Mounting M lenses to Canon

[sara]

Is this even possible?

One friend said no, another said yes.

I wanted to invest in a Mark III but if I can't mount any M lenson it, what's the point...

 

[splitimageview]

nope

567890

 

[sara]

nope

567890

Ahhh nooooooooooo!!
What a waste IMO. :/

 

[splitimageview]

sorry to be the bad news bearer!

The flange focal distance won't work and the mirror would break anyway 🙂

 

[CameraQuest]

Is this even possible?

One friend said no, another said yes.

I wanted to invest in a Mark III but if I can't mount any M lenson it, what's the point...

short story: you have X amount of space between the rear flange of a lens and its point of focus. That amount of space must be met exactly if that lens is to focus to infinity.

Therefore you can adapt lenses from thicker bodies to thinner bodied cameras, providing there is physically enough room in between to make the adapter.

M42 SLRs have a comparatively thick body and so M42 SLR lenses can be adapted to many other SLRs like Canon EOS and Pen F half frames as well as mirrorless cameras like Leica M, Sony E, M43, FujiX.

But taking a lens intended for a thin bodied camera like Leica M and mounting it on a thicker bodied camera like Canon EOS results in too much space between the lens and camera - making the lens suitable for close ups only.

You will find a great many quality lens adapters on my site - but certainly not all.


Stephen

 

[ColSebastianMoran]

Well... you would be all set for closeup/macro.

But, because they won't focus to infinity or anywhere near, you won't find any adapters.

 

[Godfrey]

... But taking a lens intended for a thin bodied camera like Leica M and mounting it on a thicker bodied camera like Canon EOS results in too much space between the lens and camera - making the lens suitable for close ups only. ...

Not to mention that trying to fit a Leica M lens, many of which protrude deep into the body cavity, onto an SLR will create havoc with the SLR mirror. 😱

You can, however, adapt Leica R lenses to Canon DSLRs. Leica R bodies are thicker than Canon EF mount so a thin adapter is possible; you can find them on Ebay (I didn't see any on CameraQuest.com, but Steven might have them too).

Note, however, that adapting SLR lenses from Leica to Canon DSLR means the lens must be focused manually, and must be manually stopped down which affects how bright the viewfinder is and how well the metering system works with it. In general, it's better to adapt lenses to mirrorless cameras: the adaptation and viewfinder behavior is easier to work with. (Note also that the Leica SL can use Leica R and M lenses by using Leica's mount adapters and works brilliantly with both.)

G