Leica Elmarit-R 2 Cam compatibility.

[mobine]

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I found a mint condition Leica 135mm/2.8 Elmarit-R 2 Cam and was about to purchase it but was told it may not fit my Leica M8. The lens was originlly used with a Leica Leicaflex S. Would anyone know if this would fit the M8 with or without an adapter?

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[ho_co]

Hector--

As you say, it's a lens made for the Leicaflex. And the Leicaflexes were replaced by the R series in the '70s as I recall.

 

Leica made an adapter--and I think others still do--to mount R lenses to the M bayonet, but when Leica made it, it was intended for the Leicina movie camera, which allowed through-lens viewing.

 

I wouldn't recommend using an R lens on the M camera, because the R lenses don't include the focus cam needed for the rangefinder. That is, with the adapter you could physically mount the lens to the M8, but you would have to focus it by guess.

 

Guess-focusing is feasible with some wide angles because of their great depth of field, but it's very impractical with anything longer than, say, 28mm.

 

First drawback: No viewfinder frame to tell you what field of view the lens is seeing. Second drawback: Inability to focus accurately.

 

Summary: Possible, but not generally practical for the M series.

 

It is an excellent lens, though. Leica later transferred the design of the 135/2.8 R to the 135/2.8 M. Even when they were the same optical design, the M lens was more expensive because it required both the focusing goggles and the rangefinder cam, neither of which was necessary with the R version.

 

 

BTW: If the lens is a steal, I might be interested in it. My only Leica reflex camera is the R3, which requires 3-cam instead of 2-cam lenses. That's probably a fairly expensive conversion though, so I might not be interested anyway.

 

Now I've blown any belief you might have had that I was an impartial advisor. But if you decide not to buy it, and if the price seems really low, you might want to PM me with any info you've got.

 

Good luck finding what you need!

 

--HC