SL2-S IBIS with Non-Leica Adapters

[Svetozar]

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Hello everyone,

I was looking and researching a lot to buy my first Leica form the moment SL2-S came out.

I am vintage glass manual lens shooter only. That means AF doesn't bother me.

I was really close to make a purchase but few days ago but than I saw Steve Huff review where he use Voigtlander 50mm APO f2 with both Leica SL2-S and Panasonic S5 and it made me thinking.

https://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2021/02/14/the-voigtlander-50-apo-f-2-vm-lens-m-mount-review-video/

He said that when you use Non-Leica adapter that you will lose 5 Axis IBIS and Auto ISO feature which is huge downside in my opinion, not so for the ISO more for the IBIS itself.

Is that happening for the Leica M lenses only ? Or that also mean for the other adapters lice AI-S to SL ; OM to SL ; FD to SL ; C/Y to SL...etc. ?

So this made me thinking if I would be able to use any on my vintage glass without a problems, quirks and issues.

My plan was to use all of my vintage glass with the adapters to Leica SL2-S (Nikon AI-S, Olympus OM, Canon FD, Pentax, Konica, Leica R, Contax...etc.)

 

So my question to anyone owning SL2-S if they can confirm if this is all true ?

It would be much helpful to me if someone can explain me little bit more about this or if someone try Vintage lenses on the SL2-S already.

 

Thank You !

 

Edited February 20, 2021 by Svetozar

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[geotrupede]

I am new to the platform but tried a novoflex adapter with a 35mm and once I indicated which lens this was in the menu, then the IBIS gave the option to activate. And active did seem to work.

I could feel a noise of something buzzing into the camera and images were ok at 1/4th of a second

G>

 

[Rob L]

Short answer: You can't just select the focal length and turn on IBIS as with Sony. Terrible!! If you use a dumb adapter or a non Leica M or R lens you are forced to select a Leica equivalent for IBIS to work. Not a real big deal for me because I don't have a ton of alt lenses, just several CY lenses and since I don't have any Leica R, I can find matches and still keep track of what I use with the EFIX data. I don't use M lenses on the SL2 much, but if I did, finding M equivalents for non Leica glass would be more of an issue to keep things sorted because I own lots of M glass.

SL2 and SL2s are clearly biased to Leica M and R lenses for manual focus. Too bad! I have an SL2 and used to have a Sony A7RIV before. I can set up my SL2 just like the Sony, with a top button for magnification and it works well. I focus at taking aperture and use magnification. I don't use Focus Peaking or Focus Assist (auto magnification). For some reason with the SL2 my viewfinder has a lot more shimmer (moire?) when magnified than the Sony, could be a way to improve this in settings, but I have not tried. This moire does behave like focus Peaking if you are wanting to shoot without magnification, so sometimes it's handy!

[Svetozar]

1 hour ago, geotrupede said:

I am new to the platform but tried a novoflex adapter with a 35mm and once I indicated which lens this was in the menu, then the IBIS gave the option to activate. And active did seem to work.

I could feel a noise of something buzzing into the camera and images were ok at 1/4th of a second

G>

 

Thank you for the answer !

[Svetozar]

1 hour ago, Rob L said:

Short answer: You can't just select the focal length and turn on IBIS as with Sony. Terrible!! If you use a dumb adapter or a non Leica M or R lens you are forced to select a Leica equivalent for IBIS to work. Not a real big deal for me because I don't have a ton of alt lenses, just several CY lenses and since I don't have any Leica R, I can find matches and still keep track of what I use with the EFIX data. I don't use M lenses on the SL2 much, but if I did, finding M equivalents for non Leica glass would be more of an issue to keep things sorted because I own lots of M glass.

SL2 and SL2s are clearly biased to Leica M and R lenses for manual focus. Too bad! I have an SL2 and used to have a Sony A7RIV before. I can set up my SL2 just like the Sony, with a top button for magnification and it works well. I focus at taking aperture and use magnification. I don't use Focus Peaking or Focus Assist (auto magnification). For some reason with the SL2 my viewfinder has a lot more shimmer (moire?) when magnified than the Sony, could be a way to improve this in settings, but I have not tried. This moire does behave like focus Peaking if you are wanting to shoot without magnification, so sometimes it's handy!

Rob thanks for the very described answer I really appreciate it.

Yes I agree that what they have done with IBIS and adapters is terrible really ! It is a big drawback.

I am also using Sony now and it is very easy to put focal length for the IBIS, it should be standard even in Leica I think.

It is an L mount body and it is a huge shame that is based to Leica M and Leica R lenses only for manual focus. 

So you are saying for example if you use Contax Zeiss 50mm f1.4 and then choose Leica R Summilux 50mm f1.4 IBIS should work without any problem ? 

 

 

[Photoworks]

There are M adapters from Leica with 6bit reader. When a 6bit lens is mounted the 6bit coding applies a in camera correction to Metadata identifying the lens in post, It applies vignetting, color cast correction and distortion and CA correction. The camera also activates IBIS.

I you use the Leica M to L adapter with a non 6bit coded lens none of the correction are applied in camera, but you can select a focal length from the menu of M or R lenses and IBIS works fine. Metadata does not have lens setting

If you use a non Leica adapter, a non 6bit version, no correction get applied, but you can select a 50mm lens profile and IBIS is activated again.

The Voigtlander 50mm APO is already a good corrected lens and should work great on this camera, just a little of vignetting at f2. for this lenses I use a 3rd party adapter that can extend a little and overcome the 70-100cm minimum focus limit of M lenses.

 

 

[Svetozar]

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@Photoworks thank you very much for this explanation.

I am not planing to use Leica M lenses but some of Leica R lenses without a pin I would use.

So basically I just choose Leica R equivalent lens and it should work with dumb adapters without a problem ?

39 minutes ago, Photoworks said:

The Voigtlander 50mm APO is already a good corrected lens and should work great on this camera, just a little of vignetting at f2. for this lenses I use a 3rd party adapter that can extend a little and overcome the 70-100cm minimum focus limit of M lenses.

It is a strange then that Steve Huff couldn't get the IBIS with his Voigtlander 50mm APO f2 in LEICA SL2-S.

[Photoworks]

3 minutes ago, Svetozar said:

@Photoworks thank you very much for this explanation.

I am not planing to use Leica M lenses but some of Leica R lenses without a pin I would use.

So basically I just choose Leica R equivalent lens and it should work with dumb adapters without a problem ?

It is a strange then that Steve Huff couldn't get the IBIS with his Voigtlander 50mm APO f2 in LEICA SL2-S.

the same settings apply to R adapters 

Steve has become a total youtuber. not a photographer  review. he just uses equipment for few days and gives you his opinion. None of this people ever give you a negative feedback, they would not get any equipment to review anymore.

 

[Photoworks]

some Leica R lenses have lots of character , and the Summilux  50 and 35 have lots of distortion .

The Summicron-R 35 is one of my favorite lenses for video of people.

[Rob L]

"So you are saying for example if you use Contax Zeiss 50mm f1.4 and then choose Leica R Summilux 50mm f1.4 IBIS should work without any problem ?"  Yes, I use exactly that lens and setting! Works fine.

[Svetozar]

29 minutes ago, Photoworks said:

the same settings apply to R adapters 

Steve has become a total youtuber. not a photographer  review. he just uses equipment for few days and gives you his opinion. None of this people ever give you a negative feedback, they would not get any equipment to review anymore.

 

Totally agree with you on this one !

[Svetozar]

28 minutes ago, Photoworks said:

some Leica R lenses have lots of character , and the Summilux  50 and 35 have lots of distortion .

The Summicron-R 35 is one of my favorite lenses for video of people.

Yes I love the look and renderings  of Summicron-R’s. I have Summicron-R 50mm f2 and it is amazing. Yes I have heard a lot of great things about Summicron-R 35mm f2, hopefully my next lens  

[Svetozar]

10 minutes ago, Rob L said:

"So you are saying for example if you use Contax Zeiss 50mm f1.4 and then choose Leica R Summilux 50mm f1.4 IBIS should work without any problem ?"  Yes, I use exactly that lens and setting! Works fine.

@Rob L Thank you so much on this, it is much clearer for me now!

[Rob L]

Other than that the SL2/SL2s are a joy to use.

[Rob L]

I don't know if you would ever notice, but the SL2/SL2s probably play better with film era lenses than other mirrorless systems due to the thin sensor cover stack. Sony in particular has a thick sensor cover and from what I've read these can induce field curvature. They can be a problem for any lens not designed for them, not just Leica M.

[Slender]

It has to be activated for L-to PL cine lenses adapter.... and these do not have electronics contacts as of now. SO yeah choose the next focal length and there you go, it should work!

For everything that can be adapted via R or M adapter, I think the best bet is to get a Leica one second hand... and you can code non Leica M lenses yourself easily so you can swap them without thinking about selecting FL in the menus.

Edited February 21, 2021 by Slender

[Svetozar]

10 hours ago, Rob L said:

I don't know if you would ever notice, but the SL2/SL2s probably play better with film era lenses than other mirrorless systems due to the thin sensor cover stack. Sony in particular has a thick sensor cover and from what I've read these can induce field curvature. They can be a problem for any lens not designed for them, not just Leica M.

Wow, didn’t knew that info about sensor cover stack at all. It makes much more sense to go with Leica than. Do you maybe know the difference between Leica and Panasonic sensor cover stack ? Is there any?

[Svetozar]

12 minutes ago, Slender said:

It has to be activated for L-to PL cine lenses adapter.... and these do not have electronics contacts as of now. SO yeah choose the next focal length and there you go, it should work!

For everything that can be adapted via R or M adapter, I think the best bet is to get a Leica one second hand... and you can code non Leica M lenses yourself easily so you can swap them without thinking about selecting FL in the menus.

Yes that is what I was thinking as well. They have Leitz Cine line up with PL mount therefore must be working somehow. I agree with you. For Leica M and R it should be Leica original adapters.

Thanks !

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[Slender]

3 layers for Panasonic, only 2 very thin for Leica (has to be IR and clear cover glass....). No OLPF for both.

[Svetozar]

Just now, Slender said:

3 layers for Panasonic, only 2 very thin for Leica (has to be IR and clear cover glass....). No OLPF for both.

Than is clear. Leica is currently the best mirrorles camera to use with Legacy Vintage manual glass since it have the thinnest sensor cover stack. Thanks a lot @Slender