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Novoflex Adapter Brings Classic Leica M-Mount Lenses To Micro Four Thirds System
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Novoflex Adapter Brings Classic Leica M-Mount Lenses To Micro Four Thirds System |
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
12/08/08
I would bet a large sum of money M lenses the micro 4/3s is only possible because like with a real rangefinder there is no mirror to contend with, so the flange distance (the distance between rear lens element and sensor plane) is massively reduced compared to a traditional SLR.
Mounting an Leica M lens on a full frame Canon or Nikon body probably would not work, as the lens is not designed to retro-focus to compensate for the big gap between the end of the lens and the sensor plane. SLR len's are designed to accomodate for this (Leica M lenses are NOT SLR lenses. Leica's R lenses are a different story).
I'm pretty sure this is why you only seem to get adapters for Leica's less loved R lenses for use with full frame digital cameras - these are designed for bodies with mirror boxes, unlike M lenses which are designed to be situated millimetres away from the the film or sensor.
Right now there is simply no way to get full frame with M lenses, unless Leica get around to replacing their M8 rangefinder with a full frame camera. So, short of spending huge amounts of money on an M8, this is the highest image quality possible - hence my annoyance at John's comment!
12/08/08
12/08/08
The massive drop in image quality resulting from the retrofocus adaptor kind of defeats the purpose!
12/08/08
Read here:
[www.markerink.org]
"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!"
As previously mentioned, M lenses on full frame SLRs is not possible, your example involves adding an extra optical element - effectively creating a new lens.
12/08/08