Leica CL vs Olympus E-30

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Leica CL and the Olympus E-30, highlighting the advantages of each over the other, discussing their pros and cons, shared strengths and weaknesses, and providing a rating based on their available features and specifications to assist you in choosing the one that best suits your needs.

Leica CL was introduced in November 2017 and Olympus E-30 was introduced in March 2009. Let us first list highlights of the models.

Now that we've looked at the most essential specifications and gained a basic understanding of these cameras, we can delve into more details and see the differences between them.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Leica CL over Olympus E-30.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Olympus E-30 over Leica CL.

We already listed pros and cons of each model. However, you may also find useful to look at their common strengths and weaknesses shown side-by-side.

Screen

Leica CL has a 3.0" Fixed screen with 1,040k dot resolution and Olympus E-30 has a 2.7" Fully Articulated screen with 230k dot resolution. Fully articulated screen makes Olympus E-30 selfie and vlogger friendly and generally very useful for video shooting. Leica CL also features touchscreen which has advantages such as easy menu navigation, intuitive controls, quick setting adjustment and most importantly a Touch-to-Focus functionality allowing users to select a specific point on the screen where they want the camera to focus. This feature can be helpful for achieving precise focus in both photo and video recording.

Viewfinder

Leica CL has a built-in Electronic viewfinder with 2,360k dot resolution and Olympus E-30 has a built-in Optical (pentaprism) viewfinder. Leica CL has 100% coverage with 1.11x (0.74x 35mm equivalent) magnification and Olympus E-30 has 98% coverage with 1.02x (0.51x 35mm equivalent) magnification.

Leica CL features a 24.24 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor with dimensions of 23.6 x 15.7 mm and a total area of 370.5 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 50,000. Olympus E-30 features a 12 megapixel Micro Four Thirds CMOS sensor with dimensions of 17.3 x 13 mm and a total area of 169 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 3,200.

Here is a sensor size comparison chart where you can see how different sensors compare with each other:

Sensor size chart

	Sensor	Dimensions	Area	Aspect Ratio	Crop Factor
	Medium Format	44 x 33 mm	1452 mm2	4:3	0.79x
	Full Frame	36 x 24 mm	864 mm2	3:2	1x
	APS-H	27 x 18 mm	486 mm2	3:2	1.3x
	APS-C	23.6 x 15.6 mm	368.2 mm2	3:2	1.5x
	APS-C (Canon)	22.3 x 14.9 mm	332.3 mm2	3:2	1.6x
	Micro Four Thirds	17.4 x 13 mm	226.2 mm2	4:3	2x
	1-inch	13.2 x 8.8 mm	116.2 mm2	3:2	2.7x
	1/1.7-inch	7.44 x 5.58 mm	41.5 mm2	4:3	4.7x
	1/2.3-inch	6.17 x 4.55 mm	28.1 mm2	4:3	5.6x

Leica CL is equipped with Maestro II processor and can take pictures up to 6014 x 4014 resolution. Olympus E-30 is equipped with TruePic III+ processor and can take pictures up to 4032 x 3024 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 3200 x 2400, 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960, 1024 x 768, 640 x 480 with 1:1, 5:4, 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 aspect ratios.

Lens Mount

Leica CL has Leica TL lens mount and Olympus E-30 has Four Thirds lens mount. Due to APS-C sensor in Leica CL its crop factor is equal to 1.5x, this means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length times 1.5. Due to Micro Four Thirds sensor in Olympus E-30 its crop factor is equal to 2x, this means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length times 2.

In-Body Image Stabilization on Olympus E-30

Olympus E-30 has a built-in Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS). This means that you are still getting vibration reduction when camera is paired with non-image stabilizied lenses. It also works with lenses with optical image stabilization and in combination can achieve even better compensation.

Built-in Wi-Fi on Leica CL

Leica CL has a built-in Wi-Fi which allows to easily transfer photos and videos from the camera to other Wi-Fi-enabled devices, such as smartphones, tablets, printers, or computers. This eliminates the need for cables and allows for quick and convenient media sharing and social media integration. It gives you the ability to control your camera remotely using a smartphone or tablet. This is particularly useful for taking self-portraits, group shots, or capturing images in challenging conditions without having to touch the camera. Firmware updates can also be downloaded and installed wirelessly.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in WiFi.

USB Inputs

Olympus E-30 has a USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) input for data transfer.

Battery

Leica CL comes with BP-DC12 battery pack with battery life of 220 shots and Olympus E-30 comes with BLM-1 battery pack with battery life of 750 shots.

External Storage Slots

Leica CL has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) card slot. Olympus E-30 has a single Compact Flash (Type I/II), xD Picture Card card slot.

Shutter

Leica CL has Mechanical Focal Plane shutter and Electronic shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/25000 sec with electronic shutter and up to 1/8000 sec with mechanical shutter on Leica CL, and up to 1/8000 sec on Olympus E-30. Leica CL can shoot continuously up to 10.0 fps. Olympus E-30 can shoot continuously up to 5.0 fps.

Flash

Olympus E-30 has a built-in flash with maximum range of 13.00 m and also accepts external flash which can be connected via Hot Shoe or PC Terminal. Leica CL has no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected via Hot Shoe. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/180 sec on Leica CL and 1/250 sec on Olympus E-30.

Leica CL body has dimensions of 131 x 78 x 45 mm (5.16 x 3.07 x 1.77") and Olympus E-30 body has dimensions of 142 x 108 x 75 mm (5.59 x 4.25 x 2.95"). Leica CL weighs 403 g (0.89 lb / 14.22 oz) and Olympus E-30 weighs 695 g (1.53 lb / 24.52 oz).

Leica CL

Olympus E-30

131 mm

78 mm

142 mm

108 mm

78 mm

108 mm

45 mm

75 mm