OM-lenses on R-D1s ?

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gliderbee

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Quite some time ago, I bought a OM-to-LTM adapter, but never used it.
Because I now have a digital RF, I've put a M-to-LTM adapter on the R-D1, then the OM-lens with the OM-LTM adapter. I used a OM 28mm and used zone-focussing, but the picture is not in focus at all ... Am I doing something wrong or can't this work ? If not, why not, and what is that OM-to-LTM adapter good for then ?

There must be something I don't understand ...:confused:

Thanks,
Stefan.
 
I would have thought it would work. My thoughts would be that depending on the quality of the adapters, poor tolerances in one adapter may have a slight, hardly noticable effect, but if both are rather sloppy (both too thick ot both too thin) then that could have a distinct effect. Have you tried hyperfocal focusing at f16 or 22?
 
Ezzie said:
I would have thought it would work. My thoughts would be that depending on the quality of the adapters, poor tolerances in one adapter may have a slight, hardly noticable effect, but if both are rather sloppy (both too thick ot both too thin) then that could have a distinct effect. Have you tried hyperfocal focusing at f16 or 22?
Click to expand...

I did try hyperfocal focusing at f16 (that were the only pictures I tried). I'll give it a new try this evening or tomorrow, and I'll let you know.

Thanks,
Stefan.
 
At f16 the hyperfocal distance is 2m48cm for a 28mm on the R-D1. Everything between 1m24cm and infinity should be in focus, but not necessarily sharp.
 
Isn't the OM flange to film distance greater than the M-mount? so much so that an adapter can be made retaining full focusing abilities? M-mount FFD is 28.8mm, OM is 46mm.
 
Well, I tried again with a Zuiko 28mm and 24mm, both on f16. I couldn't get any picture sharp, no matter the distance, but since it's nearly dark over here, I couldn't test systematically.

I'll try tomorrow or during the weekend on a fixed distance with different settings on the lens.

Any suggestions on a distance that should work at a certain setting (yet to be found) ? E.g., if I set the camera at 2m from an object, should there be some distance to set the lens on to get it in focus (apart from the possibility of a misleading indication) ?
 
It won't work

It won't work

The OM body is thicker than any LTM or M camera. Any lens adapter only makes it worse because the OM lens sits further away from the sensor. There is no full frame 35mm SLR lens that I know of which will focus to infinity on a Leica RF or similar camera, either film or digital. Using a Visoflex with plumbing and adapters might work with some lenses, but that's not what you want, I'm sure.
 
Maybe I'm missing some theoretical knowledge here:

Since the OM body is thicker then a LTM or M camera, the OM-lenses sit farter away from the film plane, and I thought that's one of the things (besides adapting the mount) the adapter has to take care for: to set the lens at a further (in this case) distance from the film plane.

In short: thickness of (LTM-body + adapter) + OM-lens = thickness of OM-body + OM-lens.

I always thought that was the reason I couldn't use LTM-lenses on my Nikon or Olympus SLR's (so the opposite of what I'm trying now).

Where is my mistake ?



kkdanamatt said:
The OM body is thicker than any LTM or M camera. Any lens adapter only makes it worse because the OM lens sits further away from the sensor. There is no full frame 35mm SLR lens that I know of which will focus to infinity on a Leica RF or similar camera, either film or digital. Using a Visoflex with plumbing and adapters might work with some lenses, but that's not what you want, I'm sure.
Click to expand...
 
My point too. It should work

Now the other way around will result in a macro setup. My M-mount lenses on my Nikon focus only up to a couple of feet, since Nikon body + adapter way exceeds 28.8mm
 
I just tried this:

First picture with the both adapters (M-LTM) and (LTM-OM) installed normally, Zuiko 24mm. Picture is very unsharp.

Then I unscrewed the LTM-OM adapter as far as I dared, so that it just stayed on the camera, but the lens was a bit farther away from the camera. The picture was noticably sharper; not sharp yet, but clearly better.

The adapter is marked Olympus Baj/Leica M-39; am I being sold a completely useless "fake" adapter ?

OM-M.JPG
 
Dear Stefan,

It could be a bellows adapter: completely useless for your application, but not for all applications.

Unless the 'sandwich' (OM>LTM + LTM>M) = 18.05, it ain't gonna work. Can you get a 7.3mm extension tube in LTM? That would solve it (10.75 + 7.3 = 18.05). I'm assuming that the 10.75 includes the 1mm of the LTM>M adapter, otherwise you need 6.3mm which is very close to 1/4 inch (= 6.35mm).

No, there are no RF coupled adapters. Too difficult. How do you translate the SLR focus movement to an RF cam?

Cheers,

R.
 
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Roger Hicks said:
Dear Stefan,

It could be a bellows adapter: completely useless for your application, but not for all applications.

Unless the 'sandwich' (OM>LTM + LTM>M) = 18.05, it ain't gonna work. Can you get a 7.3mm extension tube in LTM? That would solve it (10.75 + 7.3 = 18.05). I'm assuming that the 10.75 includes the 1mm of the LTM>M adapter, otherwise you need 6.3mm which is very close to 1/4 inch (= 6.35mm).

No, there are no RF coupled adapters. Too difficult. How do you translate the SLR focus movement to an RF cam?
Click to expand...

Hi Roger,

Ok, thanks for the tips. I indeed forgot to account for the thickness of the LTM>M adapter.

As for the RF coupled adapter: the one of which Chris posted the URL seems to have a distance scale near the body. I imagine you can move the RF patch with that and then manually transfer that measured distance to the lens. Would that be possible ?

adpRFM4.jpg
 
gliderbee said:
Hi Roger,

Ok, thanks for the tips. I indeed forgot to account for the thickness of the LTM>M adapter.

As for the RF coupled adapter: the one of which Chris posted the URL seems to have a distance scale near the body. I imagine you can move the RF patch with that and then manually transfer that measured distance to the lens. Would that be possible ?
Click to expand...

Dear Stefan,

Yes, entirely possible, but I didn't know that anyone had already done it. (I worked out the same idea independently a while back). Of course a lot depends on hw you define 'coupled' at this point: the adapter is RF coupled, but not the lens.

Cheers,

R.
 
gliderbee said:
As for the RF coupled adapter: the one of which Chris posted the URL seems to have a distance scale near the body. I imagine you can move the RF patch with that and then manually transfer that measured distance to the lens. Would that be possible ?
Click to expand...

I have that adapter, and it works like you describe.

157017107_guJS5-M-1.jpg


OM registration distance is 46mm, Leica LTM is 28.8mm, so a correct OM/LTM adapter should be 17.2mm thick. If yours is different, it was made for a different M39 application (for example M39 SLRs, Visoflex, or something else).

Roland.
 
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Ok, thanks all. Things are clear now: I bought an adapter that probably is made for a different purpose than I intended. I don't have any use for it at this moment, but the value isn't worth selling it, so I'll be on the lookout for another adapter that does what I hope.

Stefan.
 
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