Adapting other lenses to a Leica screw mount ?

[J. Smith]

I try to shy away from buying into a different system unless its a deal too good to pass up . So Leica was certainly not on the radar until I found a Ic viewfinder body at a thrift shop in almost new condition for 30 US dollars. Snatched it up then found the shutter curtains were shot.
Sooooo it's in the shop to replace them. Still a refurbished Leica body for total 180US isn't too bad I guess.
Since I have some wide angled lenses already that would be fun to use on this body , are there any adapters made to fit m42 or Minolta md lenses to m39 screw mount?

[iangreenhalgh1]

I don't think so, and they wouldn't couple with the rangefinder.

What you need are the Russian M39 lenses, dirt cheap but superb.

[inombrable]

[J. Smith]

I will more than likely follow along those lines though this body truly is a viewfinder not a rangefinder. it has two shoes , one for a viewfinder and the other for a rangefinder. I think they were made for scientific or wide angle use so no coupling issues.

[scsambrook]

I can't recall if there was ever a Minotlta SLR to Leica aapter, but you can use M42 lenses and Canon FD lenses IF you can find the Canon FD to Leica screw adapter known as "Converter B". Having got that, you can then put FD lenses on a Leica body and they will give correct infinity focus.

If you want to put M42 lenses on, then you need a Canon adapter "P" as well. They are fairly easy to find.

Searching on line will show you various Chinese made adapters that apparently do the same job as "Converter B" and adapter"P". But before you buy one, check that they will give CORRECT infinity register. I suspect some/many/most of them will not be deep enough and will let the lens focus back past infinity. Then, of course, all the distance scaling will be inaccurate.

The lack of a rangefinder on the Ic body means it's really only useful with standard lenses of moderate aperture and wide angles. But you'll need either a universal viewfinder or individual ones for each lens, and they don't come cheap these days. The Ic was supplied with two empty accessory shoes - one for a viewfinder and one for an uncoupled rangefinder . . . maybe you got a viewfinder of some sort with the body? The Russian multi-finder sells for around GBP £50 on ebay and it's a decent little thing.

The best bet for a lens - in my way of thinking - is to get a screw mount 25mm Voigtlander Skopar which should come along with its own finder. But to be honest, I don't think the Ic is a viable base for building a system on.

But anyway, go ahead and enjoy it

[Attila]

[J. Smith]

I may have misled , building a Leica system I am not !
It was so small and pocket sized , and not much money , and , well , it was a not much money Leica . I couldn't resist !
The issue is , as much as I love a deal I can't resist getting an image out of everything I buy and if an adapter lets me use some of the lenses I already have then I don't have to wait till I can find a bargain 39mm hiding in a thrift store somewhere.

I have used a number of medium format folders with guess focus, so it not being a rangefinder isn't a huge issue .
Thanks for the responses !!!

[iangreenhalgh1]

Look for a cheap Jupiter-8 2/50 (Sonnar copy) or a Industar-22 or 50 (Tessar copy) and have some fun with it for a while.

Then sell it for a fat profit and if you liked the rf experience, use the profit to but a Russian Rf camera, I particularly like the Kiev, but Feds and Zorkis are great too, especially for how cheap they are and the price is only increasing so not a bad investment either.

[fermy]

Well, m42 to LTM adapter does exist, but it's not very common. Here's one that looks plausible Click here to see on Ebay Since it's Novoflex, it will likely have exact infinity as well. In any case, if you want to get some images from your camera, getting a Soviet LTM lens is the way to go. Jupiter-12 are still very cheap since they can't be used on mirrorless. Or get what Ian suggested. Industar-61 L/D is also excellent and still cheap.

[Attila]