New to the GXR

[Sprocketdog23]

I picked up a used GXR + M mount last weekend and am having fun with my
new camera, and a couple of M39 lenses I already own.

My question is about using lens adapters, as I also have 28mm & 40mm lenses in Konica AR mount. They are decent enough lenses, and I was going to sell them, but have spotted an L/M adapter for AR lenses for £26 on fleabay, and wondered is it worthwhile, or will it be unwieldy having a chunky lens adapter + bulky SLR style lens plonked on a GXR? Anyone use Konica AR lenses on a GXR? Are they any good optically with the GXRM sensor?

My current two lenses (Voigtlander 25mm f4 Colour Skopar & Jupiter 8 50/f2) were off my trusty Voigtlander T, which I still use, and seem to be a perfect match with the GXR

 

[rhl-oregon]

It will feel lens-heavy, but if you like those lenses for their own sake, 26£ isn't much to enjoy them occasionally as 1.5 crop on the a12. I used that adapter while I had the AR 40 1.8 and the 57 1.4, but ultimately it made more sense to stick with ltm/m rangefinder lenses--smaller/lighter as a rule, and no extra adapter flange/ weight.

 

[kuuan]

Hi, welcome to the forum and to the GXR!

first I must say that I do not have experience using Konica lenses on the GXR, but let me try to give a meaningful answer nevertheless:
Konica lenses are of top quality! Konica AR has the shortest register distance of any 35mm SLR system, that is it's adapter is shorter than for any other SLR lens and will be just 12.55mm or 1.2cm long. Rangefinder lenses certainly make a smaller package again, but specially the pancake 40mm would make a very good fit, I'd expect the 28mm too.
I don't see any reason why the GXR M sensor would not handle these lenses anything but very well. For me it's a no brainer, I'd get the adapter and have fun.

 

[Tony Whitney]

I've been using Olympus OM lenses on my GXR M for a long time now and have had very rewarding results. I never seem to have any trouble focusing with the EVF and I use everything from a 50 mm macro to a 200 mm tele. Enjoy your GXR! It's a great system with a strong and well-deserved following. Quite apart from old SLR lenses, I've used many FSU lenses and very old Leitz glass too. It's a lot of fun because the adaptors are very inexpensive if sourced in China, so what have you got to lose?...TW

 

[kuuan]

It will feel lens-heavy...
...ultimately it made more sense to stick with ltm/m rangefinder lenses--smaller/lighter as a rule, and no extra adapter flange/ weight.

oops, Robert has experience using the exact lens, I noticed his answer only now which he must have posted while I was writing mine, I had not seen it before writing. My intent was not to contradict, actually I agree with you, Robert. I have quite a number of SLR lenses but since using mirrorless I have tried to get a full set of rangefinder ( and halfframe lenses, I use APC-C cams ) and stopped using the SLR lenses altogether. Nevertheless if the lenses are already there, and so far only owning two RF lenses I wouldn't hesitate to get the adapter.

 

[Sprocketdog23]

Thanks for the replies to my question. I have bought the Konica AR to L39 adapter, and looking forward to seeing how the two Konica lenses I own perform on the GXRM.

In the meantime, I have now also found a Jupiter 12 being sold with a Fed 5 for £45, which is most likely the lens that will join the other two L/M39 more permanently. My next quest will be for a Jupiter 9, but I need to save a bit for one of those.

 

[Duane Pandorf]

I shot the GXR-M for close to a year with the Leica 40mm and then a version 2 35mm Summicron. Great little camera. The M lenses and their character led me to purchasing a digital M. Enjoy the GXR.

 

[Puggie]

Thanks for the replies to my question. I have bought the Konica AR to L39 adapter, and looking forward to seeing how the two Konica lenses I own perform on the GXRM.

In the meantime, I have now also found a Jupiter 12 being sold with a Fed 5 for £45, which is most likely the lens that will join the other two L/M39 more permanently. My next quest will be for a Jupiter 9, but I need to save a bit for one of those.

The Jupiter 12 works very nicely on the GXR, I paid about that for mine (I got the original lens cap rather than Fed5 on the back of mine). I'd say go for it! The Jupiter 9 is on my list as well, I have a leica Elmar 9cm to cover that length though so I'm struggling to justify it. Its only an F4 lens, but so handy being collapsible.

 

[Sprocketdog23]

Ended up with two Jupiter 12's, but both behave very differently. One works fine, as I expected, with decent image quality, despite focussing being a little stiff in one place, however its generally fine......but the other one arrived with an issue which I'm not sure what to make of???

Firstly it doesn't focus to infinity at all, and at f2.8 focuses at around 4 metres at the infinity mark. It does focus closer than 1 metre though, which is a plus point I guess. The worry for me is that it does extend by about 1mm over the Ricoh lens test tool when tested, although it doesn't appear to interfere with the shutter (but its hard to really know if it is touching it if only slightly). My question is about the margins in the GXRM cavity, and if I should not use this lens on the GXRM. The images with this lens are significantly better (contrast and sharpness) than the normally working one... Why would it not focus to infinity, as everything seems to be in place, and it is otherwise in 'mint' condition and performing very well??

 

[rhl-oregon]

No experience with the j12. I would not/never/ever risk scraping the sensor for one either. If one works, rejoice, but the sensor is worth lots more than an old Jupiter.

Use the other to practice your DIY lens skills, which are guaranteed to go from zero to at least 5 or 10 on a scale of 100 on your first lens disassembly. ;-)

Seriously, probably better to post your j12 problem in a Jupiter lens thread. Experts abound there. But if you buy a decent lens spanner and a jeweler flathead screwdriver, you'll learn first hand about your old defecto lens. Maybe the focusing scale is maladjusted and can be set right. Maybe you bought a badly repaired lens, which happens to nearly everyone scrounging in the bargain basement of lens history. (I hope I reached my limit after the 4th one.)

 

[agfa100]

There is enough room for the Jupiter 12, just use common sense as there is alot of glass showing on the rear. I still use my GXR and my M lenses and Russian stuff for fun. But right now my main camera is a Sony RX-1

wbill

 

[Puggie]

Not sure I would risk a lens that extended deeper than the test widget, I'm using a couple of collapsible elmars on mine (50 and 90mm M-mount) neither of which fit in the tester collapsed (depth is fine but their diameter is too wide) but they both collapse in the module fine.

 

[Sprocketdog23]

I just used the lens tester on both lenses side by side, and both extend a bit over the line as such, by about the same amount (1mm), and neither seem to interfere with the shutter, so it seems I can use both (a close focussing modified J12, albeit without infinity at wide apertures, and a normal focussing J12). There is a slight but discernible difference in the quality mind you, the close focussing one being better overall (sharper + better contrast). Serial number wise, the close focussing one appears to be newer by 11 years; its serial starts with N87xxxxx (1987) whereas the other one starts N76xxxxx (1976) so maybe the later ones have better glass or perhaps quality control was better in '87. I notice that the coating on the 1976 one has a deeper purple tinge than the 1987 one, so maybe the coating had a different formula??