Leica M blues...

[Zack Birlew]

Hey guys. I've got a confession to make. I'm obsessed with the idea of using the Leica Noctilux lenses (f/1.0 or the new f/0.95) and/or the legendary Canon TV 50mm f/0.95 for filmmaking. That specific look that they give for low light footage is perfect for some projects I'm thinking about. There are just a few problems:

1. The P+S Technik IMS mount voids the RED warranty.
2. I don't own a RED One.
3. There hasn't been any word on whether the IMS mount would carry over to Scarlet and Epic or not (For $1,040 per IMS mount, this is an important factor)
4. All I've got is a Nikon D90 and there is no way to adapt a Leica M lens to a Nikon body nor is there any hope of an IMS mount being made for DSLR cameras themselves.
5. Nobody else that I know of seems to have any plans for a Leica M mount for RED besides P+S Technik.

So, hypothetically, if I did rent a RED One, I couldn't very well put on the IMS mount and risk messing up a camera I couldn't afford to buy at this point, nor would I want to have something not work right down the road because of my mount change, thus causing warranty issues with the rental company's RED One or causing people to avoid renting their RED One.

With FF35 cameras coming, investing in still lenses makes a lot more sense to me, particularly if they are deemed "Legendary". I do have a Nikon 50mm f/1.2 AIS and that has really satisfied me for a lot of my shooting, however, there is a big difference in the way things look at f/1.2 and at f/1.0 or f/0.95. Not to mention the sharpness that the Leica lenses maintain at those low apertures. The Canon TV lens is unique in its own way, it has a dreamy softness that could be arguably more desireable but that all depends on what you want to do. Granted, if I had a RED One or wait for the Scarlet, I could always just keep things at f/1.2 on a Nikon mount and control the ISO and get the best low light I could that way. But as I've said, the look is what matters and that certain look I'm looking for can only be reached with the f/0.95 or f/1.0 apertures.

I know, it's a little redundant to keep hammering away at the RED and P+S Technik issue but it truly is a problem that needs to be sorted out. At this point, I'm just waiting for the FF35 Scarlet but, in the meantime, if somebody has a way to put a Leica M lens on a Nikon body, I wouldn't care about being able to focus to infinity or not, as has been noted to be the one possible problem with putting a Leica M on a Nikon body. If I can use it on the camera and it looks good, I can just chalk it up as another workaround, which I am quite used to on lower end cameras.

With all of these awesome lenses for the Leica M mount, why hasn't there been more of a movement to get a solution made to put these lenses onto other non-Leica cameras? If everyone knows that it takes a little optical element to get a converter to work, why hasn't anyone made one yet? The only option I see for affordable Leica M video is the Micro 4/3 format, at least once Panasonic or somebody releases a video-capable model but as far as I understand it, the Micro 4/3 format would be undesirable for this purpose due to the small sensor size. I don't want to take a step backwards from where I'm at with my 35mm video on my D90. It just doesn't make sense to me why nobody has tried to get these lenses to work on other cameras.

 

[Sanjin Jukic]

Zack,

if your project get a certain budget you could still rent my RED1 that has all what you want:

LINK>>>

 

[Charles Angus]

Well, you lose infinity focus on a no-glass M to pretty much anything adapter, and a glass adapter would likely lose light and would likely compromise the look and feel of the lens (which is the whole point).

So I suppose low interest would be the reason, due to the fact that so many compromises would have to be made.

That said, I could imagine it being possible to rip the mount and mirror out of your d90 and put an M mount in. Possible, maybe, but destructive, limiting, and pricey.

 

[Dave Blackham]

Leica M blues...

Zach,

Why not Leica R mount ?

Dave

 

[Zack Birlew]

Well, nothing wrong with Leica R. But there's no Noctilux for Leica R. The Canon TV f/0.95 also isn't on Leica R. All the fun seems to be on Leica M unfortunately.

Well, so far the only solution I've been able to find that may or may not work is a Schneider Optics Leica to T2 mount sandwiched with a T2 to Nikon F mount adapter. I may have to get extension tubes and stuff from what I've been reading, but other than that there's some website where they guarantee to make custom mounts for anything on a special order basis.

Thanks for the offer by the way Sanjin, I may have to take you up on that in the end. =)

 

[Sanjin Jukic]

Well, nothing wrong with Leica R. But there's no Noctilux for Leica R. The Canon TV f/0.95 also isn't on Leica R. All the fun seems to be on Leica M unfortunately.

Well, so far the only solution I've been able to find that may or may not work is a Schneider Optics Leica to T2 mount sandwiched with a T2 to Nikon F mount adapter. I may have to get extension tubes and stuff from what I've been reading, but other than that there's some website where they guarantee to make custom mounts for anything on a special order basis.

Thanks for the offer by the way Sanjin, I may have to take you up on that in the end. =)

Zack,

keep in mind that Leica-M has the register 27.95mm (Register = distance flange to film/sensor plane).

"However, even custom order adaptors have to obey an optical law: the register
of the lens system should be LARGER than the camera system. If the register of the lens system is SMALLER,
or EQUAL (less than 1mm difference) than the camera system, the adaptor requires an optical element to make
infinity focussing possible. Otherwise such an adaptor would act as a macro tube, putting the lens further away
from the body than designed!
Also, the above non-optics formula only works if the lensmount is a bit smaller than the camera mount."

Read more>>>