Advice needed to remove jammed LTM to M adapter

[colorflow]

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I recently purchased a screw mount lens and the seller included a Leica 50/75mm LTM to M adapter. Unfortunately it is now stuck on my M3 which has had no problem with any lenses or another Leica adapter I had. I can only rotate the adapter counter clockwise about 15 to 20 degrees before it jams and will not come off. Whatever is jamming it feels very solid. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

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[tobey bilek]

Look for a pin in the threads going into the bayonet or interference with an infinity lock or something else.

 

Or do you mean the camera will not release the adapter/lens combination? This is a repairman problem.

 

You may need to move the lens to closest focus distance so the infinity lock or something else does not hit the guard around the lens release.

[colorflow]

Actually since the adapter is stuck on the camera, the lens unscrews from the adapter when I keep turning the lens counterclockwise. The adapter is stuck solid on the camera. Just wondering if there is something I can do from the other side with the shutter open...

[EJohnE]

I have removed a stuck adapter by screwing in the lens, and pressing the lens towards the camera body while pressing in the lens release button, and hoping the lens/adapter come off as they should.

That was from an old M3 which needed service anyway.

However that is a nerve-wracking procedure, and could perhaps do damage. I would prefer to leave it to a camera mechanic. He might do the same, but I at least would not have to see force being applied.

 

John.

[250swb]

On the back of CV rear lens caps there are three prongs/studs molded into the plastic which locate in the detents in the outer circumference of the adapter, and made specifically for this occurence. Push the back of the lens cap onto the adapter, unlock the button and turn

 

Steve

[giordano]

Many adapters - or all - at any rate the two I own, one Leitz, one Voigtlander - have notches in the rim which give purchase to a suitable spanner.

 

The Voigtlander rear lens cap that came with the Voigtlander adapter has lugs on its rear end that fit the notches in the adapter so it can serve as a spanner.

 

But if the adapter moves smoothly for 15 or 20 degrees - i.e. more than half the amount needed to remove it - and then won't go any further, this is unlikely to help.

 

[steve and I were both thinking the same way at the same time.]

Edited November 5, 2010 by giordano
Synchronicity

[christer]

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Alan,

 

this is a common problem (hope this makes you feel better) and was the reason why I sold my screw mount plus adapter combination.

 

My solution when the adapter got stuck was to put the lens back into the adapter and then try to unscrew the whole combination. Usually I was successful after a few (more often: many) trials, but it is nerve wracking as John pointed out.

 

If you do not have the lens cap Steve mentions, then there is a special tool to do the same thing. A very simple piece of metal or plastic costing only few bucks.

 

Good luck!

[colorflow]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Yes, I have the old Leica rear cap which also can be used to unscrew the adapter. I finally succeeded in dismounting the adapter after much sweat and different trials and errors. So this adapter goes into the garbage. I'm glas it was stuck on the M3 not the M9.

[tobey bilek]

CV adapters work well as do Leica. I have many of each.

 

I have heard poorly made third party ones can damage the bayonet of the camera, therefore I never tried one.

 

Glad you were sucessful.

[Martin B]

On 11/5/2010 at 4:02 AM, 250swb said:

On the back of CV rear lens caps there are three prongs/studs molded into the plastic which locate in the detents in the outer circumference of the adapter, and made specifically for this occurence. Push the back of the lens cap onto the adapter, unlock the button and turn

 

Steve

Just googled this topic since I ran into exactly the same issue to mount/unmount my LTM/M adapter. This is the best advice - so glad to read it since I have CV (M-mount) lenses which have exactly these dents. I was never aware of them before, and it works so well with them! 

I checked on my M-lens caps: all my CV lenses (old and new) have these dents on the rear cap, but only my older Leitz Hektor lens (M-mount) has them, too. My newer Leica lenses all have original rear caps without these dents!

Edited September 5, 2019 by Martin B