Retina lens/shutter mounted on a DSLR

[Don C.]

I noticed the following on eBay today:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Kodak-Retina-Xenon-50mm-f2-8-80mm-f4-EP-1-GH1-4-3-Mount_W0QQitemZ260520179165QQihZ016QQcategoryZ3323 QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp3286.m7QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3 DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D4%26ps%3D63

While I've seen the Deckel mount Retina lenses mounted on DSLRs with adapter rings, I've never seen one of the rangefinder lens/shutter assemblies mounted as a DSLR lens.

Unfortunately, the unit on eBay is a micro 4/3. I have a standard 4/3 camera.

Has anyone done something similar? What's involved in getting the spacing correct so infinity focus works?

I would love to put a Retina lens on my Olympus E-500 and see how the Schneider look translates to digital. A junked IIc with a bad shutter would probably work well, wouldn't cost too much, and wouldn't be an act of vandalism to a good Retina.

[mabelsound]

The reason it works on micro 4/3 is that m4/3 has the shortest registration distance of any current interchangeable-lens digital. You can adapt almost anything to it, even a rangefinder lens! It seems likely that your E-500's registration distance is greater than the Retina's, and thus could not be adapted with infinity focus retained.

[Brian Sweeney]

What is the registration distance of the 4/3rds camera?

[bmattock]

I believe the M4/3 flange-to-film (or sensor) distance is ~20mm. 4/3 is 38.67mm.

[Brian Sweeney]

Yikes!

All is not lost- you could get the Retina Reflex-S lenses onto it. The 50/1.9 Xenon and even 50/2.8 Xenar are very cheap these days.

[Don C.]

Thanks for the feedback! I didn't know the m4/3 mount was so much shorter in the flange to sensor distance. That explains why so many m4/3 adapters have appeared.

Brian is right. There are Deckel to 4/3 adapters on the market, so using the Reflex/IIIS lenses is possible. Unfortunately, they are relatively expensive and not very common. There are two available on eBay right now for about $100 each.

I've not seen the 50mm Reflex/S lenses for sale individually very often. Is the best route for getting one to buy a bad Reflex S/III/IV rather than looking for a lens alone?

[Brian Sweeney]

That is usually the best bet. OR: Look for an Instamatic Reflex and get the 50mm F1.9 Xenon that uses 52mm filters and will focus to 2ft. Mine was $20.