There sure is a lot of bad information on the WEB about lens adapters

At least regarding Leica R lens adapters. Probably others, too, but that's another discussion.

Here's my query.

I can easily put M42 lenses on my Minolta SLRs because the M42 lenses need 45.46mm behind the lens mount. The Minolta SLRs have 43.5mm, and with a 1mm thick adapter, the M42 lenses work fine.

The same is true for Exakta lenses, which I can put on Minolta SLR cameras.

But a search of the WEB for any adapter to put Leica R lenses (which need 47.0mm behind the lens mount) on Minolta SLRs, produces surprising results. Apparently other people have asked this question before me. Most of the responses to this question range from the always helpful, "Why would you want to do that?", to the puzzling "You can't do that because you won't be able to focus to infinity."

All that's needed would be a "dumb" 3.5mm thick adapter.

Am I missing something? Apparently, other Minolta users are interested.

If nothing else, I could probably make one by gluing a scarp R lens mount to a scrap SR camera mount -- with some spacers/washers in between.

A more informed resource about Leica and certain other adapters would be Stephen at Cameraquest.

xkaes said:

All that's needed would be a "dumb" 3.5mm thick adapter.

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Can such a thing be made with the required thickness? You'll need to consider the openings required; if the Leica lens mount is a larger diameter than Minolta for example ( I have no idea if that's the case) you would need a thicker adapter to make the physical moutning work.

Most adapters I have seen are thicker to accommodate the mounting lugs of each lens. Leica screw to M is an obvious exception.

Some "Leica R" lenses were made by Minolta and sold under both brand names (with appropriate mounts).

Minolta made some excellent lenses. I think you'd be better served by researching the best ones and using those on your Minolta bodies.

Craig said:

Can such a thing be made with the required thickness? You'll need to consider the openings required; if the Leica lens mount is a larger diameter than Minolta for example ( I have no idea if that's the case) you would need a thicker adapter to make the physical moutning work.

Most adapters I have seen are thicker to accommodate the mounting lugs of each lens. Leica screw to M is an obvious exception.

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The Leica R mount orifice is slightly wider than the Minolta SR mount's, and that MIGHT be a "killer". There is 3.5mm of space between the rear of the Leica R lens mount and the front of the Minolta SR lens mount to "play" with. I'll need to affix a spare, perhaps modified, R lens mount -- which I don't have -- to the front of a spare, perhaps modified, SR lens mount -- which I do have, so that there is 3.5mm of space between them. It depends on how much "play" there can be on the rear of the R lens mount and the front of the SR lens mount.

I'll start by finding a scrap R lens/lens mount -- should be EZ.

BobD said:

Some "Leica R" lenses were made by Minolta and sold under both brand names (with appropriate mounts).

Minolta made some excellent lenses. I think you'd be better served by researching the best ones and using those on your Minolta bodies.

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I'm all set for Minolta lenses -- even some of the ones that have the Leica label -- but Leica did make some interesting lenses for the R cameras, and if I run across a good deal, I might be interested -- if I know it works on my Chinese Minoltas:

http://www.subclub.org/minchin/

xkaes said:

I'll start by finding a scrap R lens/lens mount -- should be EZ.

Click to expand...

Cheap tele extenders and extension tubes are good sources of male and female lens mounts. I have used them to make OM1 to Olympus Pen FT, Nikon F to to Pen FT and Robot to Fujifilm X adapters.

You're exactly right. I'm going to start out by seeing if it's feasible just by using a rear Leica lens cap and a Minolta body cap. That should tell me what I need to know.

R4 bodies can be had for under $200, I've seen a few going for a bit over a $100, might be a lot less trouble getting an R4 body rather than hacking an adaptor.