The Leica Minolta CL and CLE. Leica partnered with Minolta in 1975 they also produced a better SLR for Leica than what they had. The CLE and CL cameras were small and very popular, and to some extent still are.
The Leica CL was a joint production. You'll find Leica CL, Minolta CL, and Leica Minolta CLs around:
http://photoethnography.com/ClassicCameras/LeicaCL.html
Rumors are that the CL was discontinued after 3 short years (1973-76) because at half the price, it was undercutting sales of the Leica M4-2.
The MInolta CLE was not officially authorized by Leica.
A lot of Leica photographer would disagree that the Leica/Minolta R3 is a better camera than the Leica SL2 which it replaced. Early ones had many production and mechanical/electronic difficulties. The R4 was similarly plagued. This has meant the used pricec of Leica SL and SL2 has remained very high.
Karen
-- Karen Nakamura http://www.photoethnography.com/ClassicCameras/ * **** ******* *********************************************************** * For list instructions, including unsubscribe, see: * http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/eos_list.htm ***********************************************************
