Olympus OM Lens on Leica IIIf adapter

aoresteen · Nov 8, 2014

I can not find an Olympus OM lens to Leica screw (L39, LTM, M39) mount adapter. I can find OM lens to Leica M, and a Leica screw mount lens to Olympus OM but not the other way round.

I want to mount my Olympus 17mm lens on my Leica IIIf body (scale focus I know). Seems to me ebay had them 8 years ago but now nothing pops up.

Any idea where I might get one?

Thanks!

mrred · Nov 8, 2014

It may be that the OM lens cannot focus on the Leica. I'm not stating a fact, just raising a likely cause.

aoresteen · Nov 8, 2014

mrred said:
It may be that the OM lens cannot focus on the Leica. I'm not stating a fact, just raising a likely cause.

No, it can focus correctly on a LTM body. The LTM body has a flange distance of 28.8mm. Olympus OM has a flange distance of 46mm. Plenty of room for an adapter. And you can get a Leica M adapter for OM lenses, LTM should be out there somewhere.

mrred · Nov 8, 2014

Then I guess it's the other problem......focus control. Are there any 3rd party adapters for the Leica?

darinwc · Nov 9, 2014

OK just stop.. you have a bunch of things mixed up together..

First there is no Olympus OM 17mm lens (from the 35mm camera era)
There is an Oympus m Zuiko 17mm f2.8 for micro 4/3.

OK, regarding olympus OM lenses: They could fit on a leica screw or M mount camera if you could find an adapter, however there would be no way to focus them on a rangefinder body.
You could focus them on a Leica digital I guess. But why on earth would you want to rather than investing in leica glass?

Now regarding the olympus 17mm lens. I am not sure about the flange distance, but the 17mm will not fill a 35mm film frame. I dont know if you will even get half of it. So again, there is really no reason to try this.

darinwc · Nov 9, 2014

Tony, looking at your sig i see you must have some film experience, so I am going to assume that you are actually talking about one of the OM lenses, a 16mm full frame fisheye or 18mm wideangle.

So out of curiosity, why bother? Why not just use the OM lenses on the OM bodies you use?

Richard Man · Nov 9, 2014

I still have my OM lens chart from my OM-4T day (which still does work great) and there is no 17mm OM lens. Only 16mm fisheye and 18mm super wide angle.

If it's the micro 4/3 17mm, it will not fit on the IIIf as the flange distance is too short. If on a budget, the Voigtlander 15mm for ~$450 will give the best quality of any adapted lens...

aoresteen · Nov 9, 2014

All, yes there is a 17mm OM MOUNT for film OM cameras. It's a Tokina RMC 17mm f/3.5 that I got in the 80's and have kept as it's an excellent lens. My bad for not being clear - sorry!

Now where is that LTM mount adapter?

aoresteen · Nov 9, 2014

darinwc said:
Tony, looking at your sig i see you must have some film experience, so I am going to assume that you are actually talking about one of the OM lenses, a 16mm full frame fisheye or 18mm wideangle.

So out of curiosity, why bother? Why not just use the OM lenses on the OM bodies you use?

Good question. I could use an OM body (heck I have seven of them) but I am also using my Voigtlander (CV) 15mm LTM lens and my CV 21mm LTM lens on my Leica IIIf. Since I'm using C-41 film that I have to send off for processing & scanning I don't want to have two rolls going at the same time thus further delaying the processing of my 17mm shots. Since the LTM lenses won't work on an OM-2 body but the OM 17mm will work on the Leica IIIf body, I am looking for an OM to LTM adapter.

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Nov 9, 2014

I can understand you like I can understand Saudi prince families , They buy lots of rolls royces , change the engines with cadillac engines and race at the deserts , lots of strange people on this earth.

aoresteen · Nov 9, 2014

Mustafa Umut Sarac said:
I can understand you like I can understand Saudi prince families , They buy lots of rolls royces , change the engines with cadillac engines and race at the deserts , lots of strange people on this earth.

This all stems from Olympus Four Thirds lens line not having any wide angle prime lenses. The only wide angle prime lens that was made is the 8mm fisheye (which I have). Next prime is the 25mm f/2.8 (normal - which I have). To fill the gap I can buy a 7-14mm (14-28mm FF equ.) for $1,500.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/358162-REG/Olympus_261009_7_14mm_f_4_0_Zuiko_ED.html

If I were a Saudi Prince I'd just order custom lenses from Olympus - 9mm, 10.5mm, 12mm, 14mm, and 17mm in Four Thirds mount (not micro Four Thirds) and be done with it. But I'm not so I have to work with what I have. Is that too much to ask for?

Newt_on_Swings · Nov 9, 2014

Looks like they don't make them anymore which sucks. Maybe try asking on rff. Someone may have one to sell.

You could also get a cheap rangefinder less camera like a bessa t and om to leica m adapter. Or you can try your luck with a cheap olympus om microscope camera but you have to check the flange distance. Having a 2nd body is great for backup.

jochen · Nov 10, 2014

Hello,
you could have a look on www.zoerk.com They also make custom made adapters. But I think this will not be cheap. Another possibility would be Novoflex in Germany.

chrisaisenbrey · Nov 10, 2014

jochen said:
Hello,
you could have a look on www.zoerk.com They also make custom made adapters. But I think this will not be cheap. Another possibility would be Novoflex in Germany.

I think the Novoflex below system uses m39 as a standard. They should have a OM to m39 adaptor, but one has to check if the distance is right for the focus scale. And they are not cheap

aoresteen · Nov 10, 2014

Thanks!

I did find a person on rff who had one - made in Germany and was willing to sell it for $50. I jumped on it and it should be here next week

Olympus OM Lens on Leica IIIf adapter

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