Leica LTM M42 and LTM to M

[RdEoSg]

Ok I am sure this has been asked a thousand times but I am on vacation and don't have a lot of internet time so I am hoping someone can just give me a short and sweet answer to this.

I'm in Poland at the moment and on Sunday I am going to a camera swap meet in Warsaw. It's billed as the biggest in Europe and it is quite large. I went to it last time I was here.

I have an M6 and was just hoping to pick up some cheap russian glass for the fun of it. I won't be using the lenses much but I thought it would be fun to pick up some 50mm or 80mm etc.

I've already come across some M42 lenses in pawn shops. I know these are the same as pentax screw mount and apparently Pentacon but I am not sure how well the adapters work for M mount.

In regards to the LTM stuff like the jupiter lenses and perhaps even some Leica glass, I assume RF coupling may or may not work. Do I just try it on the body to see?

Thanks for any info you might have!

Again, sorry for the repetitive thread.

 

[pingle]

Well, LTM lenses with an LTM to M adapter definitely couple. You're using CV screwmount lenses, which couple fine with an adapter. If the original lens isn't rangefinder coupled, then obviously no. Whether a specific lens couples accurately... I think only trying it will tell you.

Maybe someone else will help wrt M42 lenses.

 

[DeeCee3]

No question but what an LTM lens will couple with M mount bodies provided there's an adaptor to fit. As far as M42's are concerned, the Novoflex (the company that makes the adaptor for M42>M) website indicates the RF will NOT work although the lens will mount OK. The M42 lens, in that case, becomes a scale focuser!

dc3

 

[rxmd]

No M42 lens will couple to the M rangefinder. They are manual focus SLR lenses, there simply was no need to transmit distance information to the body on a SLR. All SLR lenses will permit only scale focusing when mounted on a Leica.

There used to be an adapter for SLR lenses that had its own distance scale. Basically you focused using the rangefinder and the adapter's distance scale. Then you looked at the distance scale on the adapter and set the same distance scale on the lens. A bit inconvenient in my book, but at least you get to use the rangefinder to some extent. I think CameraQuest used to sell them (but I might be wrong on this) and they used to be quite expensive. Otherwise you'd need a M42-M adapter; our bartender is selling one for $129, you might also find one from Novoflex.

Philipp

 

[RdEoSg]

Ok thanks for the help everyone! I already have a couple LTM to M adapters so I think I will probaby stick to those lenses. They are also called m39 or something right? I don't think I would get much use out of the M42 lenses and to be honest the idea is to get them cheap so I don't want to spend $130 for an adapter to put a $30 lens on the camera!