Leica CL

Leica CL with Leica Summicron-C 40mm 2.0

Leica CL repair

The analog Leica CL is now almost 50 (!) years old and a popular camera classic with many of the classic Leica characteristics. With the cooperation partner Minolta from Japan the Leica CL " Compact Leica" - small, light, easy to use and of high quality, with Leica M bayonet and built-in light meter.

This was used earlier - as was the case with the Leica M5 - the mercury-containing PX 625 / 1.35V batteries, which are no longer available today for environmental reasons. Alternatively, the current, mercury-free 1.5V batteries V625U can be used. When using these batteries with too high a voltage (1.5V instead of 1.35V), up to 3 light values too many are displayed, so the exposure measurement is incorrect. In the course of a technical overhaul, the Leica CL can be readjusted to the higher voltage of the 1.5V battery so that its use does not lead to incorrect exposures.

With the Leica CL you have to However, we know that many of the cameras now have electronic faults that are usually difficult to repair or are considered irreparable. In particular the cable that connects the CdS sensor of the light meter - which sits on a swivel arm in the beam path - with the camera electronics is according to many nowadays Years of use and storage become brittle and fragile and lead to loose contact or even cable breakage. Many electronic components on the circuit board under the housing cover are now oxidized and steamed up.

A repair on a Leica CL is therefore often an "operation on a terminally ill patient" and therefore also "experimental". Adjusting the exposure metering is also quite expensive at around EUR 250 because it is correspondingly complex. So you have to be emotionally attached to your camera to have this work done.

Tip:

The Leica CL is a mechanical one Camera, for example, regarding transport and shutter, a battery is only required for exposure measurement. Basically, a classic Leica CL can also be used without the built-in exposure meter, for example with the external exposure meter KEKS Exposure Meter Digital EM-01 .

View of the CdS exposure sensor, which sits on a swiveling arm in the beam path of the housing directly in front of the sealing cloth and the film plane. Immediately before an exposure, the arm is moved out of the beam path and then swivels back to the position shown. The connecting cable between the sensor and the camera electronics under the housing cover becomes brittle due to the "constant" bending during use and the "kinked state" during storage over the years and ultimately breaks. Before that, loose contacts can be observed.