CV lenses on Leica bodies?

[JohnL]

I guess most of the CV lenses fit Leica bodies with the appropriate adapters.

Does anyone know if the super-wide 12mm and/or 15mm fit?

Thanks, John

[SolaresLarrave]

Stephen Gandy has a photo of a Leica M6 with one of these lenses in his website, so I'm sure you can get the adapter rings from him.

[Doug]

Yes, Cameraquest offers two pricing levels on the screwmount adaptors; "generic" and "Voigtlander" brand. Leica-branded ones can be had elsewhere for about twice as much.

And to address an unasked question, the three focal length variants of the adaptors only differ in which viewfinder framelines they automatically invoke on bodies that have this convenience. For the Bessa-R and R2 the frameline switch is manually set, so it makes no difference which adaptor you use with any lens.

With few exceptions it is generally safe to assume that any Leica thread mount lens will physically fit any thread or bayonet-mount body. The RF-coupling is slightly different on Russian/Ukrainian cameras (I think they don't have a roller on the coupling arm) and there's a similar difference on Leica CL bodies, with the lens's cam cut differently. They may work on roller-equipped bodies but I hear they sometimes don't.

Another issue is clearance for the meter arms of the Leica M5 and CL, which have a pivoting post bearing the meter cell that sticks up into the way of any lens with elements projecting back far enough... or any lens which can be collapsed when not in use.

Cosina/Voigtlander's evident intent with their RF lenses has been to address as much of this niche market as possible. As mentioned on the information-packed site http://www.cameraquest.com/ even the 12 and 15mm Voigtlander lenses can be safely used on the Leica M5 and CL without intefering with the meter arm.

So, unsurprisingly, I find the 15mm fits and functions just fine on my M2 and Minolta CLE. :-)

[JohnL]

Many thanks for all the help!

John

[pvdhaar]

Originally posted by Doug
With few exceptions it is generally safe to assume that any Leica thread mount lens will physically fit any thread or bayonet-mount body.

Agreed as far as non-collapsible lenses are concerned.

Doug implicitly stated something to that effect later on, but I think it deserves special attention.

In case of collapsible lenses care must be taken not to poke them into the shutter blades/curtain. Different camera bodies may be designed differently with respect to where the shutter blades/curtains reside. Also, you need to be sure that the lens remains clear of any other protusions inside the body when collapsed.

[Doug]

Peter, very good points about collapsible lenses! The Cosina/Voigtlander Bessa series cameras have an additional shutter curtain in front of the main set, and I understand t that collapsed Leica lenses will hit that curtain for damage to both shutter and lens. For this reason, some users put Dymo labels or fat rubber bands on the barrels of their collapsible lenses to restrict the distance they can collapse. Voigtlander's own collapsing 50mm f/3.5 is of course ok in this regard.

And the new Cosina/EPSON digital RF based on the Bessa has a specified limit of 20.5mm inward protrusion for lenses, and list some lenses that exceed this amount and so won't fit.

As you also mention, there are some RFs (Canons? Brian will know...) that have an interior "ledge" that some lenses may strike when mounted.

So this is indeed an issue to be aware of in general. Some users have mentioned a sensible-sounding test: Open the back, keep the shutter open with B or T setting, and watch from the rear as the lens is slowly brought into position or collapsed, alert for any physical interference as it happens.