Of the 2 large popular style photography mags Popular Photography and Modern I put more faith in Modern's reviews, sometime in the late 80s it was closed and the subscriptions sold to Popular Photography.
Hi everyone! I saw some hits coming in on these old Kepplers Vault articles and followed them here! Sounds like you all found them useful. If there's any questions you guys have, let me know!
The section on the Leicaflex SL2 says:
"The SL 2's lens mount has been changed
to mesh with a new line of Minolta-inspired
Leitz lenses, which have a shorter back
focus than the lenses for earlier Leica-
flexes. Because of the back-focus shift,
Leitz has reduced the space required by
the mirror movement in the SL2 and fail-
safed the mount. by lengthening one of the
three bayonet flanges on the new lenses.
Consequently, lenses designed for the SL2
won't fit the SL or the early Leicaflex, how-
ever, all Leitz reflex lenses to date will
mate with the SL2."
Is this accurate?
I understand about the 1,2,3-cam lenses but the bold text above is a new one on me.
Resources from photoethnography.com
... there are some lenses that can't be used on the original Leicaflex and the Leicaflex SL because Leitz changed the mirror clearance distance with the SL2. The incompatible lenses are:
You should also not use ROM lenses with the Leicaflex series (original, SL, SL2) because the ROM contacts will get damaged by the Leicaflex cam follower. To prevent problems, R-only lenses and ROM lenses have a slightly different bayonet mount so they won't mount on Leicaflex cameras. Don't try to force them on.
- 15mm Elmar-R
- 15mm Elmarit-R
- 16mm Fisheye
- 19mm Elamrit-R, current version (first version is OK)
- 24mm Elmarit-R
- 35mm Summilux-R
- 50mm Summilux-R, current version (older versions OK)
- 80-200mm f/4.5 Vario (don't confuse this with the current 80-200 f/4)
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Of the 2 large popular style photography mags Popular Photography and Modern I put more faith in Modern's reviews, sometime in the late 80s it was closed and the subscriptions sold to Popular Photography.
I for one would like to thank you for the effort!
Yes, I've seen that info, thanks.
However, the question is: Are there lenses that fit the SL2 but not the earlier Leicaflex models as the magazine article states?
Unless someone can show otherwise, I suspect this part is fiction:
"Leitz ... fail-safed the mount. by lengthening one of the three bayonet flanges on the new lenses. Consequently, lenses designed for the SL2 won't fit the SL or the early Leicaflex, however, all Leitz reflex lenses to date will mate with the SL2."
Looking back, I'm really not sure why, but I was a "modern" subscriber for many years (73 to early 90's I would guess). Something about them that appealed to me more than "pop". I read a few other photo magazines, including Pop, regularly at the library.Of the 2 large popular style photography mags Popular Photography and Modern I put more faith in Modern's reviews, sometime in the late 80s it was closed and the subscriptions sold to Popular Photography.
Doesn't the Olympus OM1 look very modern, among all the rest of the 35mm SLRs.
The ROM lenses and those with only the "R cam" will not mount on the Leicaflex SL2 or earlier. Any of the earlier versions than those two will mount on all bodies. The 1 and 2 cam lenses are Not Recommended on the R8 or R9.
Here's my reference: http://photoethnography.com/ClassicCameras/Lens-R.html
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