richard_arbib

I bought my Minolta CLE and the Minolta Rokkor 28, 40, & 90 mm lenses back in 1981. The 28 did develop those spots in the first five or ten years. I sent the lens to Minolta and they fixed it. I don't know if they replaced the front lens element or what, but when I got the lens back, the spots were gone. I have now had the lens for 37 years and the spots have never returned. The lens is clear like a brand new lens after 37 years. If you have an opportunity to purchase the 28 mm lens without spots now, I would recommend buying it.

<p>I always wanted an Alpa 11si, but never got one back when they were new. As far as I remember, the 10D and 11E both had the same mirror. It was lightened and lengthened on the 11EL and the 11SI, to prevent finder image cutoff with longer lenses. However, one advantage of the two models with the shorter mirrors is that they would be compatible with the very strange motor drive made for the Alpa. By strange, I mean that the motor sits on top of the camera instead of beneath it and it actually advances the film by moving the front facing advance lever that's on the camera. It's difficult to describe, especially since it's so unusual. So if for some reason you wanted one of these motor drives for the camera, the 10D and the 11E would be a better bet. However, the Alpa went to LEDs for meter readout starting with the 11e and went from CdS cells to silicon cells with the 11si. If you can find and afford the 11si, that would probably be the best way to go. I think the last year they were made was 1989. I have a Minolta CLE that I've carried every day since I bought it in 1981, so if you can find an Alpa from the 1980s, it should still work okay if it's been maintained.</p>

<p>Yes, I had a clean and adjustment on my CLE about 7 years ago. One of the things they did was clean the contacts for the self-timer as these can malfunction over time and it only requires a cleaning on the contacts to fix it. They also replaced the foam around the back to prevent light leaks. But what they did with an XG part was to replace something under the shutter speed dial. The repairman described it to me as brushes under the shutter speed dial and I'm sure he said he replaced those with parts from a Minolta XG camera. If that's correct, then it looks like some parts are interchangeable for the CLE. By the way, no shutter speed problems occurred after the repair from 7 years ago, so it looks like it worked okay. </p>

<p>Richard Arbib, August 16, 2009 11:40 p.m.<br>

I've been using my Minolta CLE regularly since 1981 and have the 28, 40, and 90 Rokkor lenses. The 90 is f4 and I've never had problems with focusing close-up portraits. For that matter, I tried a Leica 90 f2.8 on it at a photo show and deliberately tried focusing at the closest focusing distance on a poster of a Leica. It came out sharp enough so that viewers thought it was a photo of a camera, not a photo of a poster. Yes, you might have trouble focusing a 50mm Noctilux f1 lens or the 75 f1.4, but that's not what this camera was made for. You will have no problems with accurate focusing with the lenses made for it and I think you would do fine with the Leica 90 2.8. At distances, it may do fine with the Leica 135 f4, but may have some focusing difficulties at the closest focusing distance. <br>

Nothing has ever broken physically on my camera. It's been cleaned and most electrical problems can be fixed with a cleaning of the electrical contacts. Some of the Minolta CLE parts were used in other Minolta cameras at the same time, so it's not always necessary for repairmen to have spare CLE bodies to fix the camera. Shutter speed dials, shutter parts, etc. were used on some of their other cameras. Also, the black chrome finish is quite sturdy. Mine shows almost no wear, but I do keep the camera in either a Billingham or Domke bag when I'm not taking a photo. </p>