Schneider Kreuznach Xenar 50 2.8 from Diax iia: M mount con?

[Diax iia]

Hello MF Lenses people!

I have a Diax iia with a schneider kreuznach xenar 50 2.8 and I wanted to know what type of lens mount this is and if I can fit this lens onto an Leica M mount somehow? Is there some kind of an adaptor I can get?

I've been looking at lenses for the new Ricoh GXR A12, which has an APS-C sensor and an M lens mount to take Leica lenses! Here is a link for more information about the camera: I would like to get my hands on some Leica glass but it's just not in the budget at the moment! So it would be great if I could get this lens to work with an M-mount. I've had a look at some existing examples of images take with this lens (on this website) and the quality looks very good!

I've attached some photos of the camera and lens below.

Hope you can help!!!

Thanks, Michael

[Diax iia]

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[luisalegria]

It looks like it has a reasonably long back focus so it should be possible to adapt to a mirrorless camera.

You would however have to adapt it yourself or have someone do it, as the Diax had a unique lens mount, and being a fairly uncommon camera there are no available adapters.

The adaptation would seem to be simple enough. The lens mount on the lens end is basically a screw mount, but female on the lens end, which is unusual.

If the back focus on this thing is >Leica screw mount, you could have someone with a lathe do a dead easy thing - make an adapter ring, threaded M39 on one end, Mwhatever on the other.

You will need an accurate thread measurement and you will need to measure the back focus. A rough and ready method would be to use the depth probe on a vernier caliper to measure the distance from the pressure plate to the rim of the camera mount (in this case I think that would be the relevant dimension).

[Diax iia]

Hi, thanks for your reply! Yes, I thought it might be an obscure lens mount. All that makes sense to me. I used to be a Fitter and Turner so I could make the adaptor myself but I don't have a lathe handy. I might be able to get someone to make it for me through. I have some callipers and a thread gauge, so I could measure the thread and also measure the back focus. I know there is a Ricoh adaptor so you can mount Leica screw type lenses onto the Leica M mount. So I guess I would have to have the M mount Ricoh body, then the Ricoh M to screw type adaptor and then the custom made Leica screw adaptor to whatever thread the Diax lens has. I just measured 40.7mm from the base of the lens bracket to the film plain. So with the back focusing thing: would I just have to measure the distance from the back of the lens on the Diax and then make sure this is the same when I make the adaptor for the Ricoh. I would have to measure the sensor on the Ricoh without damaging it! Or maybe I could find some detailed camera specifications with measurements.

Could be a fun experiment! Or I could just buy a Voigtlander or Zeiss M-mount lens.

Thanks again, Michael

[Ymmot]

For the flange focal distance of mounts you could look on:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lens_mount
Scroll down and there is a list.
I couldnt find Diax (maybe you could, however you seem to have measured already?), but M and M39 screw are there.
I dont know how accurate this list is though...
Wouldnt measure it on a digital sensor though, you could destroy it, I assume it is conform to the specifications on for the mount.
As far as I know the the GXR is similar to normal mirrorless cameras with that specific adapter (so no coupled rangefinder i believe?)
So in principle you could make the adapter slightly shorter if you are not completely sure about your measurement, but not too much though (just as most Chinese adapters for anything basically, altough some people really want dead accurate adapters).
You will not have exact infinity at the end anymore in that case (slightly over) and the lens will focus slightly less close. However you will have infinity in the focussing range at least.