Is my adapter kaput or am I using it wrong?

[Me Leica!]

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I recently acquired an SL2-S, and was curious to try my old Canon FD lenses on it. I found what I think is the right adapter (Shoten C. FD-L.SL) and it all fits, although it's incredibly difficult to get everything in place.

I've used these lenses adapted to Micro 4/3 and Sony Full Frame before, and they've been fine. However, with this Shoten adapter on the SL, it seems like there's a point where the focus won't go any further. Close up and medium distance, it seems fine. But at infinity (or near it), it seems to fail to focus and the resulting picture is blurry. I'm using the back joystick to magnify the picture, so there's no question about it.

Is this a known thing? The adapter wasn't expensive, so if it's unusable at longer distances I haven't lost out on much, but it could be user error.

 

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[dpitt]

It sounds like your adapter is slightly too long or misaligned. In case of wide lenses, even a fraction of a mm is too much to reach infinity.
In general, adapters on the SL are designed a bit too short to avoid this issue. Even Leica does this, so most lenses will reach infinity slightly short of the infinity mark.

If you have a longer FL lens, check if that works with the adapter. If it does, I recommend URTH as one of the cheapest adapters with good mechanical qualities.

Edited May 11, 2024 by dpitt

[Photoworks]

Sounds like a defective adapter, It would always focus to infinity. Much stuff is made without precision.

I had a Fotodiox adapter for Leica R lenses, it worked, but it was horrible, the inside of the adapter was painted black and the light was bouncing around giving me inner reflections and flares.

everything was solved with a different brand.

[Me Leica!]

Thanks all. I'll do a few more experiments with it and if it's a dud, so be it.

[Jean-Michel]

I have a few Canon FD lenses. I purchased a Fotodiox FD-LM adapter so they would work on my M bodies. I can use those lenses with the FD-LM and the Leica M to L adapter on my SL2.