Minolta CLE w/ 40mm f2
The CLE is a Leica M mount camera that Minolta built after building the CL for Leica. It was introduced in 1980. After shooting the M4, the CLE felt like a compact pocket camera. In fact it is only slightly smaller than the M4 but much lighter. That comes at the price of not feeling as much like a precision instrument. But as a camera, it adds some nice features.
The CLE give you a meter and the option to shoot aperture priority. That is how I used it. A row of red lights on the left of the view finder previews the speed. You have to make sure your eye is positioned correctly to see the lights, so a few times I thought it had stopped working or was off. The view finder also show you the frame lines for the 40mm and the 28mm lens, full-time. That was a bit confusing. I was shooting the 40mm so should have used the inside lines but my eye natural deflated to the 28mm full window.
The on/off switch on the front is easy to forget. The good news is that if you leave it on, it turns off after lack of use for 20 seconds so you won't run the battery down. But it does not turn on automatically so you have to remember. The rewind lever is on the bottom of the camera. After rewinding you open the back by pulling out the rewind and rotating the base. And then the glorious back opens up for simple, non-Leica film loading.
My Take
Call me lazy but I liked having the meter and being able to shoot aptitude priority. The frame line made me want to try a 28mm lens. Generally easy to use, not as smooth as the M4 but also not the price of a Leica.
Lens: Minolta M-Rokkor f2 40mm
Film: expired Fuji Color 200
