M8/M9 as a view camera?

[eleskin]

I am just wondering, and to some this may sound insane, but is there a way one could adapt the M8/M9 to convert it into a mini view camera for certain situations? I see DSLR's used in such ways. It seems the Visoflex would be necessary for this, so which lenses would be good for this purpose? So who has done this, and with what lenses? Any lens baby users with alternative lenses on a Visoflex?

 

[Roger Hicks]

I've been thinking about exactly the same thing. My suspicion is that it's not on, because the Leica-plus-Viso sandwich is so thick that it might require the bellows to be so compressed that there's no movement available. Also, with the massive flange-to-sensor/film distance, around 65mm from memory,the scope for vignetting is considerable. I've not given up on the idea, and if I can find a TS bellows at a reasonable price, I'll try it. I just don't hold out much hope.

Another possibility is a Zork 'eyeball' adapter for something like a 105mm enlarging lens, but I've not heard from Herr Zorkendorfer lately. Like you, I'd be intrigued to hear from anyone who has actually tried it.

Yet another idea is an M-mount on the back of a 'baby' Linhof or similar.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Ronald M]

+ you end up with a long lens flange to sensor distance. Move a lens off center and the image will be partially cut off. Rise/fall shift l/r all naturally displace the lens, but so does swing/tilt because you will have to recenter the lens if the image circle is not large enough. 90mm + viso lenses are all "long focus rather than tele designs and have suprisingly big image circles, but not necessarily quaity into the corners. Testing advised.

 

[jaapv]

Yes- you can use a Leica R to M adapter for the shift R lenses, or an Canon to M or Nikon to M (Cameraquest) to use all the relevant T&S lenses without problem. I tried out a Nikon shift and it worked perfectly.