john_collier3

It cut off my last word again! Frameline. I will inset this garbage

sentence s

The CLE lenses do not use the steep cam, only the CL lenses do. The

CLE lenses work fine on any Leica M camera but the CLE 28 will bring

up the 35/135 frameline on a Leica M camera. It is possible to modify

the bayonet flange by adding extra material to bring up the correct

framel

Well it cut off my final line which was to say that the CL took sales

away from Leica's premium (and money making) cameras

I have not used a CL extensively but can answer your questions. The

eyepeice correction lenses are CL only and are extremely difficult to

find (found this in the Leica-users archives). The 40mm summicron is a

very sharp, highly regarded lens and just as good as the 50mm

summicron of the day (ie. excellent). Both of the 90mm f4 lenses were

made by Leitz in Germany and are very good if a little slow compared

to what we are now used to. The lenses for the CLE were multicoated

but they also used a different focussing cam. The original CL lenses

used a "steep" cam that was different from the M camera's lens cam.

When Minolta made the CLE and its lenses they switched to the M camera

type of cam so these lens are not supposed to focus accurately on the

CL. I have heard people say they work just fine but would recomend you

do your own focussing tests with a yard stick to be sure before

buying. The CL rangefinder is fine for focussing its lenses. I would

not mount a 50mm f1.4 to it nor would I mount a 90mm f2.0. If you

stick with the CL's original lenses you will get sharp contrasty

properly focussed images. Some people use a 90mm F2.8 and say it

focusses fine but do your own tests first. The CL was a great camera

and singlehandedly killed off the M5 and almost took out the M4 line

as well. Leica stopped making them as they made very little money off

them, though Minolta did alright making them for Leica, and the CL

took away from sales of t

The winder M (as well as the winder M4-P and the winder M4-2

serial no. 10350 and up) fires at three frames per second with light

pressure on the shutter release. The shutter release button cycles up

and down as it working. As long as you do not have a choke hold on the

camera it works just fine. The above mentioned winders use a motor

that is "on" all the time and when the wind cycle is complete a shock

absorber in the winder takes the load of the motor stopping off of the

camera winding mechanism. This shock absorber in the winder includes

some foam which, after repeatedly getting the stuffing knocked out of

it, fails and allows body of the winder to be struck. Voila, a loud

clank results. It can be repaired, I just had mine done a short while

ago. The winder is never "whisper quiet" as Leica advertises (I must

confess I have never heard any Germans whispering so I am not truly

qualified to make the last statement) but compares favourably to a

motorized N**** F3 or other such beast.

The winder M4-2 serial no. 10349 and older is a completely

different winder. There is no continuous feature and winder is not

"on" all the time. The winder is switched "on" by a rod in the shutter

release mechanism of the camera. This shutter release button - rod -

winder system is quite often out of adjustment resulting in the winder

being switched "on" if you slightly depress the shutter release button

but decide not to fire the shutter. Some pretty amazing noises result

scaring the life out of the unsuspecting photographer (and PopPhoto I

might add).

The only cameras these winders work on are the M4-2, M4-P and M6

series of cameras. The early winder only works on M4-2 and most M4-P

cameras (those M4-Ps that do not have the shutter release rod can be

modified) but I would avoid this winder for the aforementioned

reasons