Leica R lens on Canon 20 D as a gift

[ldhrads]

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Yes, I've searched this, but haven't come up with what I'm looking for...

 

I'd like to make a gift of an R lens with appropriate adapter for a friend who uses a Canon 20 D.

 

But I know nothing about R lenses ( 3 cam ? what does that mean?) and probably less about the 20 D.

 

I see that there are AF notifiying adapters on Ebay, but again, no idea which one to choose.

 

Also, since the 20 D is a crop sensor, for a "standard" lens for someone who has never used leica glass, what would be a good focal lenght? Summicron 50 R?

 

Any insight would be very helpful:o

[philipus]

I recently looked into this as well because I saw Andy Piper's photos in this thread.

 

A few adapters are mentioned here. I'm not sure which is the "best" but there's some info on that page.

 

As for which R lens to get, well what does your friend normally use alternatively what does your friend not have?

[stunsworth]

For use with a 20 D you can ignore the number of cams - basically the higher the number of cams the later the lens (a simplification, but it's not something you need worry about). However with the 50mm Summicron they're all excellent.

 

On a 20D a 50mm lens will give a rather narrow angle of view - equivalent to around 80mm with a full frame camera. Also consider a 28mm or 35mm lens - though the 50mm is likely to be cheaper.

[tobey bilek]

CameraQuest.com sells one and I have the visoflex lens to Nikon model. It works well.

 

Fotodiox makes adapters and replaceable mounts. I have the replaceable mount for Leica R to Nikon. Works great. Do not buy the cheap models.

 

Novoflex also makes R to Canon adapter. Know one who uses one with success.

 

Understand you will loose all auto diaphragm operation so that puts you back to 1950. Also focus confirmation may not work unless you get special models with electronic communication.

 

Understand the 20 D is a crop sensor camera so the angle of view with the R lens mounted is 30% less wide than on a film camera. A 50 mm lens will end up having the angle of view a 75 mm lens.

 

I would shy away from this unless you had a really special lens like the 100 2.8 APO, 180 APO, 280 4.0 APO to give away. Forget it if you want to furnish a 50 2.0 from 1964.

[bocaburger]

By any chance are you hoping to demonstrate to your friend the superiority of R glass? If so, be aware that the 20D (which I have and still enjoy) is an 8MP 1.6x-crop-sensor camera with a several-generations-old processor. Even today it makes excellent images, but the specs are IMHO below the threshold where he'll be able to see differences unless maybe the only lens he has is the 18-55 kit-zoom. Add to that the fact manual focusing takes sharp eyes unless using a viewfinder magnifier (I have an Olympus magnifier on mine). Plus then there's the issue of stopdown metering, which seems to work well on the 20D at wider apertures but not so well at small ones. All in all I doubt if your friend will be that impressed.

 

But if you do decide to go ahead, then I can recommend the Fotodiox adapter. It has a decent-sized release catch similar to the one on R bodies, unlike the little nubbin on the Novoflex. I have both. The Novoflex is better suited to being left permanently on the lens whereas the Fotodiox can be left on the body and used with multiple lenses.

 

For a standard lens you'll want a 28 or 35mm. An older (series VI filter) 35 Elmarit especially in 1 or 2-cam would be your least-expensive option, but none of these will come cheap unless in really bad condition.

[earleygallery]

Well, I use a 20d as a digital back for my R lenses. The later 30d was basically the same camera so in reality it's not so old technology and I can definately notice the difference with Leica and other lenses.

 

I started off with a cheap Focus confirm chipped adapter off ebay, and stopped there - it's still fine after 3 yrs. Does the job.

 

As for which lens, I mostly use my 35 Summicron. Buy one of those, or the slightly slower 35 Elmarit for your friend and I can't see how they'll fail to be impressed!