Adapter ....... again

[analog-digital]

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Helli folks

 

I have a Leica SL an some M + R-lenses. The SL-Lenses are ..... expensive and heavy. Now I'm thinking to use M and/or R-lenses on the SL. Some M-lenses (leica and 7artisans) have the coding, R's not.

So I'm in a little dolemma. The Leica adapters (with code transfering) are really expensiv. Is there another solution?

[gbealnz]

I used an SL successfully with the e bay adapters. I used M-L, and R-M, and now have also R-L.

When I had the SL, I also had the genuine Leica adapter M-L, which gave the 6 bit information. This I found handy as it allowed me to see afterwards the lens used. With my first R-M adapter it was not 6 bit coded and there was no transfer, but a more recent (e bay) adapter R-M has the coding on the rear and the adapter(s) then invoke the menu to allow the R lens to be manually inputted.

Obviously, the genuine are preferred, I suspect they will be better made, more accurate, and "nicer", but as you ask, there is another solution.

Gary

[analog-digital]

vor 2 Stunden schrieb gbealnz:

.....with the e bay adapters.

Which one are you talking about?

[AZN]

33 minutes ago, Artin said:

I have the Leica  M to L adaptor .  And a Leica R to M adaptor.  You can combine the 2. And will be able to use R lenses on the SL /2  Coded and ROM will work

Caveat.

The R to M adapter will not transfer ROM information in the R lens.  You will manually have to tell the camera which lens you are using (ROM or not).

Otherwise the combo works well.  When my Leica R to L adapter went haywire and had to be replaced under warranty, I used the R->M and M->L combo and it worked fine.

Provided you remember to keep telling the camera which R lens you are using =Q

[Macberg]

vor 11 Stunden schrieb analog-digital:

The Leica adapters (with code transfering) are really expensiv.

Try to get hold of an older M to T Adapter, it's exactly the same as the M to L Adapter, but often they are sold much cheaper second hand. Leica just relabelled the adapter a couple of years ago (some trademark-issue), but it's the same thing.
I bought my M to T for 250 Euros (mint condition with original packaging. little bag etc.) instead of paying 380 Euros for the M to L, and it works perfectly.

[analog-digital]

vor 47 Minuten schrieb Macberg:

I bought my M to T for 250 Euros (mint condition with original packaging. little bag etc.) instead of paying 380 Euros for the M to L, and it works perfectly.

 

This one cost approx € 420.-

With the M-Adapter L, you have over 20 of the legendary M lenses at your disposal. The adapter fully supports functions such as exposure metering, automatic timer and manual control.
 

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This cost approx € 750.-

With the R-adapter L you can use your flawlessly ground and high-quality coated R-lenses. You benefit from the current technology of the Leica SL and achieve new top performances.

 

Edited January 4, 2020 by analog-digital

[Macberg]

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vor 11 Minuten schrieb analog-digital:

 

This one cost approx € 420.-

With the M-Adapter L, you have over 20 of the legendary M lenses at your disposal. The adapter fully supports functions such as exposure metering, automatic timer and manual control.
 

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!

  

I know. So it seems like the M-Adapter L is even more expensive in Switzerland, which is one more good reason for trying to find a used M-Adapter T which is identical (identical in every detail and function except for the letter "T" instead of "L") to the M-Adapter L. The M-Adapter T also "fully supports functions such as exposure metering, automatic timer and manual control". Of course this is only partly a solution for your problem (as it is only for your M-Lenses).

Edited January 4, 2020 by Macberg

[analog-digital]

I searched ebay.com or ebay.de. You can find many adapters but they are 90% new!

 

I think the most sustainable way is "to bite the bullet" and buy the ORIGINAL.

Edited January 4, 2020 by analog-digital

[Per P.]

I have the original M-adapter and also had the original for R before I sold the lenses. I have a Novoflex adapter for a non-Leica lens and it works flawlessly. In another thread the same is said about the Novoflex R-SL adapter so I would not be concerned about quality. 

Having written that, this week I still decided to buy the original when I re-purchased one of the R-lenses I sold last year. Transmission of lens information is nice and makes it easier to apply lens corrections  in Lightroom. Especially for a R-zoom where the corrections are slightly different at different focal lengths.

This may not matter to everyone. I just thought, having gone this far, it was not the right place for me to save the money. 

[BernardC]

The lens information provided by Leica's adapters is a convenience for R most lenses, but not a necessity. As Per mentioned above, they allow Lightroom to apply distortion correction automatically, but distortion is only noticeable with a few R zooms.

Things are different with M lenses. Some lenses don't need any correction in post (as a rule of thumb, anything 50mm and above), and some do. If you have a selection of 6-bit coded M lenses, you may as well spend the extra for Leica's adapter.

How much extra? Avoid the cheap adapters. It's a false economy: you will waste time with ill-fitting mounts, barely-functioning lens release mechanisms, doubtful parallelism, etc. That is OK if you want to try-out a Praktina lens you found in your great-aunt's attic, but not for a lens that you want to use regularly.

Novoflex adapters are always very good. Kipon and Fotodiox "professional" can be OK. Some other serious brands offer a smaller selection of high-quality adapters (Voigtlander, C7adapters). The thing is, these adapters sell in the $100-$200 range, and sometimes more. You won't be saving as much as you expected, compared to the Leica adapters.

[jrp]

But is focal length transmission not required to use IBIS (ie, dumb adaptors are suboptimal)?

[Macberg]

vor 1 Stunde schrieb jrp:

But is focal length transmission not required to use IBIS (ie, dumb adaptors are suboptimal)?

That's correct - IBIS needs the focal length. But you can also choose the most suitable focal length manually in the menu. The problem is that this takes a some time which I normally don't want to spend when I need to change lenses quickly under difficult circumstances, e.g. in the dark, at cold and rainy outdoor places etc.

Edited January 4, 2020 by Macberg

[jrp]

Can you select a focal length or only a lens of that focal length (with all the other shading corrections that come with it?

[Macberg]

vor 1 Stunde schrieb jrp:

Can you select a focal length or only a lens of that focal length (with all the other shading corrections that come with it?

Only a Leica lens of that (or a close enough) focal length. For example, when I attach an M-Lens with the Leica-Adapter, it is automatically selected, but I can also select another M-lens from a looooong list (see indicator on the left side) of Leica M-lenses (each one has the serial number behind it).

I guess that if you use a non-Leica adapter, the list contains not only M-lenses is even longer...

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Edited January 4, 2020 by Macberg

[jrp]

So if you have some Voigtlander or Chinese M-mount lenses you'd be better off with the Panasonic S1/R if you want to take advantage of IBIS and don't want inappropriate lens corrections baked into your files.

That's quite a limitation.  I have some of the wider Voigtlander lenses, for which there is no close Leica equivalent focal length, never mind the incorrect corrections.

[Macberg]

vor 1 Stunde schrieb jrp:

So if you have some Voigtlander or Chinese M-mount lenses you'd be better off with the Panasonic S1/R if you want to take advantage of IBIS and don't want inappropriate lens corrections baked into your files.

That's quite a limitation.  I have some of the wider Voigtlander lenses, for which there is no close Leica equivalent focal length, never mind the incorrect corrections.

I just tried it with my Voigtlander Superwide Heliar 15mm (III). I can either...

• choose the Tri Elmar 16mm profile (which is probably close enough for me) and have the possibility to use the IBIS.
• or choose no lens profile (as I would do with my M10) with no lens correction and without IBIS and correct the lens distortion afterwards with Capture One Pro (there is actually a profile there for the Voigtlander).

Does the Panasonic S1R have IBIS?

And can you choose all available lenses by all manufacturers (I guess lens-correction is not only about focal lengths) in the Pana SR1's menu? I have to admit that would definitely be an advantage over the SL2, but I wonder how long it might take to choose the right lens from that even longer lens-list in the Panasonic's menu every time you change lenses. Or can you narrow the list down to some favourites? That would be an advantage again then.

However...the memory of holding the Panasonic S1R (cluttered with buttons) in my hands when I had to come to a decision between Fujifilm, Panasonic, Sony (all of which were disturbingly cluttered with buttons and overstuffed with dendritic menus) still makes me feel uneasy...and then the feeling of the Leica SL2 which I finally decided to buy...I can easily live with my one Voigtlander which has no profile in my SL2...😉

Edited January 4, 2020 by Macberg

[scott kirkpatrick]

Yes the S1R and S1 have IBIS, but they don't have a list of all possible lenses to choose from.  If your lens isn't recognized, you put in the focal length in mm.

[jrp]

Exactly. To get ibis to function correctly it needs to know the focal length. Entering a focal length (without shading / distortion correction) is a firmware option that Leica has chosen not to implement, for reasons unknown. 

[Macberg]

vor 14 Stunden schrieb scott kirkpatrick:

[...] S1R and S1 [...] don't have a list of all possible lenses to choose from.  If your lens isn't recognized, you put in the focal length in mm.

Alright, thank you for the clarification. I thought that not only distortion needs to be corrected by a lens profile, but also things like vignette, chromatic aberration etc.
Can all of that be done if the camera simply "knows" the focal length?
I'm just interested whether Leica might be able (or interested?) to implement the feature of just entering a focal length to "create a new lens profile".

Edited January 5, 2020 by Macberg

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[scott kirkpatrick]

Leica has consistently supported earlier Leica lenses (those that were made before the introduction of the 6-bit encoding) on their M mounts.  And not "all" lenses.  Most other manufacturers take a similar approach.  Vignetting corrections and color shifts at edges of the frame are corrected in the raw file in camera (by Leica).  Distortion and lateral color errors are best handled only after the image has been de-Bayered and RGB information is available at every pixel location.  So if this is not done while creating a JPEG in camera, the parameters needed will be passed in some proprietary field (by Panasonic, Canikon, etc) or in the DNG's WarpRectilinear Opcodes, for use when post-processing.  Since Adobe does these corrections automatically, there is some heated discussion of the unfairness of having this thrust upon us.  But other tools, in particular COne, make that process visible and available to control.

Inputting the focal length, as Panasonic allows, is simple for them because only the IBIS characteristics are being affected.

 

Edited January 5, 2020 by scott kirkpatrick