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Why dedicated Macro adapters?


dpitt

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Maybe a stupid question, but why does Leica need dedicated adapters if there is a Macro Adapter R with exactly the same length of tube?

 

I tried to mount an other R lens on my 1 dedicated tube for the 60mm Macro (14198) and it does not mount...

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I guess it's historical. The 14198 was originally designed specifically for the 60/2.8 lens, and works OK with Leicaflex cameras. I don't think the later Macro Adapter will work on Leicaflex cameras, but on R cameras it's a better solution, since it can be coupled to many more lenses and preserves the automatic diaphragm. (With an R8 or R9 the ROM version of the Macro Adapter is even better.)

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Mechanically it's much more complex to make a 'universal' extension tube that allows full-aperture metering using the Leicaflex cams, so the dedicated adapters such as the 14198 (for the 60mm Macro-Elmarit-R) and 14262 (for the 100mm Macro-Elmar-R) were made incompatible with other lenses. This problem was eliminated with the R cam.

 

The 14198 can be modified to work with most other Leica-R lenses by removing the shroud that covers the 60's aperture ring, trimming the inner diameter of the lens side bayonet flange to allow R-only lenses to be used, and in some cases narrowing the lens lock pin to fit the narrower slot of the R-only lenses. If the 14198 was originally a 3-cam adapter the resulting "Universal Extension Tube-R" (my name for it) can be used on any Leica reflex body and nearly any lens. The resulting combination allows accurate full-aperture metering on all bodies except the Leicaflex Standard, even with 1-cam, 2-cam and 3rd-cam lenses.

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