Throughout my pursuit in the photography journey for more than a decade, my focus has always been on the hunt for the most suitable full frame camera to use for work and personal use. Regardless of the brand, the “perfect” camera has to at least fulfill these three criteria: wide range of lens adaptability and availability, high megapixel count, and within my acceptable budget.
Clearly, camera size and weight don’t really matter to me as for the longest time, the idea of carrying a compact camera never really appealed to me. Personally, if I am making an effort to bring out a camera, why even bother with its size and weight. And if I am documenting my daily life, a phone camera will suffice as we are not trying to make any masterpiece. With these definite thoughts in mind, I went on to sell off my compact camera, the Canon G7X Mark III which I barely use to purchase the latest pro iPhone thinking it would be able to replace the effort of actually bringing a camera out.
After about three months of exclusively using the iPhone to document my daily life, reality hits me in the head. Looking at those images from my desktop, something always felt wrong and missing from the image. Everything from the oversharpening of the images, to the lacking of depth, to images looking flat bothers me a lot. They might be clinically right, but those images just aren’t good enough to even make a small print to my preference now let alone to even consider it as a documentary tool for my precious memories for decades to come. From this experience, the idea of compactness stood out to me. Immediately, I went on researching for my next camera to purchase, which has a small form factor yet minimal compromise in usage and image quality. Nothing attracted me at first but as I was completing this sentence, my friend, the devil, struck, introducing me to the Leica CL and brainwashing me with the Leica philosophy of portability. At first, it was strange, as I did not even know the existence of this camera, let alone owning one.
Long story short, I purchased it despite having a million doubts in my mind. After months of intensive use taking more than 5,000 images, I have grown to love this camera more, and it scratches an itch that I didn’t know existed. I have got to say, this camera has defied all odds that I believe what a camera should be. Despite being a discontinued and an APS-C sensor size camera in such a small form factor, nothing about this camera is cut short. It performs as well as any of my cameras if not better while maintaining great portability when coupled with the Leica Elmarit-TL 18mm f/2.8 ASPH making it the perfect blend of pocketability and performance camera. In this article, I am going to discuss with you why the Leica CL is my new preferred carry around camera.
Compact and Lightweight
The Leica CL, when paired with the Leica Elmarit-TL 18 f/2.8 ASPH, has such a small form factor that weighs less than 500 g and dimensions of 131 x 75 x 66 mm, which is pretty small compared to any other interchangeable lens cameras in the market. The lightweight design of the Leica CL makes it an excellent and convenient choice to bring around during long photo sessions or just to document daily life.
Affordability and Value for Money
For those who are looking to buy into a piece of Leica heritage, the Leica CL may be your top choice. As it is a discontinued model, it is considerably a much more cost-effective option for those seeking to get an interchangeable lens Leica camera or even merely just to get the famous “Leica look” color science in your images. In my humble opinion, the Leica CL offers the best balance between performance and cost, providing good value for money for photographers who are interested in entering the Leica system and are also not willing to invest in higher-priced models.
Lens Adaptability and Versatility
Leica CL also offers versatility in lens choices by having the latest L-Mount developed by Leica Camera. The latest L-Mount Alliance which is a partnership between Leica Camera, Sigma, Panasonic, Ernst Leitz Wetzlar GmbH, DJI, ASTRODESIGN, SAMYANG and Blackmagic Design aims to provide photographers with one unified lens mount standard which allows them to combine lenses and cameras made by the five alliance. Other than that, it also allows the adaptability of lenses from different camera brands to be used on the Leica CL due to the short flange distance inherited by the L-Mount itself if you do not feel like shooting with Leica lenses. This flexibility has proven advantageous for adapting to various photographic situations.
Great Street and Travel Camera
Being a 24-megapixel camera, it hits the perfect sweet spot between having too many megapixels to handle and having too few megapixels to not resolve enough details for everyday shooting. Another upside of using the Leica CL is that the file size will also be decent enough to not bloat your storage space, which makes it a joy to just shoot whenever and whatever during your travel trips. The compact size of the Leica CL also contributes to its discreet appearance, which makes it ideal for street photography, allowing photographers to blend into the surroundings and capture candid moments without drawing unnecessary attention compared to using a larger camera.
Powerhouse
Despite being such a small APS-C sensor camera, the Leica CL is capable of delivering high-quality images and performance comparable to much larger full-frame cameras, showcasing its capabilities to be used for professional photography. Not to mention the responsiveness and “snap-ability” of this tiny camera are second to none, which makes the process of photographing stress-free and enjoyable.
Intuitive Design
Lastly, some credit has to be given to the minimalistic and aesthetic looking camera design that Leica has put on this camera. The implementation of the dual customizable dial design is extremely brilliant in enabling users to customize for a wide range of shooting scenarios. The touch screen, customizable Fn button coupled with the simple menu system is also a clear win for those who just want to focus on the shooting experience and not fiddle with the settings here and there.
In summary, the Leica CL has earned a permanent spot in my camera bag mainly due to its portability, versatility, and its capability to deliver high-quality images in such a small form factor. These features collectively make the Leica CL a practical camera that inspires me to bring it everywhere to shoot. Look this way if you are looking for a camera that will give you pure shooting pleasure, and look elsewhere if you are just comparing spec sheets and looking to get the latest camera in the market. Lastly, share with me your favorite carry-around camera. I would love to know what is the camera that inspires you to go out and create images.
