Fuji OEM Leica M mount adapter

[hunz]

Has anyone had experience with one?

Pros and cons? Some say you can't use many wide/retro focus Leica lenses as it doesn't allow to work?

Do other third parties have a wider throat, hence allows wider use of Leica lenses?

And do the digital contacts make a big difference? And how does it compare to adapters made by Rayquel and Novoflex?

 

[alienmeatsack]

I'm curious about this myself.

My favorite wide lens on my M mount cameras is my VC 15mm Super Wide and I don't hear good things about it using the different adapters. I'm going to add a 21mm to the mix as well and will shoot these two a lot on the new Fuji body if I can.

It would be nice if there were a good comparison of the major M Mount adapters for the Fuji bodies and example photos from all the major lenses from Leica, Zeiss and VC.

 

[john neal]

The VC 15 is just great on the XE1 - the genuine adapter does help in that the fit is better than many of the copies, but it also gives you access to the submenus for correcting any corner colour or lens aberrations.

On the downside, it does have a slightly smaller "throat" than some others and I have heard that infinity on a Leitz lens is not achieved at the point indicated on the lens, but I have yet to see that.

I'm still new to it, but the 15 seems to be the usual choice for me. The 25 is good too, but seems to lack something (for me) that the 15 brings. The 21 should be great too - I don't have one to try.

Personal opinion, you understand....

 

[alienmeatsack]

I'd read about the infinity focus issues with some of the adapters. Is this a common thing among all the lenses from everyone or just certain makes, focal lengths or similar?

Coming from a film background, self-developing, I am used to imperfections in my shots. So I was hoping that anything beyond focus issues would be something I'd work around (and with) to my advantage on the new digital body.

 

[sunghei]

I have one that I am selling if you are interested! from my experience it is an excellent adapter, the built is great! I dont have the high end adapters, the other one that i have was from rainbow imaging and it was crap! (the chrome plating was peaking off on day 1!) i dont have ultrawides, but i used a cv 35 1.4 and a 50 f2 zm with the adapter on the xe1 and everything works great. it was nice to have the camera go into M automatically but i hardly remember to get the right focal length before I shoot. That being set the dedicated button on the adapter does make it much easier.

 

[GaryLH]

Depends on the brand and if u intend to zone/scale focus also affects min focus as well. Most can be shimmed to correct infinity focus. So far I have not had a problem w/ novoflex on any of my cameras in terms of correct inf focus point. I find the Fuji m adapter is very slightly off inf.. I have had cheap third part right on and other that I need to shim. I use an object about about 2 miles away to check inf focus.. For most of my lenses except the longer tele ones. I have bought two novoflex and countless others.. For a variety of csc cameras.

The biggest plus for the more expensive adapters is that they tend to built very well and there is no looseness which may tend to seen as edge or off axis related sharpness.

Gary

 

[alienmeatsack]

I know with my VC 15, when the aperture is around f/8-f/16 tends to be super easy to focus. I pretty much set it to 1meter or infinity and everything is in focus depending on my zones.

Wouldn't the focus issue either be negated by this or by the fact that you look into the OVF/EVF or at the screen and can see it's not in focus?

 

[GaryLH]

Inf focus issue is a non-issue if u are using an evf or LCD outside of loosing some min. Focus capability. It is only their if u are scale or zone focusing or u just want to set the lens at inf because u know the subject is at inf.

Gary

 

[sunghei]

fyi. the current focus peaking on the xe-1 is not really visible for focal length shorter than 50 mm. so if you plan on using peaking and wide, be prepared to use the LCD or use the magnification

 

[f16sunshine]

fyi. the current focus peaking on the xe-1 is not really visible for focal length shorter than 50 mm. so if you plan on using peaking and wide, be prepared to use the LCD or use the magnification

I've been usung FP with Hex Dual 21/35 on Hawks adapter and it works great when there is some contrast to focus on.
No or low conteast= turn off FP and focus with magnification.

Cheers

 

[CameraQuest]

the fuji adapter has the advantage of the Fuji electrical contacts,
however it has the disadvantage of
1) a smaller throat which will not accept some lenses including the Voigtlander 35/1.2
2) not exact infinity focus, which makes scale focusing problematic.

Rayqual FujiX adapters
1) have a larger throat for more lens compatibility
2) have exact infininity focus
3) are available with and without tripod mounts
4) are just as well made as the Fuji adapters
5) do not have the Fuji contacts, which are propitiatory
6) are available in other mounts besides Leica M

see http://shop.cameraquest.com/fuji-x-pro1/xe-1-accessories/

Best,
Stephen

 

[Kent]

Don't forget the Novoflex adapters = excellent built, very precise!

 

[gdi]

I have a couple of adapters -the Fuji is really great; it packs a lot of features into a very reasonably priced adapter. But, as mentioned above, it can't accept some lenses. I use a different adapter when I use my CV 35/1.2.

It is really nice to have the camera automatically turn on "shoot w/o lens", record the Focal Length into the EXIF, and bring up appropriate frame lines if you are scale focusing. I have never found a problem with infinity focus with my Leica or CV lenses. And of course the distortion, color shift, and vignetting corrections can prove to be must haves with some lenses and no other adapter has them.

 

[alienmeatsack]

I guess I'm going to have to buy/try the different makes/models to find what works best for my lenses. I personally don't have a problem with buying several and using the one that works best with certain lenses with those lenses and so on. I already do this with bodies for lenses for my Nikon gear. And considering that some of the lenses are $500-800 themselves, an extra $200 is not a huge deal to get results that make me happy.

I just want to understand the different adapters, why each one is what it is and how they compare. Having not used any of them makes it difficult to know what works for what.

Do each of the three majors change your focal length for each lens as well? Does the Fuji do so more/less then the others?

 

[Ryan1938]

The fuji is by far the best, but it's expensive. Check eBay - I see some good deals go down on them every now and then.

 

[GaryLH]

Do each of the three majors change your focal length for each lens as well? Does the Fuji do so more/less then the others?

I am not sure I understand the question... So I will try to answer it several different types of answers.

- the crop factor based on sensor size determine the focal perspective of a lens. Since I am assuming we are talking about 35mm legacy lenses here, then apsc is a 1.5x and m43 is 2x for example. If u put a 50 normal lens on a Fuji xp1, then that 50 has a field of view of a 75 due to the 1.5 crop factor. That same 50 on an Olympus omd would be 100mm field of field (fov) due to the 2x crop factor of the smaller m43 sensor.

- currently there is a new type of adapter pioneered by metabones called the speedbooster that has an optical element in it which will allow cancelation of the 1.5 x crop factor effect. It is a 0.71x factor reducing element, thus allowing a 50 for 35mm to be a 50 fov on a apsc camera such as the Fuji xp1. I currently use one on my Fuji xp1 for my Nikon slr lenses.

- in terms of a built in tele extender, no one does that currently. Just use your existing extender instead.

- there are macro type adapters that have built in helicoid to allow closer focusing then your normal lens are capable of..

Gary

 

[alienmeatsack]

I know on my Nikon bodies for example, because of the focal length differences, if I use an adapter for my Leica M mount lenses, they all become close up lenses. If I use my Auto Miranda lens on the Nikon, the change makes it go from a 50mm to somewhere around a 60-65 (guessing).

So I guess that is what I was asking, would a VC 15mm lens produce the same or close to the same field of view on the XE2 or similar vs on the Leica and VC bodies.

Sort of like the crop factor you mention above, like with film vs digital bodies where my fisheye on my film camera is a circle image but my D90 makes it a curved side super wide instead.

 

[GaryLH]

The normal adapters do not have any optical elements. Their job is to match the focal plane to lens mount difference between what was expected of the legacy body vs the shorter flange to focal plane (the sensors in this ase instead of film plane). Here is an example..
- let's say that u have an old legacy lens that has a film focusing plane to mount flange of 55mm and the digital camera body has a normal sensor focusing plane to mount flange of 28mm..
- u would need to create an adapter which has a length of 27mm in order to properly focus that old legacy lens.

Thus the sensor size is the controlling factor, not the adapter. Your Nikon to Leica m is the reverse issue. U have a legacy lens which has a shorter focusing plane to flange then the camera the lens is adapting to (Nikon).

Your vc 15 becomes a 22.5 (1.5x15) fov due to the apsc crop factor.

Gary

 

[alienmeatsack]

Gary, thanks for the info and explanation!

I'm slowing getting all of the details of these adapters and how they work and fit into the scheme of things in my head and sorted. Picking a body was easy for me. Picking the adapter has been a learning experience for sure.

 

[f16sunshine]

I thought I heard mention of CV making a Helical adapter. Is this true (I can't find it on CameraQuest if it is true)?
I like the Hawks. The fit is nice and tight and works well enough. The Helical is not very smooth though and I think a bit poorly designed for long term use.