The Minolta CLE is a
TTL-metering manual & automatic exposure
aperture-priority
Aperture priority, often abbreviated ''A'' or ''Av'' (for aperture value) on a camera mode dial, is a digital camera modes, mode on some cameras that allows the user to set a specific aperture value (f-number) while the camera selects a shutter sp ...
35 mm rangefinder camera
A rangefinder camera is a camera fitted with a rangefinder, typically a split-image rangefinder: a range-finding focusing mechanism allowing the photographer to measure the subject distance and take photographs that are in sharp focus.
Most v ...
using
Leica M lenses
The Leica M mount is a camera lens mount introduced in 1954 with the Leica M3, and a range of lenses. It has been used on all the Leica M-series cameras and certain accessories (e.g. Visoflex reflex viewing attachment) up to the current film Le ...
, introduced by
Minolta
was a Japanese manufacturer of cameras, lenses, camera accessories, photocopiers, fax machines, and laser printers. Minolta Co., Ltd., which is also known simply as Minolta, was founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1928 as . It made the first integrated ...
in 1980.
Leica Leica may refer to:
Companies
* Ernst Leitz GmbH, later divided into:
** Leica Biosystems GmbH, a cancer diagnostics company
** Leica Camera AG, a German camera and optics manufacturer
** Leica Geosystems AG, a Swiss manufacturer of surveying and ...
and Minolta signed a technical cooperation agreement in June 1972. One of its results was the joint development of the
Leica CL
The Leica CL is a 135 film, 35mm compact rangefinder camera with interchangeable lenses in the Leica M-mount. It was developed in collaboration with Minolta who manufactured it. It first appeared in April 1973 and was released in the Japanese mar ...
, a compact rangefinder camera introduced in 1973 and discontinued a few years later. The CLE was a new rangefinder body resembling the Leica CL.
Description
The Minolta CLE is based on the Minolta XG-series SLRs. The viewfinder has projected frames for 28 mm, 40 mm and 90 mm focal lengths. It had a black finish, except for run of 300 gold-plated cameras sold in the Japanese market.
this page
a
Cameraquest
The CLE has an electronic focal plane shutter to 1/1000 seconds, and a through-the-lens (TTL) silicon photodiode
A photodiode is a semiconductor diode sensitive to photon radiation, such as visible light, infrared or ultraviolet radiation, X-rays and gamma rays. It produces an electrical current when it absorbs photons. This can be used for detection and me ...
(SPD) exposure meter with aperture-priority automatic or manual exposure, and automated ambient and flash exposure metering system continuing to work and dynamically adjusting the shutter speed and TTL, off the film (OTF) flash during the exposure itself. The ambient metering worked in a very similar way to that employed by the then current Olympus OM-2n
The Olympus OM-2 is a professional single-lens reflex (SLR) film system camera manufactured by Olympus Optical Co., Ltd., later Olympus Corporation, in Japan between 1975 and 1988.
Main features
The Olympus OM-2 is an aperture-priority automatic- ...
single-lens reflex camera
In photography, a single-lens reflex camera (SLR) is a type of camera that uses a mirror and prism system to allow photographers to view through the lens and see exactly what will be captured. SLRs became the dominant design for professional a ...
(SLR) camera. Ambient light was measured by the SPD as it was reflected off a pattern on the shutter curtains. It also proved particularly useful if filters were being used. None of these features would appear on any other body for M-mount lenses until the Konica Hexar RF
The Konica Hexar RF is a 35 mm rangefinder camera which was sold by Konica. It was introduced to the market on 13 October 1999. and subsequently discontinued (apparently without official notice) some time before the end of 2003. The camera used ...
of 1999, which has all but TTL-OTF flash metering and dynamic exposure.
Lenses
Three of Minolta's Rokkor
Rokkor was a brand name used for all Chiyoda Kōgaku Seikō and later Minolta lenses between 1940 and 1980, including a few which were marketed and sold by other companies like Leica. The name was derived from the name of Rokkō (六甲山), ...
brand of lenses were made specially for the CLE: the M-Rokkor 28 mm 2.8 wide-angle, the M-Rokkor (-QF) 40 mm 2 standard, and the M-Rokkor 90 mm 4 telephoto.
The earlier Leica CL 40 mm and 90 mm lenses had single coatings
A coating is a covering that is applied to the surface of an object, or substrate. The purpose of applying the coating may be decorative, functional, or both. Coatings may be applied as liquids, gases or solids e.g. powder coatings.
Paints and ...
, and later Minolta CL-E versions of these two lenses, plus a 28 mm, were multi-coated, with the same optical scheme.[
]
Notes
External links
*
Minolta CLE
at Cameraquest
{{From Camerapedia, Minolta CLE
CLE