Adopting a Leica M lens to a Nikon F mount

[larry_segil]

I would like to find a way to mount my Noctilux on my Nikon dSLR body

for large aperture macro photography (a fetish of mine). Is there

any way to do this? Extension rings would certainly be fine if any

of the appropriate mounts exist. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks,

LJ Segil

[terence_mahoney]

www.cameraquest.com offer a Visoflex-to-Nikon F adaptor. Since the Visoflex is tantamount to a standard M bayonet, it would let you fit your Noct to your Nikon D-whatever. It would add several millimetres to the already extended lens-to-focal plane distance, resulting in a severely foreshortened focussing range. Whether you would have enough distance from the front lens glass to your subject to get it lit to your satisfaction, I cannot say.

[vivek iyer]

You want to scratch your Noctilux trying to do macro on a Nikon dSLR?

 

Terrence's suggestion (cameraquest adaptor) will certainly fit the bill.

 

W.D. will be in mm.

[tim_franklin]

A somewhat bizarre idea IMHO, but......

 

In Roger Hicks "Lens Book" (1994), there is a picture of a Leitz 400mm Telyt with a home-

made "adapter" to fit a Nikon F.

 

Roger made this - according to the caption - from a mixture of Nikon extension tubes, a

Leitz 16466 ring (for the Visoflex) and an old filter with the glass removed.

 

Apart from lashing up something similar to this, maybe the only answer is to contact SRB

of Luton in the UK, who pride themselves in being able to make any kind of adapter

requested by customers - http://www.srbfilm.co.uk/index1.html

[vivek iyer]

That sort of adaptation is impossible because of the very short camera registry of the M camera and the fairly large one on the Nikon F.

 

Check here:

 

http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/mounts.htm

[dan_fromm2]

I think, could be mistaken, that Novoflex makes a female Leica M-to-male M39x1 adapter. I know with certainty, as in have two, that Novoflex makes a female M39-to-male Nikon F adapter. So ask Novoflex.

 

Go! Spend! Have fun!

[jonas_yip1]

I did this with a nikon body cap, a leica rear lens cap, some glue, and some cutting. Worked fine... with some very careful handling of course.

<p>

Result was something like <a href="http://www.jonasyip.com/pixel/index.php?showimage=24">this</a>

<p>

j

[al_kaplan1]

Keep in mind that because of the lens extension you'll probably be losing about half a stop of effective lens speed too.

[SCL]

I've used Leica Visoflex lenses on my Nikon DSL for a couple of years using the Cameraquest adapter. You can technically mount the Noctilux using the adapter, but for all practical purposes it is useless for photography as the lens to object distance is so small. You are much better off for macro work, if you insist on Leica glass, using one of the Visoflex mounted lenses and/if desired extension rings. The more practical solution. of course, is to use a Nikon Macro lens on the DSLR.

[larry_segil]

Jonas Yip did pictorially exactly what I am trying to do. It sounds to me like the Visoflex adapter ought to do the trick, particularly if I use some extension rings on the F side of the adapter---or am I missing the boat somehow?

LJ

[Nowhereman]

Best to use an adoption agency.

[jtdnyc]

Larry, could you provide a link to Jonas Yip's work? I've never tried anything like this, but I would think that at macro enlargement ratios, the depth of field with an f/1 lens would be close to 0; and I would assume that you're not thinking of shooting flat objects, as the Noctilux isn't particularly noted for having a flat field.

 

I'd love to see examples of what you have in mind. Thanks.

[jonas_yip1]

The clickable link is in my post above. But you can cut and paste this:

 

http://www.jonasyip.com/pixel/index.php?showimage=24

 

j

[larry_segil]

Jonas provides a link to a single image in his posting.

The minimal depth of field is what gives the image a magical quality,with most of the subject matter defocused, and I think the Noctilux could give some beautiful images of this type.

LJ

[steve_chan5]

How macro do you want? You can't get infinity focus because the back focus distance of the nikon mount is much longer than the back focus of the Leica mount, but I'm not sure what the effective focus distance is once you put the Noctilux on an F-mount.

[larry_segil]

I guess I'll have to find out!

LJ

[jonas_yip1]

this may or may not be useful, but with my adapter which adds almost an inch between the lens and the camera, i get about 2.5" working distance, and the image area is about 1" across (with 1.5 crop).

 

uh, that's with my summilux, which is probably shorter than the noct. I no longer have the noct.

 

j

[kaiblanke]

What about a reversal ring? At least you do not have to think about how to adopt a Leica M mount to Nikon F ...

[john_spiers]

"A somewhat bizarre idea IMHO, but...... "

 

You can say that again.

 

Just buy a Nikon 50/1.4 and save yourself a lot of pain.

 

John