Leica CL

Leica CL is Leica's Advanced Mirrorless digital camera originally revealed on November of 2017. It comes with a 24 MegaPixel, CMOS APS-C size sensor with a maximum resolution of 6014 x 4014.

The CL is scored #42 out of 62 in Advanced Mirrorless cameras & all-around #238 out of 1465 for cameras in our collection. Remember to try our Smart camera finder to see camera listings based on your personalized criteria.

Below is a diagram of specific criteria used in the scoring system.

You can look at the CL from various angles in the gallery below.

Here is a selection of good and bad points of the Leica CL based on aspects that are usually viewed as useful in a digital camera.

The Leica CL features the Maestro II chip. The size of the sensor in the Leica CL is 23.6mm x 15.7mm (APS-C). The 371 mm² sensor is able to resolve 6014 x 4014 pixels using aspect ratios of 3:2.

Photography Glossary

The CMOS sensor has 24 megapixels and gives a standard ISO range of 100 - 50000. RAW files are supported therefore you have more margin for error.

The picture below illustrates the CL's sensor size compared to other popular sizes. The CL sensor has a crop factor of 1.5 and is displayed in green.

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To get a sense of various aspect ratios, you can refer to the graphic below.

Leica CL weighs in at 0.89 lbs (403 gr or 14.22 ounces) & has external measurements of 131mm x 78mm x 45mm (5.2" x 3.1" x 1.8"). The weight of normal Advanced Mirrorless camera is 454 gr so the Leica CL is lighter as compared to other rivals.

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Below is a visual of the Leica CL beside a softdrink so you can get a feel for its size.

The top view below will illustrate the button design on the CL.

The CL uses the Leica L mount and has 52 lenses available in the market. Here is a few of the lenses we have in our database that will work with the CL.

ModelVisualizeFocal LengthApertureStabilizedWeight

Sigma 85mm F1.4 DG HSM Art85mmf/1.41130g

Sigma 16mm F1.4 DC DN16mmf/1.4405g

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Sigma 100-400mm F5-6.3 DG DN OS100-400mmf/5-6.3 1135g

Sigma 135mm F1.8 DG HSM Art135mmf/1.81130g

Sigma 28mm F1.4 DG HSM A28mmf/1.40g

Sigma 35mm F1.2 DG DN Art35mmf/1.21090g

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Leica Summilux-SL 50mm F1.4 ASPH50mmf/1.4335g

The CL has the following connectivity:

• USB Yes
• Wireless Yes

Cameras which have NFC and / or Bluetooth compatibility are able to be used wirelessly through smartphones. You will be able to transfer images and oftentimes adjust settings with no need to connect straight with the camera.

Several apps also allow a Liveview and click the shutter whenever you aren't close to the camera. If the camera boasts a HDMI port, it can easily be hooked up to an external screen. Virtually all cameras will allow you to charge the battery through the USB port.

The maximum video resolution in the Leica CL is 3840 x 2160 and you can record in MPEG-4 and H.264 file format. 2160p gives a superb resolution for video. You are able to downsample to Full HD in order to get improved video. Be mindful of the massive file sizes and ensure you have good SD cards with good write speeds. The body doesn't feature a microphone and / or headphone socket which means that you have absolutely no control over the sound. It is probably best to shop for an alternative camera should you want good sound for your videos.

There is no weather proofing for the Leica CL so you have to be cautious in rainy or dusty situations.

The Leica CL comes with a 3" fixed screen having a resolution of 1,040k dots.

Moreover the screen is touch friendly which means you are able to set focus point and change settings using your fingertips.

Photography Glossary

The View Finder specifications for Leica CL are below:

• ViewFinder Electronic
• ViewFinder Resolution 2,360k dots
• ViewFinder Coverage 100 percent
• ViewFinder Magnification 0.74x

Viewfinders can be really beneficial in bright outdoor situations which can make the camera screen washed out and very difficult to see.

Leica CL is able to shoot continuously at 10.0 fps. The highest shutter speed is 1/8000 sec. The camera also offers silent electronic shutter of 1/25000 sec. Beware that the electronic shutter might lead to "rolling shutter" under some situations.

Leica CL comes with external flash ability but is lacking built in flash.

Leica CL comes with only Contrast Based Autofocus & doesn't have Phase Detect Autofocus. Phase Detection autofocusing is more faster and accurate as compared to Contrast Based autofocusing. The camera comes with Face detection which can be handy for taking portraits of people.

The AF system comes with 49 focus points to choose from. Leica CL has tap to focus. You can use your fingers in order to change focus points. Leica CL lacks manual focusing. Manual focusing ability is good in low light conditions or you require more exact focusing control.

The battery (BP-DC12) for the Leica CL is fashioned to last for 220 photos as per the CIPA benchmarks making it lesser in comparison with it's competition. The general Advanced Mirrorless camera battery life is 390. Sony A6600 has got the highest possible (810) battery life in this kind of cameras.

Following is a list of Advanced Mirrorless cameras with the best battery life:

ModelVisualizeBattery LifeRAWNFCBluetooth

Sony A6600
CL vs A6600810 yesyesyes

Sony A7c
CL vs A7c740 yesyesyes

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Fujifilm X-H2
CL vs Fujifilm X-H2680 yesnoyes

Canon R7
CL vs R7660 yesnoyes

Fujifilm X-H2S
CL vs Fujifilm X-H2S580 yesnoyes

The following diagram indicates a summation of the Leica CL for varying categories of photography. To understand more, visit the specific paragraph below.

The Leica CL receives a score of 72 which is above average, meaning that it is a respectable pick to use for portraits. Photographing portrait images favors heavily to sensor dimension, support for RAW files & option to utilize external flash.

Having a very good rating of 73, the Leica CL is a fine pick for street photography. A decent street photography camera comes with a perfect balance of picture quality and portability.

A nice sports photography rating of 62 indicates the Leica CL is a good pick for photographing sports. A camera must have great tracking and shutter speeds for sports photography.

Size is pretty crucial in picking a camera for travel. Overall, the Leica CL gets a very good 66 for a travelling camera which makes it a fine fit to purchase for your travels.

If you find yourself looking to buy a camera for landscape photos, the most vital aspect will no doubt be image quality. The Leica CL and it's nice grade of 68 as a landscape camera is a fine fit compared to its competitors.

A vlogging camera should posses a articulating display screen, microphone input and ideally image stabilization. Considering every thing, the Leica CL is simply not very good for vlogging as it delivers a horrible score of 33.

If you are looking for alternatives to the CL, below is a list of the highest scored cameras which fall within the category of Advanced Mirrorless.

The line graph underneath provides you a summary of the CL compared to it's top rated competitors shown above.

Following are several cameras you might check out as alternatives. To read a thorough comparison, simply click on the "compare" link.