L39 to Leica M Mount adapters

[Espinasse]

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The purchase -at least 10 years ago, of a Leica Summicron 1:2/35 ASPH. and soon after a Summicron 1:2/50 (both lenses are LTMs, apparently made in response to the requests of the Japanese ‘market’), has resulted in an accumulation of L39 to Leica M Mount adapters, first to accommodate an M5 that I acquired around the same time and then, in 2015, the M-P (Type 240).  I am curious to know more about the various markings on these adapters.  The adapter marked “9cm” is distinctive in that it alone makes no reference to “M2” or “M3”, and is also distinctive in that its circumference is not ‘cut-away’ in the manner that the others are.  I have been told that when new these ‘special’ LTM lenses were supplied with an adapter.  This led me to wonder whether these  adapters had been encoded -a feature I appreciate when using my M-P and coded lenses, but my informant could not tell me if such had been the case. I would welcome any information regarding these essential objects, and in particular the significance of the markings and ‘cut-aways’.

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[a.noctilux]

Cut away was there to use lenses with tab, specially close to body tab lenses like Elmar 3.5/5cm.

Three cutouts are there for removing when the adapter is attached to M body without lens (or lens removed), using "tool" or rear M cap of those days with three prongs.

 

 

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[earleygallery]

The 9cm adaptor will bring up the 9cm/90mm frame on any camera (so no need to show M2/M3 etc) and doesn't have a focus tab, so no need for the cutaway.

These are all just very simple thread to bayonet mount adaptors, the length of one of the lugs determines which frame lines they trigger. The limited edition lenses you mention were released before the digital M's so I'm pretty sure any adaptors they came with would be uncoded.

[Anbaric]

One curiosity, discussed here before, is why Leica lists ranges like 21-35 for the M2, when it has no framelines wider than 35, and 28-50 for the M3, when the widest frameline on that camera is the (permanent) 50mm? If there are no matching framelines, you can use any adapter, so why specify the adapters for unsupported focal lengths? Was the logic to select an adapter that in these cases shows the 'nearest' (widest available) frameline and no others, perhaps to make using the rangefinder less distracting? Or was there some other reason, like accommodating infinity lock tabs? Today, these markings can be doubly confusing because if you have, say, a 28mm lens (not supported when these adapters were current) you might be misled into choosing the wrong one instead of the '90mm' adapter you really need.

Edited August 30, 2022 by Anbaric

[jdlaing]

From memory I’ll see if I can explain. The adapter at the top of your picture is the IRZOO adapter. The markings mean on the M2 it will trigger 50mm frame lines and on the M3 it will trigger the 28 and 50mm frame line pairs. The third one with the 21-35 is marked for the super angulon 21mm lens on the M2 and I think but am not sure will trigger the 35mm framelinesand on the M3 will trigger the 35 and 135mm frame lines. It is, I think, the 14097 adapter.

[jdlaing]

And…..the cutouts are indeed for infinity lock tabs and on the later M bodies with 6 bit code readers don’t work well as the reader window is uncovered.

[Pyrogallol]

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There has been at least one other thread on this subject.

 

[wda]

2 hours ago, jdlaing said:

From memory I’ll see if I can explain. The adapter at the top of your picture is the IRZOO adapter. The markings mean on the M2 it will trigger 50mm frame lines and on the M3 it will trigger the 28 and 50mm frame line pairs. The third one with the 21-35 is marked for the super angulon 21mm lens on the M2 and I think but am not sure will trigger the 35mm framelinesand on the M3 will trigger the 35 and 135mm frame lines. It is, I think, the 14097 adapter.

The M3 does not have frame lines wider than 50 mm. It is optimised for that focal length.

[Michael Geschlecht]

Hello Everybody,

These are older adapters from when the lens line was not as extensive as it later became. Markings which were appropriate at the time the adapters were made might be misunderstood sometimes today.

M3 cameras (The first M camera.) have frame lines for 50mm, 90mm & 135mm lenses. The 50mm frame (With rounded corners to show the scene as it would be seen if it was a Kodachrome slide.) is always visible.

The 90mm & 135 mm frames appear when the lenses of those focal lengths, or their appropriate adapters, are mounted on the camera.

M2 cameras (The second M camera if we do not include small editions of specialized cameras.) has frame lines for 35mm, 50mm & 90mm lenses. The only frame line visible is the frame line of the lens attached, or its appropriate adapter attached.

James is correct: Both cameras display frame lines for a 90mm lens. So there is no need to specify which camera.

The marking  M3  28 - 50 means that if you put a 28mm, 35 mm or 50mm screw mount lens in this adapter & put it in an M3, then the 50mm frame is the only frame line you will see thru the range/viewfinder window. An appropriate add on viewfinder in the accessory shoe is suggested for 28mm & 35mm lenses.

M2  50  means that if you put any screw mount lens in this adapter & put the adapter on an M2, then the 50mm lens frame lines will appear.

M2  21 - 35 means that if you put a 21mm, 28mm or 35mm lens on this adapter & mount it on an M2, the 35mm frame line will appear. Viewfinders for 21mm & 28mm lenses suggested.

M3 135mm on the same adapter is because the position of the movable arm in the camera body that the M2  35mm lens adapter moves the frame line mechanism to, is the same place that the 135mm adapter moves the M3's 135mm frame lines to.

35mm frame lines & 135mm frame lines begin appearing together as standard with M4 camera (The M4 is the 4th M camera. M1 was the 3rd M camera.). Before the introduction of the M4, there are some small editions of M cameras other than M3's that sometimes also had 135mm frame lines.

Best Regards,

Michael

 

Edited August 30, 2022 by Michael Geschlecht