Leica R on Nikon F, share your experience

[Addy101]

Why not just get a Leica camera? A cheap R3 or R4, or a mechanical R6? And if you're used to a Nikon F4, a Leica R8 or R9 won't be too big..... Just a thought.

 

[mfogiel]

Leica R cameras suck, perhaps with the exception of the Leicaflex which by now is in practice no longer serviceable. Too much shutter lag, delicate, R5 onwards ridiculously small vf.

 

[ulrich.von.lich]

I use regularly my cameras and require them to perform rapidly and correctly in my hands. The shutter dial of the R cameras turns in the wrong way, which is already a dealbreaker for me, since I use classic M cameras and shoot in manual mode. For someone who uses the M6 TTL, it would be perfect. I didn't like the autoexposure experience of the R7 either, it wasn't exactly like an extension to my hands or a pair of gloves, like the M6 is.

I must be asking too much for the SLR experience. But if I can get R lenses to work correctly on an FM3A, I would be very happy.

 

[photomoof]

In general, I prefer to use Nikon lenses on Nikon cameras to get the benefit of auto-diaphragm and meter coupling.
G

Years ago, if one of my Nikon F's suddenly developed a non-functioning auto-diaphragm, or the meter coupling no longer worked, I would have taken it for repair or replaced it.

Funny what we all fool around with these days, and say that as an owner of a "broken" Lomography Petzval 85 in Nikon mount.

 

[Godfrey]

Sorry to hijack the thread but has someone experience with a Nikon body permanently converted to take Leica R lenses? Would it resolve the meter coupling problem? I would like to use the largest aperture for framing and to get a correctly exposed photo when I press the shutter button.

If so, I would like to get it done on an F3 or an FM3A, if I could find a person willing to do it.

I have seen pictures of a converted F3, but have no other information.

The aperture actuation and meter coupling mechanisms are incompatible in the standard form, even if the flange can be converted. It would take a clever bit of engineering and modification to provide full compatibility.

G

 

[Larry Cloetta]

Leica R cameras suck, perhaps with the exception of the Leicaflex which by now is in practice no longer serviceable.

Leicaflex service, like a good many things I love, might not currently be WIDELY available , but it is available. Both Sherry Krauter and DAG will service them, and Sherry Krauter recently did a CLA on my SL2 and re calibrated the meter to work-accurately-with currently available batteries. The Leicaflex is a wonderful camera. I've got an F6, which I also love, but, for me, Leitaxing R lenses to use on another manufacturer's film body makes no sense whatsoever, if you had the option of using those lenses on a Leicaflex. In oddball, difficult lighting situations, the matrix metering of the F6 is a little better than the simpler metering system of the SL2, but other than that, it's just easier to use the R lenses on the bodies made for them, if we are talking film.
I've got a couple of Leitaxes to use the R lenses on digital bodies, where I've got no choice but to put up with the aperture and metering issues of adapted lenses, but for film...........
The Leicaflex SL2. Every time I pick it up I think, "now THIS is a camera!" A joy to use, as are the lenses.
I'm not arguing with anyone else's preferences, life's too short, but these would be mine.

 

[shadowfox]

That's a Leica Telyt 200/4 on a Nikon F3.
It's some kind of a screw mount not an R mount however, because it came with an adapter that looks more like a hollow tube.

Here's a picture from it:

 

[steveyork]

Over the years I've owned and used several Nikons (an F, F3, and F3HP), and even more Leica SLRs (original Leicaflex, SL, SL2 and an R7). I've also handled for extended periods of time various Nikon F2s, an Fm2N and a Leica R6 and R6.2. Any of these cameras are capable of great shots, obviously, but the camera I keep coming back to, and my favorite by a wide margin, is the Leicaflex SL. A big, bold and beautiful viewfinder, a near instantaneous shutter (like a rangefinder), and so well damped that hand held shots at shutters speeds one or two stops slower then Nikons. I also like Leitz optics better then Nikkors.

Just to clear up a few internet myths: 1. The Leicaflex SL body actually weighs less then a metered Nikon (F, F2 and F3). 2. Spare parts are available fro Leica techs (e.g., Sherry Krauter), and generally the camera is fully repairable.

All great cameras, but for me I'll go with the Leicaflex SL. In my 800 or so rolls worth of experience in using the Leicaflex SL, they generally proved reliable. I'm not sure anyone will use a film camera so much these days that it will push the limits of reliability.

Prices have come down so much on film stuff that maybe the trick is to own some of each.