Olympus OM to Leica M adapter

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artears

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I am interested in trying om lenses on a leica body, however, I could only see one adapter from novoflex, which, I believe, is not rangefinder coupled. Some search turned out that cameraquest used to sell one with that feature bringing up 50mm framelines. I might use a 90mm om lens on the body and I do not care much about 50mm lines, however rangefinder coupling is important at this focal length. The adapter from cameraquest seems to be discontinued though. I am wondering, if there is another adapter for om->leica m enabling rf coupling. I would appreciate if you could provide some information about this.
 
Maybe you will find a used one.
Recently, I have seen a sibling of the item you want to have, look at eBay no. 300380319465 -- "wrong" mount unfortunately.
Have you considered a separate rangefinder like a Watameter?

I am very comfortable with the Novoflex adapters in combination with a Watameter if necessary.
 
artears said:
I am interested in trying om lenses on a leica body, however, I could only see one adapter from novoflex, which, I believe, is not rangefinder coupled. Some search turned out that cameraquest used to sell one with that feature bringing up 50mm framelines. I might use a 90mm om lens on the body and I do not care much about 50mm lines, however rangefinder coupling is important at this focal length. The adapter from cameraquest seems to be discontinued though. I am wondering, if there is another adapter for om->leica m enabling rf coupling. I would appreciate if you could provide some information about this.
Click to expand...

I was searching for the same thing recently, and you are right. The Novoflex is the only option. In the end, I gave in and went with a cheaper option, OM to EOS mount. Though I'd much rather use the lens on my M6!

You can check out this thread for more info.
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=83670
 
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rodt16s said:
I remember looking at these
Click to expand...

The one you see in my photo that you attached is coupled (the adapter has a second focusing helix), and brings up 50mm framelines. Sold by Stephen but discontinued. I would not feel comfortable focusing a long lens with it though.

Also, as much as I like my OM Zuikos on my OM1 and OM4, there are lots of 85/90mm M/LTM-mount lenses out there, with better IQ than OM lenses, and costing not much more than the adapter.
 
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Not coupled, but I have a Zuiko to LTM adapter; if you combine that with a LTM to M adapter, it should work, I guess.
I didn't try this, but if useful, I'm willing to give it a try.

Stefan.

artears said:
I am interested in trying om lenses on a leica body, however, I could only see one adapter from novoflex, which, I believe, is not rangefinder coupled. Some search turned out that cameraquest used to sell one with that feature bringing up 50mm framelines. I might use a 90mm om lens on the body and I do not care much about 50mm lines, however rangefinder coupling is important at this focal length. The adapter from cameraquest seems to be discontinued though. I am wondering, if there is another adapter for om->leica m enabling rf coupling. I would appreciate if you could provide some information about this.
Click to expand...
 
Oh yes, that I've seen--it's a match-the-setting type of situation. I thought we were talking about the actual focus ring on the lens being coupled to the rangefinder cam.
 
mabelsound said:
Oh yes, that I've seen--it's a match-the-setting type of situation. I thought we were talking about the actual focus ring on the lens being coupled to the rangefinder cam.
Click to expand...

Yes, John -- you recognised my nick name in another thread 🙂

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1266445#post1266445

fantasy diy scale focus to rangefinder conversion

​
-- a very similar challenge with quite the same issues, so to say seen from a different point of view(finder).
 
Thank you all for your valuable comments. It seems like the adapter from stephen is the only one and my only option is to look for it used... 🙁

ferider said:
The one you see in my photo that you attached is coupled (the adapter has a second focusing helix), and brings up 50mm framelines. Sold by Stephen but discontinued. I would not feel comfortable focusing a long lens with it though.

Also, as much as I like my OM Zuikos on my OM1 and OM4, there are lots of 85/90mm M/LTM-mount lenses out there, with better IQ than OM lenses, and costing not much more than the adapter.
Click to expand...

May I ask why you don't feel comfortable focusing with longer focal length lenses with this adapter? I was considering of a tokina 90mm f/2.5 lens with it. So, the focal length I am looking at is 90mm, not a wider angle. I am pretty sure that this lens will provide a leica-like quality, this is why I am considering such an adapter...
 
I don't think an M mount lens will work on an SLR camera due to the lens to film plane issues. The mirror hits the end of the lens. To my knowledge, only the R Leica lenses, being designed for an SLR already, will work The good news is that w/ the Leitax adapters you can put Leica R lenses on Olympus, Nikon, Pentax and other cameras. I have a friend that had the lens mount removed from a Canon New F-1 and a Leica R lens mount installed on the camera years ago. Pretty neat. I use my Leicaflex SL for 50mm shooting, and a Nikon N6006 w/ Leitax adapter for 90mm shooting. Best of both worlds.
 
I considered the OM->M adapter for my Zuiko 21/2. At that focal length, zone focus is just fine, and it's one of the best OM lenses. But I agree, for other applications, buy an LTM or M lens. Better yet, use a 50 on an OM ... radical thought! An OM body feels and handles a lot like an M.
 
Trius said:
I considered the OM->M adapter for my Zuiko 21/2. At that focal length, zone focus is just fine, and it's one of the best OM lenses. But I agree, for other applications, buy an LTM or M lens. Better yet, use a 50 on an OM ... radical thought! An OM body feels and handles a lot like an M.
Click to expand...

21 f/2 supposed to be a very good lens. I have never seen it in person though 🙁 I hope you are enjoying it. Can you just post a few examples from this lens? I am curious about it.

I can also use om lenses on my E-3, however I was curious about to see/test them on a leica 🙁...
 
artears said:
May I ask why you don't feel comfortable focusing with longer focal length lenses with this adapter? I was considering of a tokina 90mm f/2.5 lens with it. So, the focal length I am looking at is 90mm, not a wider angle. I am pretty sure that this lens will provide a leica-like quality, this is why I am considering such an adapter...
Click to expand...

3 Reasons, Artears:

1.) the 50mm frameline
2.) the adapter works by setting it focusing via rangefinder, then transferring visually the distance you read to the lens. Or vice versa: you prefocus the lens, transfer to adapter, and then move until the RF is in focus. For normal portraits this is a slow process, and I think not accurate enough (very small focus changes will give you a picture out of focus).
3.) If I remember correctly, the adapter was around US 250 new. The picture below shows my Vivitar Series I 90/2.5 (Similar to your Tokina?) in comparison to the Hexanon 90/2.8, arguably one of the best optics for Leicas around, very nice bokeh (similar to the "Bokina"), very sharp, and, so much smaller .... A good M-Hex 90/2.8 will cost you around US 400 used.

815381929_UKvZR-L.jpg


I bought the adapter to use it with a 21/2 one day - which hasn't happened yet. I have used it with the 28/2. But there again, the CV 28/1.9 (around US 300-350 used) produces very much better image quality (resolution & distortion).

Hope this helps. Best,

Roland.
 
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Thank you very much for the detailed reply. I really appreciate it. Looks like I rather not pursue this adapter and try to find a hexanon 90mm f/2.8. That would serve me much better I guess. Smaller and less problems with focusing. Due to funding issues and not being sure of if I will be using this focal length too much on a Leica M8, I am not looking at any leica offerings now.

Is anyone here interested in parting with his 90mm hexanon f/2.8? 🙂
 
Bought an Olympus 50mm macro for my Ricoh GXR M-mount and search now an adapter outside the Novoflex option. Any out there?
 
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