After testing the Leica TL2 and CL last year and a lengthy back and forth over which one I liked better - even flirting briefly with the idea of going full-out for an M10D - I happened across a barely used TL2 on eBay at a price I just couldn’t pass up.
Done!
I added a new Visoflex Type 020, the tiny, manual focus Voigtländer Ultron 28mm f/2 and a no-name M to L adapter to round it out for my personal work.
When Claudia and I flew over to London in early December, this is the kit I took with me. And I loved it. Loved the feel, handling, size, and unobtrusiveness of it. I loved the tilting EVF. Loved the imagery I got with it.
Except when I wasn't practically pulling out what few hairs I have left in my head because of focus issues.
My eyes just aren't what they used to be, even with focus peaking and focus magnification.
And I learned you can’t set lens corrections on the TL2.
So let me ask you this: in the realm of the material world, does it get much better than when - just days after you and your spouse return from a week of street photography in London with Sean Tucker and friends -- Leica reaches out to you; sends you a CL with that Eye-Res EVF and a pile of glass; and tells you, essentially, have a party? Shoot whatever you want?
No.
Now, I’ve been clear from day one that I don’t review Leica cameras the way I do other cameras. I KNOW I’m not objective about them because of my personal history with the brand going back to when I was 7 years old. It’s the brand that got me into photography, AFTER I held a single Kodachrome slide up to the light of a piece of driftwood at water’s edge my mother shot on a Leica IIIa she bought second hand from Bauhaus-trained photographer Hilde Hubbock.
A camera which I still have.
ANYWAY: the day after the gear arrived, Claudia and I promptly went up to NYC because - well, watch the video and you’ll see for yourself - and I shot the HECK out of it. No, I don’t get to keep that gear.
But I AM selling my TL2 and getting the CL.
You need to know that this video IS sponsored by Leica. But you also need to know -- I hope you already do -- that as always the opinions (and in this case joys and sorrows) expressed herein are my own.
Abso-f-&%#!ng-lutely.
Leica CL Pricing & Availability:
B&H: bhpho.to/2FiFJ5U
Adorama: adorama.evyy.n...
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14 окт 2024
