paulfish4570
Veteran
RFF member ferider (Roland) kindly offered to modify an SMC Pentax-M 50/1.4 lens for use of a Kipon Leica M-mount adapter for me use on my Bessa R2m. After two rolls of film, one in c-41 color and one in BW, I have to say the kit works beautifully. Here are some thoughts and photos:
Lens with adapter fits the R2m snuggly and confidently.
The lens and adapter - and camera - look good together.
Focus is silken.
Lens/adapter/cam combo is well-balanced, and comes to hand nicely.
The front of the lens intrudes into the viewfinder field at the bottom right corner, but barely conceals anything in the bottom right corner of the 50mm frame lines. It is not a factor in my composing.
Focus is dead on, from inside three feet to infinity.
The SMC Pentax-M 50/1.4 is sharp with a capital S, but not too contrasty. The OOF field, I think, is a big plus: it is smooth and orderly. There is nothing dramatic about the OOF that would detract from what is in focus.
Half-stop clicks on the lens are handy, as the R2m’s TTL meter uses half-stop increments.
Metering is perfect through the lens, according to my two rolls worth of experience, both with ISO 400.
Framing is accurate.
Rendering fits the way I see things very, very well.
Conclusion: this lens stays on my R2m.
cam at infinity:
cam at closest focus:
For those of you who are interested in Roland’s engineering of this kit, which requires modification of the lens before it fits the Kipon adapter, see this link. http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113676
And for those of you interested in obtaining this lens/adapter combo, you will have to contact Roland ... J
The Bessa grip, which you might have noted in some of the pics. was provided by Roland. It immediately became a treasured - and mandatory - accessory.
Some sample color pics made with the kit:
Some BW:
f1.4 (gonna takes lots of shots to nail focus at this DOF), handheld at 1/60 or 1/125:
Lens with adapter fits the R2m snuggly and confidently.
The lens and adapter - and camera - look good together.
Focus is silken.
Lens/adapter/cam combo is well-balanced, and comes to hand nicely.
The front of the lens intrudes into the viewfinder field at the bottom right corner, but barely conceals anything in the bottom right corner of the 50mm frame lines. It is not a factor in my composing.
Focus is dead on, from inside three feet to infinity.
The SMC Pentax-M 50/1.4 is sharp with a capital S, but not too contrasty. The OOF field, I think, is a big plus: it is smooth and orderly. There is nothing dramatic about the OOF that would detract from what is in focus.
Half-stop clicks on the lens are handy, as the R2m’s TTL meter uses half-stop increments.
Metering is perfect through the lens, according to my two rolls worth of experience, both with ISO 400.
Framing is accurate.
Rendering fits the way I see things very, very well.
Conclusion: this lens stays on my R2m.




cam at infinity:

cam at closest focus:

For those of you who are interested in Roland’s engineering of this kit, which requires modification of the lens before it fits the Kipon adapter, see this link. http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113676
And for those of you interested in obtaining this lens/adapter combo, you will have to contact Roland ... J
The Bessa grip, which you might have noted in some of the pics. was provided by Roland. It immediately became a treasured - and mandatory - accessory.
Some sample color pics made with the kit:




Some BW:
f1.4 (gonna takes lots of shots to nail focus at this DOF), handheld at 1/60 or 1/125:




