Leica lenses on large format cameras

[hirohhhh]

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Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I'm not into the large photography. I have bunch of SL & M lenses and I'm thinking for a while of buying a large format camera to have some fun with it, and it would be great if I can use the existing lenses I already have. Is there any adaptor on the market that can mount SL or M lenses on any large format camera?

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[david strachan]

The coverage of Leica M and L lenses is too small for large format photography. The image circle will be extremely vignetted, and bad edge effects will ruin the image.

135mm is the standard size large format lens.

A Crown Graphic with lens is probably cheapest entry level LF.

Have fun...

[T25UFO]

Leica M lenses work pretty well on Hasselblad medium format (X1D, 907X) although you have to use the electronic shutter.  I've tried with the Novoflex adaptor.  There is some vignetting with 50mm focal length, but 90mm and above is generally fine.  Unfortunately, no adapter for L mount lens.

[UliWer]

In the german part of the Forum you may find a short thread with examples from the 1:4.5/135mm Hektor on medium format:

Thomas Schertel mentions in #3 that he has used the lens with 9*12cm format. Perhaps he can tell you if there are any adapters. 

[hirohhhh]

I’m interested mostly in 8x10. Maybe 4x5, but 8x10 looks more appealing to get into the large format.

[Williamson Garry]

Is it possible that leica projector lenses will work for large format 4x5?

[Eclectic Man]

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On 10/20/2021 at 5:33 AM, hirohhhh said:

I'm thinking for a while of buying a large format camera to have some fun with it, and it would be great if I can use the existing lenses I already have.

Did you, and if so, how did you find it?  I have a 4x5 field camera, but I got a second hand 150mm f/5.6 Schneider-Kreuznach lens, which is very nice to use, and completely different from using a Leica camera.

 

[BernardC]

On 12/19/2024 at 1:32 PM, Williamson Garry said:

Is it possible that leica projector lenses will work for large format 4x5?

The short answer is no, in any practical way.

Technically you can project the image from any lens onto 4x5 film, given the right lens board and shutter (or just removing the lens cap for a second if you use very slow film). Leica projector lenses, like all 35mm projector lenses, do not have shutters or apertures, and they don't cover large format.

[250swb]

For many photographers a large format camera will be a very, very big learning curve. There are so many mistakes to make and not getting the right equipment to start with is probably the biggest mistake. It doesn't have to be expensive to get image quality that will blow your socks off and none of the lenses will have Leica written on them.