That is to say the two rangefinder windows used for focusing are closer together. The base length of the Minolta CLE is shorter that that of the Leica Ms. If you like to shoot 28mm, the CLE is a far better option than any standard Leica M. 72x finders, in which you cannot view the 28mm frame all at once whether you wear glasses or not. The 28mm frame in the CLE finder is completely viewable in its entirety even with glasses, unlike the 28mm frame in the Leica M. Minolta had manufactured the CL for Leica until Leica abruptly and rudely pulled the plug as buyers began opting for the CL over the unfortunately designed Leica M5. There are only three frames, 28mm, 90mm, and the unusual 40mm frame that appears elsewhere only on the Leica CL, presumably upon which the Minolta CLE is based and improved. The finder is beautifully clear with a decent focus patch. Rather than being a diet soda version of a Leica M as I had expected, the Minolta CLE is a full octane camera, brilliant in its own right, and even gives Leica M bodies a run for the money. I bought mine from one of the few shops that still does, Shimbashi Camera around the Okachimachi area of Tokyo, where they had just overhauled a CLE along with its M-Rokkor 40mm f/2 lens. Minolta no longer services these cameras, and there are not many people who can. The Minolta CLE had always intrigued me as a lighter body alternative to my heavier Leica M bodies, like the M3, M6, and M7, while still being compatible with my Leica M-mount lenses all in a compact package about the same size as my Fuji X100T, or 1970s era fixed lens rangefinder compacts like the Olympus 35RC.
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