M Adapters

[lct]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

The Leica adapter works fine on the CL. I have no experience with other adapters for this camera but if you like focus peaking as little as i do, the zooming feature allows for focusing easily and accurately any M lens with the right dial of the CL. Here at working aperture (f/8) with a CV 21/4 coded as SEM 21/3.4: https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-ZJKjPt5/0/492ab47d/O/i-ZJKjPt5.jpg. BTW the Leica adapter is not fussy at all with hand coded lenses on the CL, as far as my lenses are concerned at least (CV 21/4, ZM 35/2.8, ZM 50/1.5).

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[wlaidlaw]

Just tried my Leica M adapter T /L with a 35 ASPH Summilux and the CL. To my surprise, auto-zoom, which did work with the cam-less R adapter T/L, does not work with the M adapter. You have to flick the right hand control wheel with a finger to get zoom. I have checked and auto-zoom is enabled. I will check whether you have to select manual focus on a menu to get this, but given that the camera immediately recognised the 35 Summilux when mounted, it would be surprising if you had to select manual focus. Does other folks' M adapters T behave like this? 

 

Wilson

[lct]

I have no experience with the R adapter T/L but auto zoom cannot work w/o transmission of focus information between the lens and the body IMHO.

[wlaidlaw]

I have no experience with the R adapter T/L but auto zoom cannot work w/o transmission of focus information between the lens and the body IMHO.

 

It was my memory at fault. I thought the M adapter T/L auto-zoomed on the SL but I have just checked and it doesn't. It would not actually have been that difficult to implement at the design stage of the adapter. You would just need a photo-cell with an IR LED, which could detect movement of the RF collar. 

 

Wilson

[lct]

I have no experience with the R adapter T/L but auto zoom cannot work w/o transmission of focus information between the lens and the body IMHO.

 

And manual zoom cannot work w/o electrical contacts either. Just tried it by sticking a scotch tape on the electrical contacts of the Leica adapter. Image magnification is totally disabled then so i suspect auto and manual zoom can only work with the "Leica M - adapter L" (# 18771) so far.

[ramarren]

I don't use auto zoom even with lenses and bodies that support it, but an R lens adapter could detect focus and zoom change if it had appropriate electronic smarts and the lens had ROM in it. An M lens adapter could support auto zoom if they put a trivial follower in it that detected movement of the rangefinder focusing cam.

 

I find it pretty easy to focus manually even without using FP or Magnification with EVF cameras, depending upon the lens' focal length, set aperture, and how much contrast the lens produces at that aperture. A low contrast lens can be difficult to focus even wide open, and will show little FP as well. My 'Lux 35 v2 is like that.. easier to focus live at f/2.8.

 

But overall, focusing with any camera is a learned skill, whether RF, SLR, or EVF. I never presume I'm going to be perfect at it until I practice for a bit. All the cameras I've had are slightly different anyway, and give different focusing experiences. The worst for me were the IIIf, a couple of older, very low rez, slow refresh EVF cameras with small sensors, and a wretched cheap Konica SLR I picked up at a flea market.

[lct]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

[...] A low contrast lens can be difficult to focus even wide open, and will show little FP as well. My 'Lux 35 v2 is like that.. easier to focus live at f/2.8. [...]

 

Image magnification works fine with this lens at f/1.4, it is in fact the only way i know of to focus it accurately w/o rangefinder and the right dial of the CL is well designed for that. But auto zoom it has not and cannot have with manual lenses so far.

[wlaidlaw]

On the R to L adapter, with the later ROM lenses, the built in ROM chip must be providing the focus distance change information to the camera, to trigger auto-zoom. There is no mechanical connection from the focus ring on the lens to the adapter. 

 

At least Leica put in a totally passive chip in these lenses, which powers up instantly on connecting to the camera. On some Minolta lenses there seems to be some sort of internal power source, may be a capacitor. As a result, when you try to connect a Minolta lens which has been out of use for many years, albeit one which may be new old stock, sometimes a Sony DSLR will recognise it and sometimes not. If you leave the camera powered up for some hours, they may spring to life but some appear to have died for ever. I bought some new old stock Minolta lenses for my son to use on his Sony A99. Out of the three, only one worked immediately. A second came sort of to life, after nearly a whole day left powered up, changing batteries on the Sony but would not start again immediately, when powered down for a day. We took them all back to the dealer and he tried another three Minolta lenses. Again only one of the three worked right away and was not consistent, so we returned all of the Minolta lenses and bought 2 new new Sony and Zeiss lenses from the same dealer. 

[auuop]

Wouldn't you be better off with Leica's adapter instead? It seems that Novoflex adapters have some issues with CL.

 

Can you tell me what issues people have been having?

[auuop]

 

Well for the moment, I've bought a cheap adapter http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Leica-M-mount-L-M-LM-lens-to-Leica-T-L-T-mount-LT-adapter-T-Type-701-Mirrorless/251752716869?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649 so that I can try out a couple of M lenses when the CL ends up in a shop.

 

I'd rather get an idea of what it all works like before splashing out 300 bucks on a lighter adapter.

 

What I'm interested to know is how well the manual focusing works without a rangefinder patch. Trying to focus with an M camera simply using the live view or the EVF is really an impossible thing to do. There seems to be so much latitude in front and behind the focus point that the live view is really only useful for framing and composition. The focus peaking particularly is a waste of time.

 

Would manual focusing on the CL be any better?

 

 

Did you have any luck with the cheap adapter you got from eBay? I'm trying to decide whether to get this one, or the more expensive Novoflex..

[SrMi]

Can you tell me what issues people have been having?

With Novoflex adapter the focus magnification does not work as it should (use right wheel for 3x and 6x magnification). Louis has documented that behavior in several posts.

[lct]

Focus magnification cannot work if the adapter has not electrical contacts as i suggested above or elsewhere. 

[wlaidlaw]

If focusing works even close to as well as M lenses do on the SL, it will be extremely easy. I find focusing an 0.95 Noctilux wide open in low light, far easier on the SL than on an M. I have only had a quick play using my 85mm/f1.5 Summarex on the CL (maybe just a tad front heavy  ), which has about half the DOF of the Noctilux, and focusing seemed just fine, notwithstanding the lower resolution of the EVF compared with the SL. My own negative comment is that contrast edge detection for focus peaking is far weaker than the SL, where it works with even lowish contrast lenses. I was not getting any peaking at all with the Summarex, even at f5.6 where the contrast would not be that low. I even checked to see that peaking was turned on, which it was. 

 

Wilson

 

 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[jaapv]

I would like to have an option to adjust the strength of the peaking; with high contrast lenses it is too sensitive and thus inaccurate in full view. With maximum magnification it is OK.

[Bernd]

I have the adapter from leica, expensive but very well made. The only thing I want to now is, are there limitations in Leica M lenses? That could damage the camera/sensor because they stick out on the back? 

[jaapv]

There is a baffle in the CL lens mount. This prevents the collapsing of most retracting lenses and the use of Hologon and possibly Super-Angulon. Even if you mistakenly use an unsuitable lens it appears to be next to impossible to inflict significant damage. The only thing will be that you cannot mount or collapse it.

[Bernd]

There is a baffle in the CL lens mount. This prevents the collapsing of most retracting lenses and the use of Hologon and possibly Super-Angulon. Even if you mistakenly use an unsuitable lens it appears to be next to impossible to inflict damage. The only thing will be that you cannot mount or collapse it.

Is there a list of lenses that are save to use? 

[jaapv]

Well, i just mentioned the lenses that cannot be used as far as we know now. I cannot think of any other that would cause a problem, well, maybe, an unmodified Dual-Range Summicron, I wouldn't know.  A list of usable lenses would be quite long...

Even collapsible lenses can be used extended.

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Leica L-Mount

[lct]

There is no list AFAIK but the Leica adapter's instructions manual says that lenses should not protrude by more than 11 millimeters IINW. A plastic gauge like that of the Ricoh GXR would have been more useful IMHO.

[jonoslack]

 

What I'm interested to know is how well the manual focusing works without a rangefinder patch. Trying to focus with an M camera simply using the live view or the EVF is really an impossible thing to do. There seems to be so much latitude in front and behind the focus point that the live view is really only useful for framing and composition. The focus peaking particularly is a waste of time.

 

Would manual focusing on the CL be any better?

Trouble is, I find that manual focusing without a rangefinder patch is just great (after a bit of practice). This goes for the M, the SL and the CL. That’s without focus peaking and without zooming in. A good way to practice is to focus on an object - and then zoom in to see you’ve got it right. You’ll quickly get better - now to the extent that I almost never get it wrong (even with old aged eyes and developing cataracts).