Leica Club

Leica Club Welcome Pack – Digital Leica CL TL Cameras

Hello and welcome to the Leica Club! To help you enjoy your new purchase I’ve listed some information below to get you started and answer some of the common questions I receive.

Pack Includes:

  • Leica CL/TL series camera accessories – Top 8
  • 10 tips for using your camera
  • Best lens for your Leica CL/TL series camera
  • Leica CL/TL camera YouTube videos
  • Join a Leica community
  • Photo editing tips
  • Remote Leica support
  • Leica photowalks
  • Master your Leica

Leica CL/TL camera accessories – Top 8

After buying your Leica camera there are certain accessories you may want to get. Here are my top 8 –

1. Spare Battery

This is a must have. You can use Leica branded batteries or 3rd party batteries. I use both types.

2. LCD Screen Protector

A simple plastic matte finish screen protector transforms the camera. No more annoying finger prints! For more protection you can get glass screen protectors. Check eBay UK or eBay COM.

3. Soft Release Shutter Button

An affordable way to customise your Leica camera is with a custom shutter release button. I have red buttons on some of my Leica cameras.

4. Strap (Neck Strap and/or Wrist Strap)

Your Leica camera is supplied with a neck strap. A new strap is another easy way to customise your camera. I use wrist straps for street photography and a neck strap for events. Basic Peak Design products are a popular quick release camera strap system that work great if you use multiple cameras. If you prefer something more premium I use these leather cameras straps which offer the option of both Peak Design anchors AND your initials embossed! Very cool.

5. Camera Bags

As with camera straps half cases and camera bags are a personal choice. Ona and Billingham are popular brands and in the past I used Billingham bag. After almost having my bag stolen in Lisbon I’ve now upgraded to a more discrete camera bag system. Read my best bag for Leica cameras article or if you’re pushed for time I would recommend the 2L bag for Leica CL/TL users (link below).

6. Lens Adapters

The Leica CL/TL cameras are a great platform for adapting lenses. I recommend smaller lenses especially but you can use Leica M, R, LTM, M42, Nikon F and more via the correct adapters.

7. Electronic Viewfinder (EVF) – See on YouTube

A big upgrade to the Leica T, TL, TL2 is to get a viewfinder, aka. an EVF or Leica Visoflex. (The Leica CL has a built in EVF*) The Leica Visoflex Typ 020 made for the Leica M10 is compatible with the T, TL, TL2 cameras.

8. SD Memory Cards & Storage

My preferred memory card brand is SanDisk. It’s all I buy. To backup my files I use SanDisk portable SSD hard drives. Super small and recommended.

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Tips for using your Leica CL/TL series camera (x10)

In addition to carrying a spare battery here are some tips you might find useful –

  1. To see light better I set the camera to B&W JPEG mode giving a B&W preview (even if capturing DNG only colour files)
  2. Use P-A-S mode to see in the dark, use P-A-S-M mode to preview the correct exposure (P-A-S is good when using flash)
  3. Turn on your grid in photo live view setup to aid composition
  4. Turn on your level gauge in photo live view to help ensure your horizon is level
  5. Get a 7Artisans L-M close focus adapter to focus all Leica M and LTM lenses closer than their standard 0.7m or 1m MFD
  6. Try using Leica M mount and LTM lenses via a L-M adapter + LTM-M adapter for a compact manual focus setup
  7. Tape up your camera Leica logo for a more stealthy street photography setup
  8. Get the Leica Elmarit-TL 18mm f2.8 kit lens (28mm equivalent) for a compact Leica Q alternative (the smallest TL lens)
  9. Remember the 1.5x crop so if you buy any lens (say a 50mm Leica M lens to mount via adapter) 50mm x 1.5 = 75mm
  10. A reminder that APS-C cameras only use the centre portion of a full frame lens so you will see near-zero vignetting

Best lens for your Leica CL/TL cameras?

Best is different for everyone depending on your needs. Check the lens reviews list for written reviews and YouTube videos. The CL/TL cameras give you so many amazing options:

  • Premium autofocus L mount TL APS-C lenses from Leica including Zooms (smaller)
  • Premium autofocus L mount SL FF lenses from Leica including Zooms (larger)
  • Cheaper autofocus L mount lenses from Sigma and Panasonic Lumix (both FF and APS-C options)
  • Manual focus L mount lenses such as the Cine lenses from 7Artisans (too big for these cameras)
  • Manual focus Leica R lenses via R-L adapter (including Zooms) (too big to be ideal for these cameras)
  • Manual focus M mount lenses (via M-L adapter) from Leica, Voigtlander, Zeiss, TTArtisan, 7Artisans
  • Smallest Leica M mount lenses (via M-L adapter) – Voigtlander Skopar 21mm f4 + Skopar 35mm f2.5
  • Small manual focus vintage screw mount lenses (via M-L adapter + L39-M adapter)
  • Nikon F, M42, Minolta, Contax.. the list is near endless!

If you are still not sure what lens to buy make use of my Leica support service.

Leica CL/TL cameras YouTube videos

If you want to see Leica YouTube reviews from other photographers see the Leica YouTubers directory.

Watch my Leica CL camera YouTube playlist here –

Join a Leica Community

If you are new to Leica you might want to find a friendly Leica community. You can find Leica groups on Facebook and you can also join our Patreon group where we have a private Facebook group and 2 monthly Zoom calls.

Buy and sell used Leica gear

BUY / SELL LEICA

Photo Editing Tips

If you don’t enjoy editing I recommend setting your camera to JPEG mode. JPEG can be posted and shred without any editing. To capture more detail set the camera to DNG. To use DNG files you will first need to process the files via software such as Adobe Lightroom. If you use Lightroom, give your DNG files a finished look in as little as 1-click by applying MrLeica LR Presets (colour and B&W).

Lightroom Presets – GAME CHANGING!

Remote Leica Support

Struggling with your new Leica camera? Use my Leica support service to quickly resolve the issue. See the Zoom testimonials section.

Leica Photowalks

Join a small group of fellow Leica photographers for a photowalk workshop with MrLeica.Com.

Master your Leica

To get the most from your Leica camera book a 1:1 workshop with a Leica expert. Teaching Leica workshops worldwide since 2014. See the workshop testimonials.

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