How Many of Us Started Our Leice Experiance on a CL?

[filmtwit]

Was your first Leica a CL?

[lam]

I wonder if he could narrow it even further as to say, first lens Jupiter-8?? This was my first Leica and first combo.. I loved the results from it, and still do!
I love CL's I have one now still.


Leica CL, Jupiter-8 by lamlux.net, on Flickr

[kbg32]

Yes, my first Leica was a Leitz Minolta CL that I bought new in 1978 at Camera Barn. (Who knew that I would be working there 6 months later!). I owned that CL for a really short time. It just wasn't robust enough for me. I traded it in at Ken Hansen's old shop on 34th Street for a well used Leica DS M3 with a Canon 50/1.8 Serenar. To me, that M3 really was my first Leica.

[Vickko]

I think the CL was my second Leica. M4 was first, then CL, then M5. Those were the days.

[Montag006]

I started with a Leicaflex SL - long gone! - then an early M3.. gone too, D'oh!

[Chris Bail]

IIIa was my first. CL was second.

[sparrow6224]

Of course this is a skewed poll -- well they're all skewed but this one particularly so -- because really mainly CL owners/users will be drawn to it. I got my first Leica, a CL of course, from the counterman at the old Mill Luncheonette on upper Broadway, in 1982. Iw as so young and naive I didn't realize it was hot. But it had to have been. With 40mm f/2 Summicron. Since lost in a divorce. But I have my own replacement now. It's a great camera on which to mount the VC 21/4 (with viewfinder of course). That set looks fabulous together.

[ElectroWNED]

CL w/ Nokton 40... sold it after one roll.

[burancap]

CL is my most recent...

[filmtwit]

Hah!
I would say it was skewed only if the originator had also started on a CL!

Originally Posted by sparrow6224

Of course this is a skewed poll -- well they're all skewed but this one particularly so -- because really mainly CL owners/users will be drawn to it. I got my first Leica, a CL of course, from the counterman at the old Mill Luncheonette on upper Broadway, in 1982. Iw as so young and naive I didn't realize it was hot. But it had to have been. With 40mm f/2 Summicron. Since lost in a divorce. But I have my own replacement now. It's a great camera on which to mount the VC 21/4 (with viewfinder of course). That set looks fabulous together.

BTW - my rangefinder was a CLE!

[siracusa]

My first Leica was an SLR. No! I tell a lie - it was a minilux. The lens was amazing, and thats what got me into Leicas. I then went down the SLR route, first with a Leicaflex. That camera felt amazing to use, but when the meter packed in I sold it for an R series SLR. Again, the lens quality kept me hooked. I used that along with a battered IIIC, realised I preferred using rangefinders and then began saving for an M2. I never used the SLR once I had an M2 but I still kept it for a fair old while because the Summicron-r 50 on it had seen better days but produced amazing images, and I eventually sold it a couple of years back. So I'm afraid I don't fit any of the voting options - as my first Leica experience wasn't CL, wasn't M, and wasn't a non-Leica non-CL.

[ruby.monkey]

I started with an M3 + 50mm Summicron; and whatever else comes and goes, I think I'll be finishing with it.

Never tried a CL but every time one comes up for sale, a little part of me itches to reach for my wallet.

[johannielscom]

When I created an account here, I choose 'CLE-RF' as a handle. For obvious reasons!

[menthel]

M6 and now an M9 too. I have not handled a CL but they look a bit small to me. The M6 fits me perfectly.

[NeeZee]

"My first Leica wasn't a Leica or a CL"
Logically, that's not even possible. Also, what do I vote if my first (and still only) Leica was a IIIf? Strange poll, indeed...

[ruby.monkey]

Originally Posted by NeeZee

"My first Leica wasn't a Leica or a CL"
Logically, that's not even possible. Also, what do I vote if my first (and still only) Leica was a IIIf? Strange poll, indeed...

Starting with a D-LUX?

[NeeZee]

Originally Posted by ruby.monkey

Starting with a D-LUX?

yeah, or a leica fake...

[thejameskendall]

Almost, but then i changed for a M6 at the last moment. the longer EBL won out. but i might get one when i've settled into my lenses and have an M8. maybe this time next year. love the size and the AE.

[giellaleafapmu]

Originally Posted by filmtwit

Was your first Leica a CL?

No it was a R3 Mot (I am a veiw camera and SLR guy mostly) but my first RF Leica was indeed a CL, and it is still one of my favorite cameras today.

GLF

[MISH]

as stated by someone above the Cl was not my first Leica but so far it has been my last ........I only wish I had given in to temptation a little sooner

[boomguy57]

I started on a Minolta CL as my first leica. I didn't have it long as I wanted more accurate focusing and, frankly, I hate the way you load the film. Taking the whole thing apart was cumbersome.

[malkmata]

I had a CL in the early 1990's but didn't realized it's true potential because I was primarily an Nikon SLR shooter then. Shooting mostly telephotos and zooms. Sold it with two lenses to finance a Nikon F100 when it came out. Now, since I came back to film from digital in 2008, I've been shooting mostly with rangefinders including my two Ms.

[zuiko85]

Looked at the Cl when I decided to fulfill lifelong dream for a Leica M kit. It just seemed to be too close in price to a an M2 or M4-2 to save much money. And of course the lenses, CV and Leica would be a major expense and then there would be an extra viewfinder for a 35mm lens, something I had already bought because of a very good price. In fact, if not for a deal falling into my lap on a couple of CV lenses I would not have considered getting an M kit. Kind of backed into the system, lenses first, then looked for a body. Anyone else get into the Leica M system by buying lenses first?

[Roger Hicks]

Hardly. They hadn't been invented then. And once they were invented, their impact was very modest. Most Leica users of that era dismissed them as rather nasty little cameras. Those who could afford 'real' Leicas dismissed them as not 'real', and those who couldn't afford them dismissed them because they couldn't afford them.

Cheers,

R.

[sepiareverb]

M7 & 50/2 kit here.