WHY IS THE CANON 5D LISTED IN ITS OWN COLUMN?

Canon 5D and 5D Mark II owners have reported various adapter and lens combinations catching on the mirror. If a lens mounts and performs correctly on the 1Ds family, unfortunately that does not guarantee the lens-adapter combination will operate correctly on the Canon 5D family. Complicating matters, there are variances from Canon 5D to Canon 5D. For Contax lenses the Canon 5D’s variances in the mirror box have proven troublesome. Fortunately, this does not seem to be as much of a problem for the Leica-R lenses. Probably because the flange thickness on a Canon / Leica R is about 3mm versus ~1.425mm for Canon / Contax adapter.

WHAT ABOUT EF-S MOUNT CAMERAS SUCH AS THE CANON 7D AND REBEL 550D?

Canon dSLRs with the new EF-S mount such as the Canon Digital Rebels, 20D, 20Da, 30D, 40D, 50D and 7D work just fine. The EF-s cameras have smaller mirrors, so just about any lens will work them. The new Canon 7D and 550D (Rebel Ti2) have a larger viewfinders than their predecessors, so manually focusing these new bodies is easier.

WHAT ABOUT THE CANON 1D FAMILY?

Initial reports indicate it is best to consider the 1D family (Mark I, Mark II, Mark III and Mark IV) as having the same clearance as the 1Ds family. The Leica 28-90mm ASPH will NOT work on the 1D3 and the Leica 21-35mm ASPH needs its rear shroud removed.

THE DATABASE SHOWS “YES”, BUT I KNOW THE LENS DOESN’T FIT!!!

Deciding whether a lens deserve a “YES” or not can be tricky at time because one reader may report “Yes” and another person will say it will not work. Most likely the problem is not the lens or the camera body, but the adapter. To work cope with these varying reports the “I” category was added, meaning “iffy” - as in the lens may or may not work. Additional comments are also provided in the Lenses section.

DOES ROM OR CAM MATTER?

When fitting a Leica lens on a Canon EF mount the CAM vs ROM option does not matter since the ROM contacts do not work with a Canon body. With most lenses being purchased on the secondary market, the biggest upside of a ROM lens is that it is mostly likely newer and in theory could be in better condition than an older lens. But again, when mounting these lenses on a Canon (or Nikon, Sony, Oly, Pentax, etc.), these contact do not matter.

WHAT DOES “R-CAM” MEAN?

Some lenses are R-CAM only, R-CAM means the lens will only work on R-bodies, not the older Leicaflex bodies. Karen Nakamura has a nice write-up on CAM vs ROM vs R-CAM. If you are using the data table to ID lenses, then I highly suggest Google’ing the Leica lens model number in question to make sure the data in the table is 100% correct. Many CAM lenses could be upgraded with ROM by Leica, so just because a lens has a Leica ROM, do not assume it is the newer model.

HOW DO YOU “SHAVE” THE CANON 5D’s MIRROR?

For some lenses no adapter seems to work until the owner shaved the mirror and/or the rear of lens was modified. Shaving the 5D’s mirror results in just about any Leica R lens (or Contax C/Y lens) working on the 5D family. If you are a die-hard DIY kind of person and want to modify your camera, here’s a link with some nice pictures. PebblePlace.com does not endorse, recommend or even suggest doing this. If you decide to shave the mirror, you are doing so at your own risk.

A WORD OF CAUTION WHEN PURCHASING USED LENSES

A common discussion recently on the user forums is how to adjust infinity focus on a lens. Generally, this can be done by rolling back the rubber grip on the focus ring (if there is any) which reveals the screws holding the focus ring in place. Loosening the screws allows the focus ring to be repositioned - and possibly shifts some of the lenses internally. This adjustment can be disastrous on a floating element lens design. These lenses were designed for the exit pupil to be an exact distance from the film plane. If that distance is compromised, then lens performance will suffer. Such adjustments may negatively impact lens without floating element designs too.

When the seller sells the lens, the next owner inherits an out-of-calibration lens. Since the first person “optimized” lens for infinity focus with their adapter, it is likely the next person will have trouble finding an adapter that works properly. In effect this adjustment is creating the “good copy / bad copy” syndrome. When buying a used lens - ask the seller if they have made any such adjustments. Ask if the lens has been sent to Leica to ensure proper calibration.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK

It been said over and over again on this page - DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Leica first introduced the R-mount in 1964, so some of these lenses are almost 45 years old. Some lenses have undergone 2, 3 or 4 redesigns. Different versions can be worth considerably more than others, so knowing exactly which lens you are buying is critical.

I have put 100’s of hours into researching the Leica db via internet searches and culling through different Leica books. This research often yields conflicting or incomplete data. Often it takes detective-like skills to correctly identify a lens. As mentioned earlier, some Leica CAM lenses can be converted to ROM (by Leica Solms), so identifying a lens by mount type (CAM vs ROM) is not fool-proof.

Identifying a particular lens can be done by filter size, hood type, cam count, size / weight, etc. I hope all the information presented in the table is correct, but there are no guarantees. Treat the information as a quick reference cheat-sheet and always do your own independent research to make sure the data jibes. Some helpful books include:

1. •Leica R Compendium: Handbook of the Leica R System by Jonathan Eastland, 1995.
   

2. •Leica An Illustrated History:  Lenses by James L. Lager, 1994.
   

3. •Leica R. Angewandte Leica Technik by Gunter Osterloh (I think this is printed in German...), 2000.
   

The web will only get you so far. These books can expensive ($50 to $150), but if you spend 20 hours trying research a lens or two via the web, the book is a far more time efficient tool.

THE LEGAL DISCLAIMERS

If you decide to mount a non-EF Canon lens to a Canon camera, you are doing so at your own risk. This website makes no guarantees or warranties - implicit, explicit or otherwise. Use your common sense - if something feels wrong --- then stop and examine the adapter, the lens, etc. Using an adapter is usually trouble-free; however, there are many variables. Until you know for sure a lens and adapter works correctly with your camera, go slow and pay close attention.