From our New Years Day hike, about 11-12 miles round trip with our 2 dogs. We were all wooped! Nikon n65, nikon 28-80, hp5+ w/ yellow filter, d76 1:1, pakon scan
imagesfromobjects wrote:
I maybe sorta kinda accidentally just bought a Minolta CLE.
Oops! My finger must have slipped. Anyway, been eyeing one for a looooong time. This one had my name all over it- super cheap because, according to the seller, the meter is wonky but it works perfectly in manual mode sans meter. Meters are great but I don't really care cuz there's Sunny16 and an app for that. Guy seems legit, 100% feedback and returns accepted, so should be fine.
My 1st M mount camera! Very excited. Now, if only I hadn't sold off all my M lenses DOH! Gonna have to pick up a CV 40/1.4 ASAP and may have to part ways with something to ease the sting a little.
Ya I had two of them in perfect shape, and they both failed out of the blue. One after I sold it, the other after I took it out of its dry box where it was stored w/o batteries since I last used it. After I had that one fixed (took months and I could only find one guy who would do it - I think his name was Dave Easterwood) I sold it off.
Works perfectly in manual mode? Careful there as the shutter is electronically controlled, when mine failed they went funky in manual too. I would run it through all the speeds several times to see how it behaves. But really, if the camera's meter doesn't work there is no reason to pick this over a Leica M2/3/4 etc. Those have no electrical issues as full mechanical, have a much more accurate RF, are nicer to hold and are built much much nicer. The CLEs are actually plastic cameras with a metal paint/coating over it to make it seem sturdier.
I also found the CLEs too small for my medium sized hands, I kept on accidentally pressing the lens release button when I held it.
Sorry to be a buzz kill, but I was just shocked when both mine just packed it in.
Jon Buffington wrote:
From our New Years Day hike, about 11-12 miles round trip with our 2 dogs. We were all wooped! Nikon n65, nikon 28-80, hp5+ w/ yellow filter, d76 1:1, pakon scan
Desmolicious wrote:
Jon these images have such a nice snap to them. Guess from the yellow filter?
Possibly. I had not shot any hp5 in a quite some time even though I have a large stash of it. Was time to shoot something different and was glad for the choice. I tend to find hp5 snappier than triX but with more grain. I have 100'+ of triX here but doubt after that if I will stay with it.
It is possible it is from the yellow filter. The development was along recommended times. Only adjustments was really setting the black point, pulling back any highlights that needed it and minimal sharpening. Maybe some burning on overlook shots. That is it.
Feb 21, 2019 at 09:48 AM
imagesfromobjects Offline • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
Not at all, I appreciate the input. I tend to do my homework very thoroughly when making purchases. Don apparently still works on CLEs, but tends to take several months and is spotty with communication. That doesn't work for me.
This one was $250, so it's true that it'll be an expensive paperweight if it fails completely, but it's still a fraction of the cost I could get the M4-P (only other one on my radar) for and it has 40mm framelines and 40mm is my jam.
I'll have it in hand today and of course will test and re-test it. Anything flinchy, it's going back - I have 30 days. From what I gather, much of the failures are related to the contacts under the shutter speed dial and under the batteries. It seems rarer that the whole board goes. We'll see, I guess!
Thanks for the heads-up, totally valid and all reasons I was hesitant, but at that price, I just had to.
Desmolicious wrote:
Ya I had two of them in perfect shape, and they both failed out of the blue. One after I sold it, the other after I took it out of its dry box where it was stored w/o batteries since I last used it. After I had that one fixed (took months and I could only find one guy who would do it - I think his name was Dave Easterwood) I sold it off.
Works perfectly in manual mode? Careful there as the shutter is electronically controlled, when mine failed they went funky in manual too. I would run it through all the speeds several times to see how it behaves. But really, if the camera's meter doesn't work there is no reason to pick this over a Leica M2/3/4 etc. Those have no electrical issues as full mechanical, have a much more accurate RF, are nicer to hold and are built much much nicer. The CLEs are actually plastic cameras with a metal paint/coating over it to make it seem sturdier.
I also found the CLEs too small for my medium sized hands, I kept on accidentally pressing the lens release button when I held it.
Sorry to be a buzz kill, but I was just shocked when both mine just packed it in.
If Don is DAG, then he doesn't work on them. I checked. Dave Easterwood was the only person who I could find to fix it, and he did. Eventually...
I don't think he replaced anything, but painstakingly took everything apart and cleaned the years of oxidation/dirt build up that I think is what really kills these cameras. I already cleaned the battery area and the contacts under the shutter button - did not help.
Anyway, good luck and you have the return policy so will be ok. The CLE actually is the best 28mm RF shooter out there. The frame lines for 28mm is perfect.
imagesfromobjects wrote:
Not at all, I appreciate the input. I tend to do my homework very thoroughly when making purchases. Don apparently still works on CLEs, but tends to take several months and is spotty with communication. That doesn't work for me.
This one was $250, so it's true that it'll be an expensive paperweight if it fails completely, but it's still a fraction of the cost I could get the M4-P (only other one on my radar) for and it has 40mm framelines and 40mm is my jam.
I'll have it in hand today and of course will test and re-test it. Anything flinchy, it's going back - I have 30 days. From what I gather, much of the failures are related to the contacts under the shutter speed dial and under the batteries. It seems rarer that the whole board goes. We'll see, I guess!
Thanks for the heads-up, totally valid and all reasons I was hesitant, but at that price, I just had to.
Sorry, yes- typo. I meant Dave, the guy you mentioned. Folks on RF have very mixed reviews and he goes awol for long stretches w no communication. Nope. Yeah, I read DAG doesn't do it anymore. I'm putting the horse before the cart here, but there's a guy an hour outside of Philly that can probably do it if it comes down to it. I trust him and I can physically go get my camera if it's taking too long, ha.
Desmolicious wrote:
If Don is DAG, then he doesn't work on them. I checked. Dave Easterwood was the only person who I could find to fix it, and he did. Eventually...
I don't think he replaced anything, but painstakingly took everything apart and cleaned the years of oxidation/dirt build up that I think is what really kills these cameras. I already cleaned the battery area and the contacts under the shutter button - did not help.
Anyway, good luck and you have the return policy so will be ok. The CLE actually is the best 28mm RF shooter out there. The frame lines for 28mm is perfect.
Well, on the CLE front, I'm.... gonna think happy thoughts? I popped a couple new silver oxide batteries in after gently swabbing the terminals and, lo and behold, the meter seems to be working PERFECTLY. cross-referenced with an app and two different cameras on multiple ASA settings and it is consistently on point.
WOWZERS.
Knocking on wood, crossing my fingers and all that. Tomorrow I'll test the shutter speeds and I'll run a test roll this week. Apprehensive, but stoked for now.
imagesfromobjects wrote:
Well, on the CLE front, I'm.... gonna think happy thoughts? I popped a couple new silver oxide batteries in after gently swabbing the terminals and, lo and behold, the meter seems to be working PERFECTLY. cross-referenced with an app and two different cameras on multiple ASA settings and it is consistently on point.
WOWZERS.
Knocking on wood, crossing my fingers and all that. Tomorrow I'll test the shutter speeds and I'll run a test roll this week. Apprehensive, but stoked for now.
Score! Congrats, that sort of stuff always happens to other people!
The thing to know is the CLE reads off the film plane on the lower speeds (I think under 1/30 sec) so if you test it without film in it, it will not give accurate shutter speeds under that speed. I think it will actually time much longer. Above 1/30 it reads off the shutter curtain pattern and stores that for the exposure.
Feb 22, 2019 at 12:53 AM
imagesfromobjects Offline • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
Hahaha, dude I can't tell you how many cameras have randomly crapped out on me. This is definitely an anomaly for me. Cautiously optimistic here.
Running a test roll with a Jupiter 8 right now, framing is not ideal but it should give me an idea if the rangefinder is way off. I should have a Nokton 40/1.4 here in a day or two (from an FM'r) so will be able to test on a proper M mount 40mm.
This is my first rangefinder camera, and although I've shot plenty of zone focus with other film and digital cameras, focusing close and wide open is a VERY different experience here through the viewfinder. I think I'm going to enjoy it, but I'm definitely going to keep a couple SLRs around for critical portrait stuff.
Thanks for the tip - I didn't realize that it was only off the film plane for <1/30 shots, good to know. The J8 extends far back enough that you can actually see the meter change +/- 2 stops when you go from mfd to infinity. I'm wondering if that was what the seller was talking about. Huh. I'll have to write him, I'm curious about the history. It came with the original flash, leather case and instruction manual, so he may have been the original owner. Hm.
If it craps out, hopefully I can still sell the flash hahaha.
Desmolicious wrote:
Score! Congrats, that sort of stuff always happens to other people!
The thing to know is the CLE reads off the film plane on the lower speeds (I think under 1/30 sec) so if you test it without film in it, it will not give accurate shutter speeds under that speed. I think it will actually time much longer. Above 1/30 it reads off the shutter curtain pattern and stores that for the exposure.
Ran across some from last spring I forgot to finish up. I believe all were taken with the FM2n and the film was fuji xtra 400 or c200. Out and about in the countryside. Lenses were I believe the series e 50 and 75-150
Feb 23, 2019 at 11:19 AM
imagesfromobjects Offline • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
Test roll, Minolta CLE and Nokton 40/1.4, Expired ColorPlus 200. I couldn't wait for my lab to open on Monday, so I grabbed this film which I wasn't crazy about (hence relegating it to the freezer and test roll use) and dragged the year-old chemicals out of the fridge and pushed the developing time quite a bit. I wasn't expecting much, just was feeling impatient, but it was pretty cool to shoot a roll and see the results the same day!
