leica CL travel photography graphic

Are you wondering if the CL is fit as a travel camera? In this Leica CL travel photography review, I’ll tell you everything you need to know about it.

Table Of Contents

leica cl 18mm

Leica CL travel photography review

The CL is one of the best and well loved digital cameras that Leica makes. And it is particularly well suites for travel images too, let’s figure out why with this Leica Cl travel photography review. If you are looking for the general Leica CL review, it’s here.

The compact size

Technically, you always want a bigger sensor, the bigger the sensor the better the image quality. But since everything is about tradeoff, what you leave on the table is the size.

The CL is one of the best travel cameras by Leica because it is APSC, large enough for really great image quality and Bokeh, small enough for a compact body.

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The diminutive size is quite impressive as it is as big as many 4/3 cameras while the sensor is bigger. One of the worse things is to have a large camera that weights you down as you travel.

There’s something that just removes your will to even shoot the thing, plus after a few hours of lugging gear around, you are going to beg to leave it at the hotel.

The weight of the CL is 403 grams, so it is light enough for an all day shooting spree.

Great lens included

One of the worse things about getting a camera is the kit lens that comes with it. It’s usually a dog slow zoom that will be forgotten in a month, if that. On the other hand the CL is usually sold with an equivalent 28mm f2.8 lens and it is a wonderful lens.

Not only is it fast at f2.8, something rarely ever seen with kit lenses, but it is also sharp and one of the best lenses you can get for the CL anyways. With the wide angle you have street photography, landscapes and environmental portraits already.

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The lens is a pancake lens so it really does not add bulk in any way. Throw it in a small day bag and you are set. It weighs nothing and the overall size of the camera doesn’t scream “look at me” everywhere you go.

Since the CL is equipped with a 24 megapixel sensor, you can always crop freely to get an approximative 35mm and still have plenty of pixels left to print really large.

What lens should you get?

Since there’s already a great lens that comes with it, there’s only one more lens you need to complete your Leica CL travel photography kit. And that is the Summilux T 35mm f1.4. This is a stunning lens that acts like a 50mm, and is one beautiful lens that offers simply stunning Bokeh.

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This lens is THE lens to get. Fast, sharp, it makes the subjects leap from the shots and that Bokeh is mesmerizing. The only downside would probably be the size, it’s a normal sized lens while the 28mm is diminutive.

With this lens you have all of the Bokeh portraits you want when you shoot wide open, and with the kit lens, you have everything covered that may come your way during your travels.

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Get the shot

Here’s another important point for Leica CL travel photography: It has high FPS. When you shoot your frames and keep the shutter release button pushed down, you are looking at 10 frames per seconds so this really makes it hard to even miss.

The autofocus is contrast detection and not phase focus. That means the autofocus is great for everything, save something super fast like sports.

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Battery life and Charger

This is somewhat of a negative for Leica CL travel photography. The CIPA rating is about 200 shots and it takes about 2 hours to charge and this has no USB charging. So you will have to bring your CL charger and an extra battery is recommended just to be safe.

This is only a minor annoyance as the battery can be charged while you are sleeping, ready for another go the next day.

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Can you send this to me?

You know how it is. As you shoot Leica CL travel photography, you are going to shoot some portraits and you will promise to send that shot to your subject. You go back home, you forget about it, and when you see the person’s portrait, the email has been long forgotten.

Since the CL has WI-FI, simply fire up the Leica Fotos app and you can transfer your shots right away at a coffee shop or back at the hotel.

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Rangefinder advantage

One of the best aspects of Leica CL travel photography is how it allows you to anticipate. Leica has stuck with the rangefinder form factor because it has one strength about the DSLR type design: It leaves one eye free.

When you put the viewfinder to your eye you have most of your face free and you can have one eye on the image and the other eye scanning the scene for your next shot. The DSLT type on the other hand tends to block your whole face.

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Diminutive and nondescript

Except when you are shooting portraits, chances are you do not want any attention on you or your camera while traveling. There’s the safety issue but also when someone notices you, you probably already lost the shot.

Larger cameras tend to attract attention like flies to light, ruining the moment. This is not the case if you are considering Leica CL travel photography, this baby goes mostly unnoticed. There’s a quite presence to the CL that makes it really attractive yet makes it go unnoticed in the streets, especially if you tape the red dot.

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So this allows you to be stealthy, and since it’s pretty quiet with the electronic shutter, you could shoot someone close and they probably wouldn’t notice.

Low light performance

The CL doesn’t come with a built-in flash nor stabilization and that is fine for the most part. The kit lens is f2.8 and is fine for most low light situations, and when you get the Summilux T, low light or night photography is borderline a non issue.

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In any case if need be you can always ramp up your ISO and the CL is more than capable. It’s pretty clean at ISO3200, you can start seeing the grain at 6400 and push comes to shove ISO 10,000 is still pretty viable.

If you are reading this Leica CL travel photography overview to figure out if it can withstand low light situations, the answer is yes.

Get lost in the moment

If there is something more esoteric about Leica CL travel photography, it is this. There’s just something compelling about the CL that makes your gravitate towards it, and it allows you to simply be in the moment.

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Put it up to your eye and you have your frame, you change your settings with the two dials and that is it, simplicity at it’s finest. If you are looking for the X factor for the CL, it is this. It’s a camera that is easy to fall in love with.

Straight out of CL

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While RAW images are always recommended because they have more data in them you can process, the JPGs straight out the CL are very usable. They are contrasty, saturated and they pop. This is great if the idea of processing your images when you get back doesn’t particularly excite you!

Conclusion

I hope you have enjoyed this review about Leica CL travel photography. It is a great option for shooting your travels: It’s light, as small as a 4/3 camera yet with APSC sensor and really great image quality. It’s compelling to shoot and covers a lot of ground with the included 28mm. Click here to check for best price.

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