Test Rolls

As some of you know, I bought a Leica kit late last year. I've been gradually putting the gear through its paces. Of course the main item I was after was the M6. However, a Leica CL was also included. When I bought it, the former owner told me that the CL was actually his favorite camera to shoot with. At the time, I found this hard to believe with an M6 sitting right there. However, after taking it out and about in downtown Baltimore, I'm starting to see why.

Patrick Joust was nice enough to give me a couple rolls of (very) expired T-MAX 400 at the Film in Baltimore meetup last March. I thought the CL would be the perfect test case.

I do have to say though, that this film was in bad shape. The lead sticking out of the canister was much lighter than the film inside the canister, and the film was so brittle that I actually snapped off the tip when I was loading it into the camera. It's interesting going out to shoot when you know that none of your shots may be coming out. As you may have noticed though, I like exploring, so even if the shots didn't come out, I could still write it off as "scouting."

In the end, NCPS did a great job developing and scanning the film. It came out a bit grainy, but hey, this was just a test.

So the CL may not have the amazing build quality or cache of an M6. It's a practical photographic tool that accepts great Leica glass like the 40mm Summicron. And for a price that leaves some room for actual film and travel. Sounds like a deal to me.