LTM-M adapter overview & questions

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Hi,

I'm currently looking for LTM-M adapters to round off my recent M5 purchase, and I'm trying to get a bit of an overview what kinds of adapters exist. From past threads I gather that there are the following kinds:

  • Leica/Leitz. Well made, expensive. Probably the way to go if you insist on using Leica branded products, which I don't. Sold usually for $50 to $80.
  • Voigtländer. Well made, medium price, the only kind available new at the moment from a big brand. Don't know the current price, probably in the $40 to $50 region.
  • Marumi. Supposedly good quality, sold on eBay in the good old days, not available any more.
  • Ukrainian. Never seen one of those. Mediocre reputation as far as I can see.
  • Chinese. Mixed reputation. The main property appears to be inconsistency. There are various different kinds currently on eBay, such as
I would probably need a 35mm and a 50mm adapter, maybe two 50mm (one for the 50, another for the 21 Voigtländer, as the 50 frameline will nicely coincide with the metering area). As I am short on funds at the moment, I am forced to orient myself (heresy!) towards some of the Chinese adapters at the moment. Hence my questions:

  1. Am I missing a major brand or kind here?
  2. Does it make sense to buy Chinese adapters, or are they consistently bad? I mean for $7 there isn't a lot to lose even if you try out two or three, but if I can expect them to be all bad then it doesn't make sense to start.
  3. Does anyone have experience with various Chinese kinds of adapters and can recommend one over the other?
  4. What are the quality criteria on these adapters, besides thickness, material (brass) and the way the threading is aligned so that the distance scale will end up pointing upwards? Are there some hints by which adapters can be judged at first glance?
Thanks -

Philipp
 
The Voigtlander adaptors are reasonably cheap, well-made, and work fine. I can't see any convincing arguments for spending either more or less. I have 3 LTM lenses (21, 35, and 50) and 3 Voigtlander adaptors, and they are fit and forget.

Ian
 
- The 7 dollar Chinese adapter will cost more than an additional US 10 to ship.
- I use Leitz adapters not out of brand loyality, but because they are the only ones that make my M3 RF align with some long throw fast 50s and short teles (in particular my Nikkor lenses and Canon 50/1.2).
- You can get the Ukrainian ones from DVDtechnik. I have one and don't recommend it - manufacturing is pretty rough.
- Leitz, Voigtlander and Marumi are the best. Sometimes you find old adapters built by Canon or Kenko, they are good as well. If you use wide angles and/or short throw longer lenses, which ones you pick is not important. Beside manufacturing quality, the RF alignment at infinity on a large magnification RF is important.

It's the wrong place to save money, IMO.

Roland.
 
The Marumi were sold by B&H, as I recall, among others. I bought 3 of them some time ago, and they were well made and functioned perfectly. They were somewhat cheaper than the Voigtlander, and I was ordering other things from B&H to offset shipping, anyway.
I would think if they still offer generic, they are selling remaining ones in stock. I haven't been on their site to check what they have.
A poorly made one, or ones with known quality issues aren't really worth the trouble and aggravation. Even the cheapest will cost close to $20 landed, and the more expensive will reach close to Cameraquest price on the VL.
I've seen some Leica go fairly low on eBay, but that could require some time. What about a purchase of the 1 you need immediately, and try auction for the others over a period of time? If you're trying to save, that would be the best I could see you doing. This is one of those cases where "you get what you pay for".

Harry
 
Roland ,
I would endorse everything you said except the comment about wide angles. The RF alignment on long fast lens is important but the adapter sets the film plane flange distance. The depth of focus is most critical on wide lenses. So if the adapter sits in the wrong place, you will get quite serious focus errors. I would only use Leitz or CV ones. I haven't noticed any real difference between them apart from price.

Kim

ferider said:
If you use wide angles and/or short throw longer lenses, which ones you pick is not important. Beside manufacturing quality, the RF alignment at infinity on a large magnification RF is important.

It's the wrong place to save money, IMO.

Roland.
Click to expand...
 
I agree, Kim, for myself I do as you, and - in addition - restrict myself to Leitz only for my 50-85 Nikkor and Canon 50/1.2 lenses - since there
I "see" the difference between Leitz and all other adapters (including CV) in the M3 viewfinder (even though it matters more for wide angles, even if the RF looks aligned).

Roland.
 
Last edited:
ferider said:
...
It's the wrong place to save money, IMO.
Click to expand...
I agree with Roland. I have two Leitz originals, and they ooze quality. Both firmly connect my M body and LTM Summaron with the focussing index pointing straight up. These items are fairly common on eBay and, if you're patient, will drop in your lap at a nice price ($36 and $50 for mine).
 
One more brand:
I am using an adapter from Avenon. Got it from Foto Gregor in Cologne - they had tested an original Leitz adapter before sending it to me, and it ruined one of their M6s mount. So they asked me if I wanted the (cheaper) Avenon ring. They said it was made for the Avenon/Kobalux lenses....works fine on the M8. If I find the time, I will hand-code my CV25.
Regards
Stefan
 
one addl. thing about the Leitz's is there are old ones with semi cut-outs, and full circular ones. Functionally I have not noticed any differences. However, with certain experimentation, etc., the full round ones may be preferred. Another forum member may report their experiments later on about this.
 
Just reporting in on the state of today's cheap chinese adaptors.
I just received one from http://stores.ebay.com/RJ-camera-accessory-store
for the 35mm framelines, fits and works perfectly. The lens dot is straight up where it should be, finish is not exactly as refined as the Voightlaender ones, but it was less than 20 dollars to my door.
I have another from another vendor, this time in 28, I hope I'm so lucky twice..
 
clintock said:
Just reporting in on the state of today's cheap chinese adaptors.
I just received one from http://stores.ebay.com/RJ-camera-accessory-store
for the 35mm framelines, fits and works perfectly. The lens dot is straight up where it should be, finish is not exactly as refined as the Voightlaender ones, but it was less than 20 dollars to my door.......
Click to expand...


I have two cheap 'chinese' ltm-m adaptors, one 35mm and one 50mm; they are both very good. they do not have the same 'finish' as my leitz adaptor, but they function just the same. they were 21.98 cdn. each, being a small fraction of the leitz adaptors: thus I am very happy with them, as I see them as good value for the loonie.
 
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