red signal appears at
the right-hand side of the finder on
                                                                       15

The selected shutter speed is always    Selective light metering also copes w
visible on a scale above the finder area.   problems of unbalanced brightness
Selective measurement of a central    tribution, e.9., predominant  light
image area with the LEITZ MINOLTA   dark areas.
CL makes close-up readings - essential
for many subject conditions - possibleat normal distances. As a general
rule, measure the spot on which you
focus.





16

www.butkus.us





In the illustrations, one landscape has   When shooting snow scenes in sunlight,
a large sky area while the other includes   measure an area of snow in the shade,
only foreground. Yet both need the    or sight the subject so that the measur-
same exposure; so measure a medium-    ing  f ield takes in approximately  equal
tone area in both cases.                    areas of snow and shadow.
                                 The circles marked in the illustrations
                               show examples of preferred areas for
                                              selective readings.





                                                                            17

Flash synchronization              Flash table
The LEITZ MINOLTA CL can be used    Electronic flash   B to 1/60 second
with all flash units eguipped with a    Flash bulbs:
hot-shoe contact. Push the unit into    Class M                                                  )the accessory shoe (91; this auto-     Class MF         B to 1/30 second
matically synchronizes the flash with    Class FP   )
the camera. The accessory shoe also
takes commercial synchronizing a-
dapters for flash units with a cable
link. For electronic flash. set any
shutter speed between  1 /60 second
(marked in yellow) and B.



18

www.butkus.us





Loading the film
First check that the camera is empty    to the carrying strap. Fold away the
by turning the rewind crank (18) in    pressure plate to open the film track.
                                                              but need notthe direction of the arrow.  lf you   The film leader can be -
                                                                                  leaderfeel a resistance, proceed as indicated   be - trimmed. Push the filmon page 2'l  .                              obliquely from above over one of the
The LEITZ MINOLTA CL takes only    lugs of the take-up spool, as shown in
films in cartridges with a standardized   the illustration. Then insert the
spool, having lugs inside both ends.       cartridge in the empty film chamber.
To load the  f ilm, unfold the base plate   Check that the film edge runs parallel
latch (19) and turn to the left. The    to the  f ilm track. On caref ully operat-
whole camera back and base plate can   ing the rapid winding lever (2) the
then be pulled off and remain attached    sprockets of the transport shaft must


                                                                            19

engage the perforation holes of the    ration of the winding lever. Advance
film. Fold down the pressure Plate    the film (after releasing the shutter)
and push the camera back on again.   once more; the automatic  f rame
Lock by turning the base plate latch   counter (1) now indicates No.1 and
(19) and fold down. Advance the   the camera is ready for the first
film by two frames, releasing the   exposure. The  f rame counter (1)
shutter each time.                     operates only if the camera back is
After the second transport movement,    correctly locked in position.
gently tension the film by turning the    After loading the film remember also
rewind crank (18) in the direction of    to set the correct film speed (see page
the arrow.                                 14t.
The film advances correctly if the
rewind crank (18) rotates during ope-

20

www.butkus.us





The film type indicator           Unloading the film
The film type indicator (22) in the   Once the last frame is exposed, the
camera base can be set to the type of    rapid winding lever (2) can no longer
film loaded in the camera, indicated by   be operated. The filrn now needs
the following symbols:                rewinding. Press the rewind release
                                                       (21 ) to disengage the transport,EI : blacr-and-white film              button
                                                                            f ilm    unfold the rewind crank (18), and turn# = daylight type reversal color
@ :  3v1;11.1.1 light type reversal color    in the direction of the arrow. Keep
      film                                 turning until you feel a slight resistance.
NE :  negative color  f ilm              then rotate the crank by a further
                                     turn to wind the film fully back into
                                        the cartridge.
                                 Open the camera and remove the film
                                                      cartri dge.


                                                                                 21