Experiment that worked: Takumar 24mm f/3.5 on a Leica M2

[Kodachromeguy]

Hi Everyone,
When I travel overseas and need to pack light, I usually take my Leica M2 with 35mm and 50mm Summicron lenses (and light meter, filters, and hoods). But recently I have been thinking wide, which must go along with my increasing girth. I would like the genuine 24mm M lens or the 25mm Zeiss, but realistically would not use them all that often. But I have a clean Super-Multi-Coated Takumar 24/3.5 lens for the Spotmatic. So I bought a $20 Fotodiox M42-Leica M adapter and did a test run.

The good: the optical results were better than I expected. I do not have a genuine Leica 24, so I have no basis for comparison. Sure, it is not as "sharp" as the 35 Summicron, but so what? For $20, I am pleased.
The clumsy: Framing is a problem, but when I move my eye left and right and up and down the maximum extent across the M2's eyepiece, I think I am seeing most of the 24mm coverage. The lens blocks part of the view, and using the genuine Takumar hood is hopeless. To do: buy a 24mm finder. Focus is totally manual.
The heavy: The Takumar with its Fotodiox adapter is a big and rather heavy cylinder.

Here are some examples from Romania and from Greece. The view of a church is in Sibiu, Romania, with a yellow filter to darken the sky. The abandoned hotel is in Nerantza, Greece. The film was Fujifilm Acros, exposed at EI=80. Praus Productions in Rochester, NY, developed the film in Xtol. I scanned the film with a Plustek scanner using the Tri-X 400 profile (the SilverFast software does not have an Acros profile).

 

[awty]

Sweet! for 20 bucks who's going to complain about a little bit of distortion and a few soft corners. Just stop down an she'll be alright.

 

[ic-racer]

I'm looking at a Fotodiox adapter for my equipment. The one I need has a lens in it and is for SLR so focus is no issue. What about yours? Is there a lens in it? How do you set exposure? Is there something that keeps the lens stopped down? How about focus?

 

[Kodachromeguy]

I'm looking at a Fotodiox adapter for my equipment. The one I need has a lens in it and is for SLR so focus is no issue. What about yours? Is there a lens in it? How do you set exposure? Is there something that keeps the lens stopped down? How about focus?

Hi, good questions.
1. The adapter I used was for a SLR camera lens (thread-mount M42) to be mounted on a Leica rangefinder body. So my mount is just a tube with the correct fittings on each end. There is no glass in it.
2. Exposure: I use a handheld Gossen Luna Pro digital light meter. I read the exposure from the meter and transfer shutter speed to the camera and f-stop to the lens manually.
3. The adapter pushes the little pin on the back of the Takumar lens, so as I turn the aperture ring, the lens opens or closes.
4. Focus: manual with no rangefinder linkage at all. I edited my original post to state this.

 

[Eric Rose]

Great images! I am sure you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a Leitz 35mm and yours when 8x10's are printed.

 

[ic-racer]

Hi, good questions.
1. The adapter I used was for a SLR camera lens (thread-mount M42) to be mounted on a Leica rangefinder body. So my mount is just a tube with the correct fittings on each end. There is no glass in it.
2. Exposure: I use a handheld Gossen Luna Pro digital light meter. I read the exposure from the meter and transfer shutter speed to the camera and f-stop to the lens manually.
3. The adapter pushes the little pin on the back of the Takumar lens, so as I turn the aperture ring, the lens opens or closes.
4. Focus: manual with no rangefinder linkage at all. I edited my original post to state this.

Thanks for your reply. I was curious that M42 could mount to Leica M and still focus at infinity, so I looked up the site. I could still not find your adapter on the site, but I found the Rollei SL to Nikon adapter I had always been looking for. In that case the only way to have infinity focus is with an extra optic element. It is less then $40, so not much risk in trying it. I'd like to try my Zeiss 35mm 1.4 on my Nikon F100. I also see they have reasonably priced replacement alligator-connector Rolleiflex TLR camera straps. I found a New one about 15 years ago for about $150.

 

[blockend]

Good results. Glad it worked out.

 

[BradS]

Nice work. Thank you for sharing your experience and photos.

 

[ciniframe]

Thanks for your reply. I was curious that M42 could mount to Leica M and still focus at infinity, so I looked up the site. I could still not find your adapter on the site, but I found the Rollei SL to Nikon adapter I had always been looking for. In that case the only way to have infinity focus is with an extra optic element. It is less then $40, so not much risk in trying it. I'd like to try my Zeiss 35mm 1.4 on my Nikon F100. I also see they have reasonably priced replacement alligator-connector Rolleiflex TLR camera straps. I found a New one about 15 years ago for about $150.

If there is an lens in the adapter it will be a weak single negative element, or perhaps a cemented achromat (not likely). This will increase the focal length of the Rollei mount lens a small factor, perhaps 1.2X, which would give a final focal length of 42mm for the lens/adapter combo.

 

[ic-racer]

Fotodiox website shows this image for another adapter, maybe the Rollei to Nikon adapter is similar. The FAQ also indicates the factor is 1.4x for the flange focal length but it does not mention field of view or effective aperture changing though Fotodiox responded to a question here indicating a reduction if field of view with the adapter:

A plus is that is seems to be three glass elements that can come out, making the adapter an extension tube for close up photography.



I may get the adapter and report back.

 

[ciniframe]

Fotodiox website shows this image for another adapter, maybe the Rollei to Nikon adapter is similar. The FAQ also indicates the factor is 1.4x for the flange focal length but it does not mention field of view or effective aperture changing though Fotodiox responded to a question here indicating a reduction if field of view with the adapter:

View attachment 210976


A plus is that is seems to be three glass elements that can come out, making the adapter an extension tube for close up photography.



I may get the adapter and report back.

View attachment 210975

If the Rollei to Nikon adapter has a 1.4X factor then your 35mm f1.4 will become a 49mm f2 lens, probably with really bad edges and corners until you stop down to f8 or even f11.

 

[AgX]

I'm looking at a Fotodiox adapter for my equipment. The one I need has a lens in it and is for SLR so focus is no issue. What about yours? Is there a lens in it? How do you set exposure? Is there something that keeps the lens stopped down? How about focus?

A SLR lens on a plain finder camera does not need an optic, just an adapting tube.
Making the rangefinder working would need a custom solution per lens.

 

[julio1fer]

I found the same solution for low-cost wide, in my case with M39 RF bodies, some years ago.

You have to guess focus, of course, but focal distances below 28mm have large DOF and are very forgiving of focusing errors, within reason.

I have a Takumar 24/3.5 that it is not too stellar. On the other hand, my 28mm Takumar is very, very good.

 

[ic-racer]

If the Rollei to Nikon adapter has a 1.4X factor then your 35mm f1.4 will become a 49mm f2 lens, probably with really bad edges and corners until you stop down to f8 or even f11.

Since it is so inexpensive I may get it just to see what it does. I do still have six working Rollei bodies for my Rollei QBM lenses.

 

[Carter john]

I did a IIIf conversion 40 years ago with a Leica LTM to Pentax converter made by Pentax and then a #1 Pentax extender. I mounted a 28 mm Super-Takumar and had the same problem you did: no finder. Anyway it worked by I never used it much.

 

[Kodachromeguy]

Thanks for your reply. I was curious that M42 could mount to Leica M and still focus at infinity, so I looked up the site. I could still not find your adapter on the site, but I found the Rollei SL to Nikon adapter I had always been looking for. In that case the only way to have infinity focus is with an extra optic element. It is less then $40, so not much risk in trying it. I'd like to try my Zeiss 35mm 1.4 on my Nikon F100. I also see they have reasonably priced replacement alligator-connector Rolleiflex TLR camera straps. I found a New one about 15 years ago for about $150.

This is the one via Amazon (in USA):

https://www.amazon.com/Fotodiox-Ada...1+Thread+Screw)+Lens+to+Leica+M-Series+Camera

 

[ic-racer]

This is the one via Amazon (in USA):

https://www.amazon.com/Fotodiox-Adapter-Thread-Camera-M-Monochrome/dp/B0073AC3PU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541982523&sr=8-1&keywords=Fotodiox+Lens+Mount+Adapter+(Type+2),+M42+(42mm+x1+Thread+Screw)+Lens+to+Leica+M-Series+Camera

Thank you for the link. And I now see, as was pointed out, that one does not need a lens element.

 

[narsuitus]

So I bought a $20 Fotodiox M42-Leica M adapter and did a test run.

Congratulations on your successful Takumar 24mm f/3.5 on Leica M2 experiment and thanks for sharing your images.

Since my widest lens for my M42 Pentax is 28mm and my widest lens for my Leica is 21mm, I have never used my M42 to Leica M adapter on my Leica M6 but do use it on my Leica M10.

Since my widest lens for my Nikon is 14mm, when I need to go wide on my M6, I primarily use a Nikon F to Leica M adapter to mount the following Nikon lenses:

18mm f/3.5
16mm f/2.8 fisheye
14mm f/2.8


Nikkor on Leica by Narsuitus, on Flickr