Leica CM

Revealed!

The Leica CM is a compact 35mm film camera, produced by Leica Camera AG since February 2004.  It features autofocus, dual mode auto exposure, center-weighted metering, a fixed focal length retractable lens, built-in flash, and motorized film advance.  Lacking interchangeable lenses, manual rangefinder, split screen focus, and manual film advance, to some it's not a "real Leica."  However, with high grade optics and manual control over focus and aperture, it's not a typical point and shoot either.  So, the CM is either the poor man's Leica, or the rich man's point and shoot.  I've not found much information on the web about this camera beside scattered user comments and Leica's promotional materials. Therefore, this page aims to describe and explain this little camera that defies easy categorization.  I hope to provide you with clear information about this unusual camera so that you can better assess its value.

Facts I've learned about the Leica CM not mentioned in Leica's online information:

• The CM has a 6-bladed diaphragm rather than the 8 or 10 blades normally found on Leitz lenses. This may affect performance, especially specular highlights and "Bokeh."
• From my observations, the autofocus will generally focus the lens on the closest object that falls within the framing marks in the center of the viewfinder. This is important to keep in mind if you are working at close distances with the lens wide open (F2.4). A CM I owned previously ignored objects in the left area of the center framing marks at close distances. Possibly this was due to misalignment of the autofocus sensors.
• Settings such as EV and Flash will return to their defaults when the camera powers off. To change the defaults, hold the corresponding button to the left of the LCD screen on the back of the camera until the indicator flashes quickly.
• The on/off switch doesn't manually move the lens; rather, it moves a sheath from in front of the lens and turns on a motor which extends the lens out the front of the camera.
• You can't use a "double bubble" spirit level in the CM's flash hot shoe.  Because the level lacks electrical contacts, the CM will flash "Error" until the level is removed.  This is not the case with my Nikon 6006, which I believe also has a hot flash shoe.   I'm not certain whether this is a bug or a feature.
• The highest shutter speeds are not available at the CM's largest apertures.  The highest shutter speeds are: 1/500@f2.4, 1/750@f4, 1/1000@f5.6 and smaller.
• The CM uses nonstandard (intermediate) shutter speeds (e.g., 1/180) in aperture-priority mode, and nonstandard apertures (e.g., f9.5) in "program" mode.  This should give finer control over exposure.
• Leica CMs built during the first few months of production suffered from computer problems.  The symptoms were inability to retain custom settings and inaccurate battery level indication after the camera was powered on and before the shutter button was pressed part way. This manufacturing defect was recognized by Leica, and a recall was issued for these early cameras. Other than the above symptoms, a CM with this condition functions normally.
• The 40mm f2.4 lens used in the CM is identical to the one used in the CM's predecessor, the Minilux, with the exception of an "improved multi-layer coating" said to provide greater glare resistance.  For a test report on the Minilux lens, see Erwin Puts' Report.

Below are several sound samples, captured with the same microphone, at identical recording levels (no Automatic Level Control). All shutters are operating at approximately ¼ second.  Except for the Leica CL I've also included the autofocus sound of each camera, just prior to the shutter sound. For consistency, each sample was taken from the same room location, with the microphone placed at the height of the center of the camera's lens, four inches in front of the camera's film plane, and parallel with the right side (from the front) of the camera.  Some of the sound samples are rather faint; this is because I have normalized all of them to the level of the highest common amplitude (the Leica CL):

Olympus Stylus Zoom 70 Shutter Sound

Nikon 6006 Shutter Sound

Leica CL Shutter Sound

Leica CM Shutter Sound

Surprisingly, the Leica CL measures the loudest of these; most people consider the CL a very quiet camera.  I therefore suspect the perception of camera loudness has more to do with the duration than the amplitude of the shutter sound.  In amplitude, the CM is the quietest of the four.

According to Gary Sandhu, Leica has supplied the following measurements: 803.20 millisec for AutoFocus, 465.20 millisec for Manual Focus.  I.e., about 4/5 second when the distance dial on the camera's upper right is set AF, about ½ second when the dial is set to a distance instead.

Using a video camera capturing approximately 30 frames per second (29.97 fps), and confirmed by the digital timer on my Palm T3 in the same video frames, I've observed the following:

• Measurement 1. For a Leica CM set to autofocus and prefocused (shutter button depressed half way), the interval between the time the shutter button starts to travel from half way to fully depressed and the time the shutter is fully open at F4 is 12 frames. 12/30 frames per second = .4 seconds.
• Measurement 2. For a Leica CM set to autofocus and prefocused (shutter button depressed half way), the interval between the time the shutter button has become fully depressed and the time the shutter is fully open at F4 is 5 frames. 5/30 frames per second = .16 seconds.

So, if you prefocus it takes 40% longer to move the shutter release from half way to fully depressed than it takes for the shutter to open afterwards.

For comparison, here are similar measurements for an Olympus Stylus Zoom 70:

• Measurement 1. 16 frames or .53 seconds;
• Measurement 2. 7 frames or .23 seconds;

Similar measurements for a Leica CL:

• Measurement 1. 3 frames or .1 seconds;
• Measurement 2. Less than one frame or under .03 seconds.

Since there don't seem to be any online copies of the Leica CM's owner's manual, I'm furnishing one here for free. Note that this free copy is not to be sold. I apologize for the low resolution; it is necessary in order to provide reasonable throughput for low bandwidth (e.g., modem) Internet users.

• The S.K.Grimes Lens Hood is custom made for the Leica CM, and costs about $70 plus shipping, from SK Grimes. See this Leica Forum entry for more pictures and discussion.

Here are a few sample images made with Kodak Gold 200. Their purpose is to illustrate the properties of the lens, so I've purposely not subtracted information by oversharpening, boosting contrast or saturation or otherwise tuning them for computer monitor display. Both images are handheld, made under typical daylight conditions. The first image is the east side of Frank Lloyd Wright's Unity Temple in Oak Park Illinois. The second is Calvary Memorial Church, also in Oak Park, Illinois. Both images are of the full 35mm frame; hover or click on the grey rectangles for 2900 dpi (10 megapixel sensor equivalent) closeups:

Below is an ISO 12233 Camera Resolution Chart, captured with the CM using Kodak Gold 200 film. The target, printed on 9, 8.5x11" sheets of high resolution (non-photo) paper with a Canon iP8500, isn't perfect, but I think roughly equal to this task. The CM was mounted on a tripod, the target was illuminated with two flood lamps, one to each side, the lens was autofocused, aperture locked at F8, and the shutter released manually. The resulting frame was scanned at 2900 dpi with a Nikon LS40 (CoolScan IV), which introduced some artifacts of its own at some line pair frequencies. Click on thumbnail below for full size 640 Kb file:

Here are comparison images from the Leica CM and the Olympus Stylus Epic.

More samples, courtesy of David Valdes and SummitPost.org are available here:

David's comments on the CM: "Why all the P&S cameras? We use them for alpine climbing. Our current setup consists of a ricoh gr21 and the CM. My favorite is the CM. I have sat on it, fallen on it, dropped it (within its case), and its 100% operational w/o dents."

Considering "upgrading" to a digital camera? Read Apples & Oranges first!

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