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M42 lenses on Leica M body

darkosaric

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I got as a gift M42 30mm Pentacon wide angle lens.
I have read on the net that it works just fine on M body with an adapter (on his way to me already).
Nice thing is that this lens is pretty small, even it was designed for SLR (see below).

My question is - will any M42 lens work on M body? Never mind which focal length?

Thanks.
 

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Oh dear. That lens does not have a good reputation. I believe it was a simple 3 element construction that originated in the DDR and come up frequently mounted on the Ihagee Exa. A simplified lens on a simplified Exacta. As it has a M42 thread it originally may have been a budget lens fitted to one of the Prakitca cameras also made in the DDR.

An M42 thread lens on an M series adapter would probably work with any lens, but of course there will be no rangefinder coupling and I doubt very much if one could be made, so it is down to pure guesswork or a separate rangefinder providing of course, the focussing scale is correct.
 
Pentacon 30mm = Meyer Lydith? A fine lens but I don't know if it can be suitable for a M camera.
 
Dali said:
Pentacon 30mm = Meyer Lydith? A fine lens but I don't know if it can be suitable for a M camera.
Click to expand...

On the lens is only Penacon 3.5 30mm, Made in G.D.R.
Also I got 135mm f2.8 Orestor, Mayer Optik Gorlitz, with beautiful 15 leafs f stop = this will be also interesting to test.

If it will not work on M body - Practika's are so cheap nowadays - almost for free .
 
Is it a preset lens?
 
Use the lens on an M42 body it was designed for. M42 bodies are cheap and plentiful. Your images will not be any better using a Leica body. And you won't have to guess at focus. There is nothing special about either of the lenses. They are ordinary at best.
 
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The thing is that I have M bodies, and I don't have M42 camera. And to have wide angle on M body for free is a great thing, I cannot justify buying Summicron 28mm - as I use 50mm most of the time on my M's.
 
darkosaric said:
The thing is that I have M bodies, and I don't have M42 camera. And to have wide angle on M body for free is a great thing,
Click to expand...
You can buy a M42 body for the same cost as a lens adapter and you won't have to guess focus.
 
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Back in the early 1970s, I had a Leica M1 that I used primarily on a microscope. During that same time period, I was using Nikon lenses. When I needed an extra body, I would use adapters to mount my Nikon wide-angle lenses on my M1.

Today, I mount Nikon wide-angle lenses on my M6.

Since the M1 did not have a rangefinder and since my Nikon lenses to not connect to the M6 rangefinder, I use zone focusing. For example, on my 18mm lens, I set the focus distance to 1 meter and the f/stop to f/11 so that everything from about 1/2 meter to infinity is in focus.

I am pretty sure the same zone focusing technique could be used with Pentax wide-angle lenses.


Nikkor on Leica by Narsuitus, on Flickr
 
Fire away. If it all fits it should be fun.

Not too sure why having or not having in camera focus is necessary. Convenient for sure, but not necessary. I use hyperfocal focusing for my agfa isolette folder all the time.
 
darkosaric said:
My question is - will any M42 lens work on M body? Never mind which focal length?
Click to expand...

Yes. As long the adapter not only fixes the lens, but also provides the necessary extention from the LTM flange-to-film distance to that of the M42 mount.

Actually I am quite surprised that you asked at all. Or did I overlook anything substantial?
The scale focusing thing should be obvious. Though in theory one might design a rangefinding adapter for each lens, that would let you use your M's rangefinder with such lens.
 

Thanks! I have asked only to be sure that there are no limit to focal length, like shorter/longer than Xmm you will not have the whole negative coverage.
Scale focusing is not a problem at all, I have used Rollei 35 and many other cameras with scale focus only - not a problem at all. I don't focus often even with my M3/M6 - just putting estimated distance according to the focus tab position.
 
I don't why people are still asking on forums. It takes under 20 seconds to google and find product.
https://www.amazon.ca/Fotodiox-Adapter-Thread-Camera-M-Monochrome/dp/B0073AC3PU

I guess it is more about chat . No RF Leica and no RF lens makes sense to me for price reason.
Another good alternative could be 21 mm lens. I almost did it, but I have no problem to get EOS film camera for EF lens and take pictures with it.
70 bucks for UWA to 55 zoom and camera with eye AF focus .
 
BMbikerider said:
Oh dear. That lens does not have a good reputation. I believe it was a simple 3 element construction that originated in the DDR and come up frequently mounted on the Ihagee Exa. A simplified lens on a simplified Exacta.
Click to expand...

Not quite, the Pentacon 30mm F3 is a re-named Lydith and they have been made by Meyer for 28 years, thus a major lens. It is of 5-elements design.
There was never a 3-element wide angle lens in GDR production.
 
Do you you use a viewfinder?
 
Well, I even see it in the photo of Darko's camera...

The only 35mm cameras that got no viewfinder are registration cameras at meters, scopes, microscopes etc.


I guess we got a terminology issue. The definition by Focal's encyclopedia for instance is any kind of sighting/framing aid.
I'm not sure what you both are hinting at.
 
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