Mystery Leica R Series 7 Adapter Ring Finally Solved!

<p><strong>Anyone need a good Leica adapter for their Series 7 VII thread lens to a normal metric size filter ? If so read on!</strong><br>

This Leica R thread is for those that DO NOT want to ever use Series VII / 7 filters. If you have Series 7 filters and are having fun please totally ignore this thread.<br>

After past endless past Leica R forums on the search of the perfect adapter for the Series VII adapter I finally found two Series VII that work perfectly. And one only costs $5 !<br>

Basically the issue is (most) professional photographers and cinematographers no longer use Series VII filters. Series VII filters are practically obsolete today. The smallest Series filter used professionally today is Series 9 but mostly Series 10 (4 1/2 round) and up! As a professional photographer /cinematographer I can't stand Series VII filters. They are just too small for todays high end photography and cinematography lenses requiring much larger filters . I had a whole box of Series VII filters once and I got rid of them because they were so obsolete.<br>

And with lenses like the Leica 90mm f2 Summicron (Series VII thread version) the past issue was once an adapter was put on you could NOT use the built in lens hood! Of course if you are lucky to own the 55mm version then you don't even need an adapter. For the rest of us with Leica R lenses with Series VII threads we need a good adapter to get to the larger and more COMMON size metric filters ...58MM, 67MM, 72MM, 77MM, 82MM..ect.<br>

Ok so what are the adapters you ask. Here they are recommended adapters with reviews:</p>

<p>For Photographers</p>

<p>1) <strong>Sonia Series VII-58mm adapter</strong><br>

Cost: ultra cheap, a whole $5 ... the price of cup of coffee and you are all set.<br>

Country made: India<br>

Easy to mount/use: Yes , the threads are well made and thread deep into the Series VII threads, you barely even notice its on your lens. <strong><em>On a Leica R 90/2 your built in lens hood is fully functional!</em></strong><br>

<strong><em> </em></strong><br>

For Cinematographers (Digital)</p>

<p>2)<strong> Duclos Lenses Series VII - 77mm with 80mm Outer Diameter (O.D.) ring adapter</strong><br>

Cost: expensive at $75 but worth every penny.<br>

Country made: USA<br>

Easy to mount/use: Yes! The good folks at Duclos are awesome. Here is an adapter that you could use for an endless amount of filter sizes, included Series 9, 10 and up! You start with a 77mm size and a 80mm O.D. to use in any professional cinematography matte box...ARRI, Chroszeil...ect. Mounted on a DSLR camera with 4K HD (Canon EOS ) capability and a Leica R cine mod with a Leica-Canon EOS adapter you are ready to go.</p>

<p>Here are the Series VII adapters to avoid:</p>

<p>1) Leica Series VII- 55mm adapter<br>

Cost: Expensive and hard to find as it no longer made $25-75<br>

Country made: Germany<br>

Easy to mount / use: HORRIBLE! Although the 58mm thread works perfectly the Series VII threads do NOT work on some Leica R lenses like the Leica 90mm f2 lens.</p>

<p>2) B+W 54-58mm<br>

Cost: Medium about $30<br>

Country made: Germany<br>

Easy to mount / use: Medium. This will work for your Series VII thread lens but with this is reported to disable your built in lens hood on the Leica 90mm f2 lens as the O.D is to big and blocks the built in lens hood.<br>

There is also a Tiffen - Made for Leica Series VII- 55mm adapter. Very hard to find and scarce. Unknown if it even works.<br>

Well that's it folks on this topic. I have link bellows of the vendors plus background history on Series size filters. If you have any questions I will definitely answer as best as I can. Have photography fun with Leica everyone !<br>

http://www.camera-filters.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=431&products_id=7299<br>

https://www.ducloslenses.com/<br>

http://throughavintagelens.com/2013/09/vintage-filter-systems/</p><div></div>

<p>Leica R 90/2 with lens hood retracted. Angenieux UV 58mm Ultra Thin filter (3mm size) on front with Sonia Series VII-58mm adapter.</p><div></div>

<p>Close up of Leica R and Angenieux UV 58mm Ultra Thin (3mm) with Sonia Series VII-58mm adapter.</p><div></div>

<p>The rejected Series VII filter adapters : Leica Series VII-55mm , Heliopan 54-58mm (edit above not a B+W adapter) and the scarce too impossible to find Tiffen Series VII-55mm Made For Leica adapter.</p><div></div>

<p>Used Series 7 drop in filters are every easy to find on eBay.</p>

<p>If I remember correctly, on my R 90 Elmarit I turned a 49mm screw in yellow filter backwards and dropped it into the front of the lens, and was able to hold it in using the Leica R retainer that normally holds the drop in filters in. I have a post here of that somewhere I think, but it goes back several years. This was a good thing for me, as I already had a whole set of 49mm filters. They're generally quite inexpensive because they made so many lenses that took them. The Elmarit had the same sort of built in hood as your Summicron, so that part doesn't need to be addressed when using non standard filters. I loved my old R 90 Elmarit, one of the best lenses I ever owned, but the R 90 Summicron is magic at f2.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>...the R 90 Summicron is magic at f2.</p>

<p> </p>

</blockquote>

<p>Hey Steve thanks for chiming in. I will totally agree with you on my Leica 90/2 Summicron , it is indeed one of the best portrait lenses ever made.<br /> <strong>The reason Series 7 filters are very easy to find is because they are OBSOLETE and no one wants them!</strong> As I already wrote , I had a full box of them once, every Series 7 / VII filter imaginable... and I could not get rid of those Series 7 filters fast enough. As I wrote before as well this whole thread is for Leica photographers who do not like to use Series 7 filters. No professional cinematographer these days uses Series 7 filters, it is all Series 9, 77mm threads at the bare bones minimum. Same applies really for most professional photographers, larger filter sizes than Series VII the size are used.</p>

<p>And Series 7 to any metric size adapters are extremely rare. The reverse however, is easy to find ... going from say 55mm to Series 7 so you can place a drop in Series VII filter on your 55mm threaded lens. But we are talking about a reverse adapter, very rare. Here is what one poster said:</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Good luck finding one! They are RARE. Very rare. I have a Series 7 MALE to 52mm Female that I bought from Spiratone back in the 70's. They are long gone.<br /> You *MIGHT* find one on ebay. Otherwise, you will have to have them custom made. S.K. Grimes can do it but be prepared to spend $75 or more for EACH ring.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Check out this thread:<br /> http://www.photo.net/leica-rangefinders-forum/00dVMP<br /> So as far as the lens hood mention this is very important, until now you were stuck with a mediocre Heliopan 54/Series VII -58mm adapter and the problem with that one is it disables your built in lens hood on the Leica 90/2 Summicron. This five dollar adapter from India works beautifully and it is cheap (non-expensive) ... but not cheaply made! Here is an example of just how flush the Sonia Series VII-58mm adapter is with an <strong>Angenieux UV Ultra Thin 3mm 58mm filter.</strong> The French filter, the India adapter were just made for the Leica 90/2 Summicron!</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

<p>Here is a chart of the various old Series Filter sizes, for anyone who is interested, I gathered this together from various sources and any corrections would be appreciated:</p>

 

<table width="479" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><colgroup><col width="65" /> <col width="91" /> <col width="103" /> <col width="155" /> <col width="65" /> </colgroup>

<tbody>

<tr>

<td width="65" height="15"> </td>

<td width="91"> </td>

<td width="103"> </td>

<td width="155"> </td>

<td width="65"> </td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="15"> </td>

<td ><strong>Series number </strong></td>

<td ><strong>filter size </strong></td>

<td ><strong>adapter ring</strong></td>

<td> </td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="15"> </td>

<td >I </td>

<td> </td>

<td> </td>

<td> </td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="15"> </td>

<td >II </td>

<td> </td>

<td> </td>

<td> </td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="15"> </td>

<td >III </td>

<td> </td>

<td> </td>

<td> </td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="15"> </td>

<td >IV </td>

<td>20.6 mm </td>

<td>23.5 mm</td>

<td> </td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="15"> </td>

<td >4.5</td>

<td>25.5 mm </td>

<td> </td>

<td> </td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="15"> </td>

<td >V </td>

<td>30.2 mm </td>

<td>33.5 mm</td>

<td> </td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="15"> </td>

<td >5.5</td>

<td>35.9 mm </td>

<td> </td>

<td> </td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="15"> </td>

<td >VI </td>

<td>41.3 mm </td>

<td>44 mm</td>

<td> </td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="15"> </td>

<td >VII </td>

<td>50.8 mm </td>

<td colspan="2">54.346 mm, 36 tpi thread pitch</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="15"> </td>

<td >7.5</td>

<td>57.0 mm </td>

<td> </td>

<td> </td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="15"> </td>

<td >VIII </td>

<td>63.5 mm </td>

<td>66.7 mm</td>

<td> </td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="15"> </td>

<td >8.5/5.5L </td>

<td>74.8 mm x 5.6 mm </td>

<td> </td>

<td> </td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="15"> </td>

<td >8.5/8mm </td>

<td>74.8 mm x 8 mm </td>

<td> </td>

<td> </td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="15"> </td>

<td >IX </td>

<td>82.6 mm </td>

<td>87.5 mm</td>

<td> </td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="15"> </td>

<td >93</td>

<td>93 mm </td>

<td> </td>

<td> </td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="15"> </td>

<td >103</td>

<td>103 mm </td>

<td> </td>

<td> </td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="15"> </td>

<td >107</td>

<td>107 mm </td>

<td> </td>

<td> </td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="15"> </td>

<td >119</td>

<td>119 mm </td>

<td> </td>

<td> </td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="15"> </td>

<td >125</td>

<td>125 mm </td>

<td> </td>

<td> </td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="15"> </td>

<td >138</td>

<td >138 mm </td>

<td > </td>

<td> </td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td height="15"> </td>

<td> </td>

<td> </td>

<td> </td>

<td> </td>

</tr>

</tbody>

</table>

<p>Please note that the thread PITCH for series size adapters are NOT metric but SASE. Cramming a metric adapter onto a Series thread may jam due to pitch differences.</p>

<p>Back in the 70's Spiratone made Series VII to 52mm & 55mm adapter rings. I used the 52mm size with my 80mm Ektar f/2.8 lens that took Series VII filters. I still have it and will never part with it.</p>

<p>I have made my own adapters by grinding off 1/2 of a Series size double retaining ring and epoxying a metric ring to it. They worked very well. </p>

<blockquote>

<p>Back in the 70's Spiratone made Series VII to 52mm & 55mm adapter rings</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Hey Anthony, first thank you on your previous post on Series VII adapter rings. You understand perfectly just how <strong>rare</strong> these 70's vintage ones adapters are. As I already posted, there was also a 70's Tiffen -Made for Leica 54mm (Series VII) -55mm adapter. Ironically, the Leica made Series VII / 54-55mm #14225 does not meet this pitch thread specification. It will not work on all Series VII Leica threads! I have this Leica adapter and I have already posted a pic of this adapter that is not functional.</p>

<p><strong>As I already posted, both the Sonia and Duclos adapters are a perfect Series VII 54.346 mm, 36 tpi thread pitch size and are the ONLY known adapters commercially available.</strong></p>

<p><em><strong>So at least for Series VII adapters the problem has been finally solved with these two adapters</strong>.</em> I do not know of any adapters (yet) for Series VI or VIII threads.<strong><br /></strong></p>

<p>Here is the commercially available Duclos Series VII 54.346 pitch thread to 77mm adapter with the rare Angenieux 77mm UV filters. This also has has a 80mm O.D. to accept cinema matte boxes.</p>

<p>Duclos Series VII 54.346 pitch thread adapter with the rare Angenieux 77mm UV filter.</p><div></div>

EDIT: Leica does makes a commercially available Series VII to E72 / E82 metric size adapter for the Leica 24mm f1.4

Summilux M rangefinder lens for about $100 USD ( more expensive than the Duclos adapter) however there are several

problems with the design of this adapter which is why the Duclos Series VII -77mm adapter is recommended. First if you

are using if for the 24/1.4 Summilux you will lose your dedicated wide angle Leica lens hood! Second if the sun is behind

you the hollowed out part of the adapter will create lens flare. Third a 77mm filter thread is a nice size in between 72mm and 82mm metric filter sizes and a *PERFECT FIT* for the professional Angenieux 77mm metal Len hood which works best on tele Leica lenses.

<p>More Mystery solved with the Leica Series 7 filter Retaining Ring #14225. As I mentioned this <strong>Leica made Series VII ring will NOT WORK on Leica lenses with Series VII / 7 Leica lenses.</strong><br /> <br /> <strong>That said I went to the Leica store today and we tried this #14225 adapter on a Leica 24mm f/1.4 Summilux-M Aspherical Manual Focus Lens that has Series VII threads.</strong> The adapter did NOT WORK on the Series 7 threads of the Leica 24/1.4 ultrawide lens, a $7K lens and one of the best for the Leica M Rangefinder cameras. The Leica dealer had no idea what this adapter this lens was for.</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

<p>After going to the Leica store again and with the help of two Leica reps we finally figured out what this adapter does. It is indeed a E55-55mm / Series 7 retaining ring, a very rare if not unique adapter that can hold two filters...a E55mm AND a Series 7 filter. It has BOTH a female and male 55mm thread with a Series 7 retaining ring! <strong>No Leica rep at the store has EVER seen this Leica adapter #14225 before as it is extremely RARE!</strong><br /> <br /> <em><strong>After it was confirmed it was fitted *PERFECTLY* on the Leica Telephoto 90mm f/2.0 APO Summicron M Aspherical Manual Focus Lens,</strong></em> a $4K lens, we then placed a E55 Leica filter ON TOP OF THE ADAPTER which worked also perfectly. On top of that it was also confirmed that it could also hold ONE Series 7 filter. Neither of the Leica reps have ever heard of a Series 7 filter (even though Leica still makes them for $200) <strong>which highlights my point of this thread of just how unpopular Series 7 filters are</strong>...<strong>even Leica's flagship store HAS NOT EVEN HEARD OF Series 7 filters and does not stock any of their own Leica Series 7 filters!<br /></strong></p>

<p> </p>

Shessh! That is strange! Great job tracking this all down Rob_h|5

 

I have lots of Series VI, some Series VI, and a few Series 8 filters. Guess I'll hang on to them.