Leica Minilux

The first of Leica's titanium-clad compacts, from 1995: a 40mm f/2.4 Summarit of six elements in four groups behind a titanium shell, with programme and aperture priority, exposure compensation, and B and T exposures up to 99 seconds. Wikipedia says it was developed in partnership with Panasonic. The Minilux Zoom, dated 1998 by some sources and 1999 by others, has a 35–70mm Vario-Elmar and loses aperture priority. Sources disagree on whether it gains a true hot shoe or only a connection for an external flash. The Leica CM of 2004 keeps the same 40mm Summarit, restyles the body toward the M, extends the shutter to 1/1000 and, Leica claimed, has better coatings. Wikipedia says CM production moved to Germany. What the Minilux is known for now is not the lens but the error code. It is common enough that a conversion trade exists: Wikipedia notes Summarit lenses taken from unusable cameras and remounted for Leica M bodies, and MS Optical in Japan has offered the conversion.

The lens, which is the honest reason anybody buys one. A 40mm f/2.4 Summarit of six elements, and good enough that a trade exists in stripping dead bodies and converting it to M mount. Aperture priority and exposure compensation in a pocket camera, with the aperture set on a knurled knob on the top plate rather than buried in a menu. Very long exposures. B and T run to ninety-nine seconds. Carrying a Leica without carrying a Leica. 330 grams, 39 millimetres deep, and titanium that looks like what it costs. Where it falls short: no manual film speed. No hot shoe. Active infrared autofocus, so glass defeats it. A 0.35x finder that is small even by compact standards. And E02, which you should assume is coming rather than hope is not — the sensible way to buy one is with the repair priced in, or from somebody who has already had it done and can say by whom.

The fault this camera is known for, and the first thing to understand is that E02 is not one fault. It is a symptom that several different problems produce. The usual cause is the flexible ribbon cable between the main board and the lens electronics. Red Dot Repair names it as the most common cause and says it turns brittle after twenty-odd years of the lens extending and retracting. Awayrepairs has also traced E02 to a shutter that a previous repairer reassembled one tooth out, and received another camera reported as E02 after twenty years in storage in which it found no shutter fault. So before anything else: fresh CR123A, power cycle, and see whether it comes back. And the important correction: E02 does not brick the camera. It is usually a cable repair and people get their cameras back working. Red Dot Repair in the United States fits remanufactured flex cables, and readers of 35mmc have reported repairs in Portugal, Ukraine, Taiwan and Australia. Prices vary a good deal between shops, so get a quote first. It is not a job for most owners: the iFixit guide calls for surface-mount desoldering and the transfer of two chips from the old cable to the new. What can make it terminal is a previous repair. Awayrepairs documents wires soldered in place of a cable, graphite lubricant through the mechanism, lifted board traces, and a shutter reassembled one gear tooth out. A Minilux that has been round several hands is a different proposition.

It stops halfway, or extends fully only after several presses to focus. Awayrepairs traced one to the lens extension mechanism and found it was not simple friction. Independent repair, not home-serviceable.

You cannot. DX only, and the Leica Wiki says film without a DX code, or below ISO 25, is set to ISO 100. Exposure compensation is the lever you have.

Neither Wikipedia nor the Leica Wiki mentions any weather sealing. Titanium is not a gasket.

The Minilux does not. For the Minilux Zoom, sources disagree: Wikipedia says an ISO hot shoe, the Leica Wiki a connection for an external flash. Worth checking on the actual camera before you buy an accessory.

Check the simple causes first. Active infrared autofocus can be fooled by glass or by a subject away from the focus point, and the 0.35x finder shows only about 85 per cent of the frame, so the negative holds more than you saw.

One CR123A, the 3 V lithium cell that is still widely sold. Nothing about it is obsolete. Fit a new one before believing any E-number.

The reason this camera has the reputation it has; Red Dot Repair names the flex cable as the most common cause of errors. The ribbon between board and lens turns brittle and cracks. It can appear suddenly: Bill Thoo, writing on 35mmc, had his fail on the sixth frame of a roll. Repairable. Remanufactured cables are made and fitted by specialists such as Red Dot Repair; an iFixit guide exists for those who can desolder surface-mount components and transfer two chips. Reported costs differ widely from one shop to the next. The widespread claim that E02 bricks the camera does not survive checking. What is true is that it is beyond most owners and that in some places there is nobody to send it to, which amounts to the same thing economically without being the same thing technically.

Worth separating out. Awayrepairs traced one E02 to a shutter reassembled one tooth out by a previous repairer, and found no shutter fault in another camera reported as E02 after long storage. Fit a fresh cell and power cycle before you spend anything.

The lens stalls part way out. Awayrepairs traced one to the extension mechanism, not simple friction. Independent technician.

A real category on this model. Awayrepairs' documented findings include wires used instead of a replacement cable, graphite lubricant where it should not be, lifted circuit traces, and a shutter put back one gear tooth out. Ask what has been done to a Minilux before you ask what is wrong with it.

We have found no source of original Leica spares. Repairers use remanufactured flex cables. Deadcameras reports that Leica no longer services the later CM for lack of parts.

None of the repair write-ups we read names light leaks or perished seals on this camera, and the seal supplier Ausgeknipst, which lists Leica M and R bodies, does not list the Minilux. The failures documented here are electronic and mechanical. If a body leaks light, find where before replacing anything.

A small 0.35x finder, and no way to set film speed by hand.