The Camera I Did Not Know I Needed… First Impressions of the Leica CL

I have been using my Leica CL on a daily basis for the past 3 weeks, which I think makes this the right time to share my initial impressions. Had I done it earlier, everything would have been so heavily coloured by the shock of the new acquisition, it would not have been especially informative. On the other hand, if I wait any longer, the initial impressions will fade.

The Leica CL has been around since 2017, so this is rather late to the game. But I wanted to contribute my experience, because I think my use case scenario differs from what is typical in most of the feedback available online. So perhaps this will be useful for those with similar preferences and needs to mine, who have not found reviews they can relate to.

When posting this type of feedback, I think that context is extremely important. So here is some background information, before I move on to what I think of the camera.

Use Case Scenario
For work: I am a knitwear designer, and in this capacity I require a constant supply of interesting photos of my design samples. So essentially I work as my own photographer {I describe this in more detail here}. For personal projects: My main interest is tableau photography. I also enjoy taking portraits.

Prior Experience with Photography
I have been taking photos since the age of 8. And I have done some paid photography work in the course of my adult life, including editorials, portraits, weddings, and events. However I am not professionally trained in photography. And I am lacking in technical knowledge to a degree that thinking of myself as a ‘professional’ photographer would not be appropriate.

Equipment Preferences
My preferred type of cameras are older {pre-1980 I would say}, mechanical film cameras without electronics, fitted with prime manual-focus lenses. Although I’ve begrudgingly used a DSLR since 2009 {in addition to film}, I have tried to make the digital experience as ‘filmic’ as possible, by using vintage lenses and eschewing most of the advanced features that present-day cameras offer. Here is an account of the cameras I’ve owned and used over the years.

What Attracted Me to the Leica CL
Literally nothing. I was not particularly a fan of the Leica brand. Or of mirrorless cameras. Or of crop sensors. I did not choose to get this camera and would never have suspected it would be the right camera for me. The Leica CL was a gift from my husband, who - after observing my process over the past 8.5 years we’ve been together - decided this was the camera I did not know I needed {I explain this in more detail here}.

Expectations
I expected to use the Leica CL as a portable supplement to my DSLR. Most likely, I thought, I would use it for photos taken while walking and hiking, and for family photos in chaotic environments where a bulky DSLR gets in the way.

Finally, before I go on just a warning that this post will contain zero images of the actual camera being discussed. Considering that every nook and cranny of the Leica CL has already been photographed and shared ad nauseam, I think my contribution in this regard is unnecessary. More useful, I feel, is to show actual photos I have taken with the camera so far, fitted with various lenses. However, here you can see a photo of me holding the Leica CL, just to give you a sense of size and proportion.

With all of that laid out, my first impressions can be summarised as follows…

I love the photo quality, the user experience, and the versatility of the Leica CL beyond anything that I had expected. After three weeks of ownership, I am confident in saying it has replaced my former DSLR for both work-related and personal photography.

That is admittedly a dramatic summary. So I will try to break it down into manageable and reasoned sections.

Presentation
The camera was purchased pre-owned, but virtually unused. It arrived in its original designery packaging that reminded me of the way Apple products are packaged. Personally, I do not find this sort of thing especially exciting. But if you are into packaging design, you will be delighted by the presentation.

Look and Feel
On first impression, I thought the Leica CL was pleasingly small… but disappointingly modern-looking. I had read that the CL was modelled after the Leica III series. I suppose I took this literally and expected the silhouette, the knobs, the lettering, etc., to resemble our Leica IIIf - which the CL absolutely does not {you can see a photo of the two cameras together here}. The silhouette of the CL is sleek - in the sense that there are no ungainly bulbous or angular bits sticking out in various directions. But it looks like a present-day digital camera, with a prominent live-view screen, modern-looking knobs/ wheels/ buttons, and general contemporary styling. If I had to summarise the overall aesthetic, I would describe it as minimalist, to the point that the camera is nearly invisible. The matte surface and the lack of markings on the knobs and buttons contributes to this unobtrusiveness. I did not at any point look at the camera and think ‘Wow!’ Rather, I thought ‘Oh, okay. Nice and low-key.’

I cannot meaningfully comment on build quality, as I have no real understanding of these things. But I can say the CL felt more solid and less ‘plasticky’ than any other digital camera I’ve used.

In my hands the camera felt good: not too small and perfectly comfortable to grip. I have fairly long hands and fingers, so I was a bit worried it would be awkward to hold on to - but the ergonomics work well for me. The surface has a nice non-slip feel to it. And I immediately felt that the controls, as well as the viewfinder, were intuitively placed.

Setup

In honesty, this is a part of my initial experience with the CL I would rather forget like a bad dream. I am not averse to configuring electronics. And considering I have a PhD, I do not think it’s unreasonable to describe myself as moderately intelligent. And yet, much to my embarrassment, I could not figure out how to set up this camera. It was not obvious by merely going through the controls. And the official instructions were remarkably unhelpful. It took hours of watching third party YouTube videos to piece together what I needed to know in order to figure out the basics. I had expected to take the camera out of its packaging, charge the battery, insert an SD card, and immediately start taking photos - so my inability to use it out of the box was frustrating. By some miracle, I finally figured it out on day 2.

Ease of Use {After the Initial Setup}
Having written the above, I have to admit the initial setup frustration has been forgiven and forgotten. Because once I did manage to set up the CL, it became extremely easy and intuitive to use. I do not intend to go into technical detail here, as plenty of others describe this aspect of the CL. But to briefly summarise: The knobs, buttons, and wheels are all programmable. So I have all my settings exactly where I want them, which allows me to operate the camera on procedural memory {PS, speaking as a psychologist: when people use the term ‘body memory,’ they really mean procedural memory. These are different things}.

Being a stranger to such newfangled features, I found the wifi connectivity, and the whatchamacallit - where you can install the Leica app on your smartphone and then browse/download images directly from the camera - a fun novelty. Admittedly, this is quite useful and time-saving for posting images on instagram.

The one feature I have not used yet and therefore cannot comment on, is the remote control feature - which is also operated through the smartphone app. It seems easy and obvious enough; I just haven’t had occasion to try it yet.

Image Quality
The thing that struck me after using this camera for the first time {with its native Leica Elmarit 18mm lens}, was the image quality. I don’t know what word is appropriate to use here, but maybe something like glorious? It was as if the images glistened with a subtle ethereal glow. I know that sounds ridiculous, but that was genuinely my impression.

Attempting to describe it in more objective terms: I noticed a great deal of nuance {different from merely ‘detail’} in the way textures are rendered, especially fabrics and human skin. Considering that my work-related photography involves photographing people wearing knitwear, this was a very exciting and welcome thing to see.

In addition, I noticed immediately that I was getting better results in challenging light conditions - including ‘flat’ light, hazy light, piercing sunshine, and so on. In particular, I experienced fewer issues with fringing, fewer issues with blown highlights, and fewer issues with photographing ‘difficult’ colours such as vibrant reds. At first I attributed all of this to the superiority of the Leica lens. However, I then proceeded to try all the vintage Zeiss lenses from my former DSLR setup on the CL body, and they all preformed better in these respects than they had previously. I am not even remotely knowledgeable enough to theorise how that is possible, and what it is about the CL that results in this difference, compared to a quite capable and respectable DSLR camera. I am just describing what I see, and leaving it at that.

The image quality alone made me re-evaluate how I viewed the Leica CL. I began to realise that it was poised to replace, rather than supplement, my DSLR.

Focusing
Aside from the image quality, the big revelation was focusing. Which became a lot easier. I remember that I disliked quite strongly the electronic viewfinder and the focus-assist features on the Fuji XPro, so it came as a surprise that I did not mind them on the Leica CL. The ‘not minding’ soon turned to appreciation, as I noticed the relative lack of eye strain when taking photos with the CL compared to my DSLR. In fact, I had not realised just how much I had been straining my eyes with my former setup until I started using this camera. The focus assistance comes in especially handy when working in conditions where the cold and wind make my eyes water, as well as when using telephoto lenses - which I had previously found difficult to focus. Macro photography at a wide aperture also benefits visibly from the focus assist.

Lens Compatibility
One thing I did not fully grasp when reading and watching reviews of the Leica CL {after my husband announced he was getting it for me, I did some frantic research}, and only began to appreciate once I had it, is that - unlike a rangefinder - this mirrorless camera can accept a wide variety of lenses, with an adaptor. So in addition to having the 18mm Elmarit lens that came with the camera, I was simply able to migrate all of the vintage Zeiss lenses I used with my DSLR setup onto the CL. With a different adaptor, I was also able to use the M-Mount lenses from my husband’s Leica M9. And with a different adaptor still, I was even able to use the older screw-mount lenses from my Zorkiy rangefinders and our Leica IIIf. I am still processing the miracle of this amazing versatility, and will no doubt have more to say about it once I have used the camera, with various lenses, for an extended period of time.

Crop Sensor vs Full Frame
Of course it is not quite accurate to say that migrating lenses to the Leica CL is ‘straightforward.’ Because the lenses are intended for a 35mm film/ full frame digital camera, they behave differently on the crop-sensor CL. The focal length is reduced on the crop sensor, and the depth of field less shallow. So in other words, a 24mm lens placed onto the Leica CL becomes the equivalent of a 35mm, a 35mm the equivalent of a 50mm, the 50mm the equivalent of a 75mm, and so on. Similarly, a lens with the widest aperture of f2, becomes an f3 lens on the Leica CL, an f2.8 becomes the equivalent of an f4, and so on. So even thought I am using all of my old lenses, they are suddenly transformed to slightly different lenses!

Having said that… Looking at my images, I cannot say that the visuals always support the full frame to crop sensor conversion charts. I wrote about this here with respect to depth of field, and here with respect to focal length. For example: If you look at the image above, it is meant to be a 35mm equivalent, but I am seeing distortions in proportions that suggest a wider angle.

The other issue pertaining to the crop sensor is, of course, resolution. Am I not ‘downgrading’ by switching to a crop sensor from a full frame? Put simply: Not according to what I am seeing come out of this camera. And the tech-focused reviews out there seem to agree with this: Unless your use case scenario involves printing billboard-sized images, on this camera the crop sensor is a non-issue. The difference in resolution is not noticeable within the bounds of typical use.

Leica CL + vintage Leica Summicron 50mm f2.5

Low Light
Since, aside from sharing my initial setup frustrations, I have only mentioned positive things about this camera, it is only fair that I end on a ‘not so sure’ note.

One thing that seems to come up repeatedly in the Leica CL reviews I read, is how brilliantly it performs in low light conditions at high ISOs. Granted, I do not typically shoot in very low light or use ISO over 800, so it’s probably simply due to lack of experience - but I haven’t really managed to take the types of bright and noise-free photos at exotic ISO settings that I have seen posted online. I suppose, if I wanted to explore this further, I would put in some effort into understanding the methods others use for taking such photos. But as I am not that interested, that is not high up on my priorities list.

Remote
Another ‘not so sure’ issue that occurs to me now, is the remote feature. Even though it seems easy enough to use via the phone app, I do wish there was a physical remote option as well. My phone is quite large, and hiding it in the shot whilst also trying to deal with the app and to operate the remote, may be tricky. My favourite method for taking self-portraits is actually to use one of those vintage corded bulb-shaped triggers that plug into a physical port on the camera. You can easily hide the long cord and the bulb itself under a rug if indoors, or amidst some grass if outdoors, and step on it in order to release the shutter. It is much less noticeable that holding a remote in your hands, and less hectic than running back and forth to operate a self-timer. Alas, the Leica CL does not have a port for these things. But in any case, I will update on using the remote feature via the app, once I get a chance to try it.

In Summary…
To reiterate: I am taken aback by the photo quality, the user experience, and the versatility of the Leica CL. The fact it’s compatible with all of my vintage Zeiss lenses, as well as with Leica M-mount lenses, is amazing and offers so many possibilities.

As someone who prefers analogue experiences over digital ones, I will never exactly ‘enjoy’ using the electronic viewfinder and the associated focus-assist features. However, I admit that these very features have been extremely useful and have improved my focusing accuracy, especially under challenging conditions.

I prefer the Leica CL over both the Nikon and the Canon full-frame DSLR systems I’ve used in the past, and the crop sensor is a non-issue. I prefer the Leica CL over the Fuji XPro mirrorless system I’ve used in the past by a very {very} wide margin, and am baffled that some consider these cameras to be in the same league.

Compared to my husband’s Leica M9… I cannot deny that I prefer the optical experience of the M9. But for work-related photography I do not think that I could forgo the convenience and ‘safety net’/ peace of mind offered by the focus-assist features of the CL now that I have experienced them. So if I ever get an M-series in future, it would have to be in addition, rather than instead of the CL.

The Leica CL has swiftly replaced my DSLR for both work-related and personal photography. It has exceeded my expectations and I am beyond pleased with this camera I did not know I needed.

I will try to update in a year’s time.

The Camera I Did Not Know I Needed… First Impressions of the Leica CL

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