Leica M Lens Adapter question

[plldc]

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I have a new Leica T and am trying to use my 6-bit coded Leica 35mm f/2 ASPH. Should I see the aperture value adjust on screen when I change it? All I see is F0.0.

 

I thought the point of having the electrical contacts in the adapter was so that it passed through the aperture from the lens.

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

[kbingman]

Unfortunately, there is no connection between the aperture and the camera. M cameras work exactly the same. The 6 bit coding only allows the camera to recognize the lens, it doesn't transfer the aperture value.

 

I have a T as well and just read the aperture as I would an M, when using my my lenses. I would like to see it in the file afterwards, but there isn't a reliable way to get this.

 

Keith

[plldc]

Thanks.

[Mr10Percent]

When using the adapter and a M-lens (or probably any lens that can be bolted on), the EVF/Display shows you a 1/3rd stop exposure slider on how over/under exposed you are from ideal via TTL metering.

 

Adjustment to the correct exposure in the normal way for a particular mode and it is easy, quick and accurate. No manual opening-up/closing down etc..... required for correct metering.

 

G

[danmdan]

On 1/12/2015 at 8:28 PM, plldc said:

I have a new Leica T and am trying to use my 6-bit coded Leica 35mm f/2 ASPH. Should I see the aperture value adjust on screen when I change it? All I see is F0.0.

 

I thought the point of having the electrical contacts in the adapter was so that it passed through the aperture from the lens.

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

Same here: A truly odd way of doing things, thus making the aperture setting ring on the lens body useless even for an L-mount electronic lens with 10 contacts on the mount supposedly transmitting information back to the camera body software.

 

Edited October 19, 2020 by danmdan
More info added

[jaapv]

How could a fully mechanical lens transmit the aperture value??  Nor can the camera change the aperture of the lens. On the M there is an external light meter that provides a guesstimate. Not so on the T.

[pop]

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vor 38 Minuten schrieb danmdan:

making the aperture setting ring on the lens body useless even for an L-mount electronic lens

What makes you think so? An L-mount lens (such as the Sigma 45mm) will certainly transmit the aperture setting to the camera body. Actually, it's the camera body which will open or close the aperture in the lens. You can easily see that the aperture does not change when the lens is not mounted and you turn the aperture setting ring.

[ramarren]

4 hours ago, danmdan said:

Same here: A truly odd way of doing things, thus making the aperture setting ring on the lens body useless even for an L-mount electronic lens with 10 contacts on the mount supposedly transmitting information back to the camera body software.

 

How can the M Adapter L affect anything that has to do with an L-mount lens? L mount lenses do not have an aperture ring on the lens body and cannot be used with the M Adapter L in place. L-mount lenses transmit all lens information (aperture, focus setting, focal length setting) to the body, and their aperture mechanisms are controlled entirely by the body.

M-mount lenses have no electronics in them at all, the M Adapter L simply recognizes the static six bit code on the back of the lens and tells the body what's there. The camera body cannot read the aperture ring or focusing ring positions, cannot control either. Digital M cameras estimate the lens opening via an auxiliary light sensor, but the estimate is often so far off it's hardly useful. 

The aperture ring on any adapted, manual lens works the same way: the photographer is in control of it, has to remember what setting it is positioned at, etc. What the camera reads in the viewfinder is irrelevant in the use of such lenses. 

G

[RM8]

On 1/13/2015 at 7:56 PM, Mr10Percent said:

When using the adapter and a M-lens (or probably any lens that can be bolted on), the EVF/Display shows you a 1/3rd stop exposure slider on how over/under exposed you are from ideal via TTL metering.

 

Adjustment to the correct exposure in the normal way for a particular mode and it is easy, quick and accurate. No manual opening-up/closing down etc..... required for correct metering.

 

G

An old but very useful post, esp. for first time Leica user like me (after 50+yrs of other stuff). Just mounted a Voigtländer Ultron 35mm f2 onto my CL via M2L adapter. VERY surprised and pleased by the intelligent support by the CL in A Mode for the all manual operation of the lens. Tapping the shutter for setting exposure according to selected A, (auto) ISO and set speed; turning A-ring anf follow TTL metering on the slider; tapping-then-turning speed wheel (the good old LEFT one of course 🤓) to see ISO setting match speed; all the while checking focus peaking in the EVF. Not for snapshot operation maybe (I still have the 18mm for that) but I guess this will become the main default config.

Three beautiful, magnificently engineered, compact and light tools that fit in a small bag. May still toss in the Laowa 9mm f2.8 ZeroD for the occasional special effect since I have the M2L anyway, staying under 2.5 kilos total. Not yet sure about the Elmarit macro-cum-tele 60mm f2.8 as it kind of feels heavy by now, esp. with its weapons-grade lens hood haha.

[RM8]

On 10/19/2020 at 11:53 AM, jaapv said:

How could a fully mechanical lens transmit the aperture value??  Nor can the camera change the aperture of the lens. On the M there is an external light meter that provides a guesstimate. Not so on the T.

It does so by reflecting the light falling on the set A value to your eye and your brain haha which then tells your fingers to interact appropriately with the controls of your camera 🤓. All kidding aside, I was so happy to discover how a state of the art camera like my CL smartly supports precisely that back-end part of manual lens operation. Had not used real cameras since a mid-noughty DSLR, thereafter only smart phone...

See bit more info in my other post on this topic today.

[lct]

Nice compliment for the CL and the auto iso in M mode feature that works fine on other digital cameras too. Fun to use those great old lenses the same way as we used to in the film days with the added benefit of WYSIWYG operation. Only con is protruding lenses that cannot be used on the CL but it is another story.

[Topos]

ICT, i second your  exuberance  " ,,, Fun to use those great old lenses the same way as we used to in the film days " .

I do so miss the escape hours in the darkroom: unloading Leica Cassetts, ASA 800, Nikkor tank development, mounting

on D2VXL, printing, hours getting the perfect B&W shot.

The f1.4 CL Lens is a joy to use.

Now returning to the CL,  ASA 6,000, unlimited shots, Photoshop on Mac, print 'dye transfer' quality 

in one shot on Epson P800. But nostalgia is not what it used to be.  

 

As for the M=>L adapter, it  has allowed me to use my 1960s 90mm f2.0 SUMMICRON from my M2s giving me the equivalent 

of a 135mm f2.0 CL lens. This goes for my 50mm f2.0 DR. SUMMICRON giving equivalent 75mm f2.0 lens.

My 35mm f2.0 SUMMICRON remains lovingly in the glass case.  

Leitz's brilliant systems engineering concept and adapters lets me use the other

long Leica lenses on the CL: 90mm f2.8 TelyElmarit,

 

With the M2 camera adapter  TXBOO I can mount directly my 280MM f2.8 Telyt and use at

yacht races the 'Big Bertha' 400mm Telyt as an equivalent of a 600mm lens.

 

In addition I can mount all  my NIKON lenses with adapter to work flawlessly on CL.

For example  my 50mm f.1.4 NIKKOR has proven to be 'a most affordable ' CL 75mm f1.4 lens.

 

Leica has been a joy to use since the Leica IIIb I got with first paycheck 

after  college in 1960. 

Apologize for being garrulous but few objects in life are a perpetual joy.

You most likely understand.

 

Best.

 

[ramarren]

The M Adapter L reads the lens code on coded M lenses and tells the camera what to stuff into an exposure's EXIF data, informs the camera of the lens's maximum aperture for better metering accuracy, and invokes the appropriate lens profile to optimize the post-capture data handling and retain the designed character of the lens.

It cannot tell the body what specific lens opening you've chosen since there is NOTHING in the lens that connects the aperture to a sensor that the body can read. The best that can be done with an M-mount lens in this use is an estimate of the lens opening in use, which some other Leica digital bodies do—and it's generally not particularly accurate. Learn to make aperture setting by clicks if you really need to keep the camera to your eye as you adjust the aperture, the way all M users always did in the past.

(I generally set the aperture I want based on scene dynamics and the lens in use before bringing the camera to my eye, such that all i'm interested in exposure-wise once I lift the camera is what exposure time I'm using and what the meter thinks in terms of under- and over-exposure.)

G