Recommend me a lens hacker?

[buzzardkid]

Hi all,

can anybody recommend me a competent lens hacker? For some time now have I been walking around with a plan to hack a 1960s SLR lens ( a 50mm 1.4 lens, in fact) to Leica M mount. I have tried it myself and simply am not skilled enough to pull it off.

I'm looking for somebody that can help me out. The lens (not yet telling what brand etc) is easily converted to a pre-set diafragm lens, has a rear element size that would fit almost perfectly and along the edge of said rear element there is quite an easy-usable surface that can be transformed to accomodate an RF-coupling.

Seems there are some competent lens hackers in Japan, IIRC? Or, anybody here that will give my plan a try?

[Tessar.]

Have you asked SRB Griturn in the UK they used to do custom work (http://www.srb-griturn.com/camera-adaptors-306-c.asp)? I should imagine that translating the optical block movement with focus to rf cam travel would be the hardest thing to achieve, although being a 50mm lens makes it easier. Have you read the article on Dante Stella's web site about rf cam coupling?
http://www.dantestella.com/technical/compat.html

Or there's MS-Optical through Dirk at Japan Exposures, but it will cost about 60000 yen to custom convert a lens to Leica M ( I once enquired...)

[buzzardkid]

Funny thing is, the lens itself will likely set me back less than USD 100...

60,000 yen translates to USD 750 though, and EUR 575.

But, a sixties Summilux 50/1.4 at the moment is a lot more than that!

If it would get me a professionally converted lens I might even consider it.

[Tessar.]

Yes 60K yen could be worth it for the right lens, plenty of people have paid MS-Optical for M converted Contax G lenses. I remember a seller on ebay last year selling converted arri and meyer cine lenses and also had some Contarex lenses converted to Nikon F mount. I think the ebay name was "lensworks" or similar...

[xayraa33]

Ebay seller 38333 (Victor Chan) use to sell converted Canon FL 58mm f1.2 lenses to M mount, RF coupled.
He has sold a few like this, so someone (if not Victor himself) was converting them.

[Rob-F]

It isn't by any chance a Nikkor, is it? Jonathan Eastland wrote in the Leica M Compendium about a "Leinik-M adapter" (Jonathan's name for it) made by Novoflex. He has a picture of an M4 wearing a 55mm f/1.2 Nikkor on page 97. I don't know if it's still available, but maybe Jonathan will notice this thread and let us know.

[buzzardkid]

Rob, I'll let you in on the secret, it's a Konishiroku Hexanon 50/1.4 in Konica's old-style mount (which they confusingly referred to as F-mount).

And ofcourse I need it to be RF-coupled, the Leinik by Novoflex provides no coupling, unfortunately...