Discussion Forum Leica S System Alternative Lenses Question on S2 V-mount adapters
  • July 30, 2011 at 8:12 pm #682
    Stuart Richardson

    Now that Leica is offering their own V mount lens adapters, has anyone had a chance to compare them to the Metabones and Kim adapters? While I am sure the Leica has the most precision, I am curious to know how the others compare. Just by looking, the metabones seems to be of good quality, and it is Japanese, which usually means that it is well put together. The Kim one uses an old Hasselblad mount on one end, so it is probably fine as well. Given that the Leica adapter seems to be 500 dollars more than the metabones adapter, it the metabones does the job I would probably go that route….
    Anyone have any advice on this? I plan this as a supplement to the S2 lenses, rather than using all the time…

  • July 30, 2011 at 10:49 pm #685
    David Farkas

    Stuart Richardson;408 wrote: Now that Leica is offering their own V mount lens adapters, has anyone had a chance to compare them to the Metabones and Kim adapters? While I am sure the Leica has the most precision, I am curious to know how the others compare. Just by looking, the metabones seems to be of good quality, and it is Japanese, which usually means that it is well put together. The Kim one uses an old Hasselblad mount on one end, so it is probably fine as well. Given that the Leica adapter seems to be 500 dollars more than the metabones adapter, it the metabones does the job I would probably go that route….
    Anyone have any advice on this? I plan this as a supplement to the S2 lenses, rather than using all the time…

    Stuart,

    I’ve only handled prototype adapters from Leica back at last year’s Photo Plus Expo, so I can’t really speak to any real-world differences. I will say that they certainly look much nicer and may be more durable over the long-term.

    We’ve been selling the “Kim-type” adapters (ones made with old Hasselblad extension tubes) for about a year now for $600 (vs. $750 off Ebay) and we test each and every one to make sure the fit is good, both on body and lens side. We do end up sending a few back from each shipment for not meeting our quality criteria.

    I haven’t tried the Metabones adapter, but I can say that the adapters I’ve been using for the last year work very well and open up many options for S2 users. All of the samples in Josh’s 350 SA article were shot using one of our adapters.

    David

    David Farkas
    Red Dot Forum
    Leica Store Miami
  • July 31, 2011 at 12:12 am #687
    Stuart Richardson

    Thanks David — yes, the 350mm is one reason I am interested. I am sure the Leica will be the most solid, but the Metabones is interesting to me because I have one of their Leica M to m4/3rds adapter, and it fit perfectly and was very well made. Given the price, I might give it a shot and if it does not work well, I can return it and just get the Leica version. Between 600 and 850, I would go for the Leica, but between 300 and 850 it’s a different story…

    I am coming into the S2 from a Hasselblad 200 series film setup, and I have several lenses that might be good to use on adapters. For example, the 350mm f/4 FE. I will only have the 35mm and 120mm S2 lenses, so there might be times where it will be nice to use a 50mm f/2.8, 80mm f/2.8 or my 180mm. The other lens I have is the 110/2, and while I absolutely love it (it is my most used lens on the 200), I imagine that the 120mm is going to take that lens out of regular use…
    I have used the 350mm FE on a Nikon D3, and it was spectacular when using only the best part of its image circle…I imagine it will also be excellent on the S2. It has some CA, but it is a sharp lens with a nice look…great speed and close focus for a lens that long as well (it focuses to 1.9m in the FE model!). The biggest problem with the lens is getting a tripod secure enough to keep it held without vibration. I think the adapter quality and fit is really important too…it needs to stably carry the weight of the whole camera body without flexing.

  • August 1, 2011 at 3:12 pm #699
    Al Tanabe

    Stuart,
    I have the adapter that David produced and can attest that it can handle the 350 FE lens that you have. I briefly had a 350 FE but did not end up keeping the lens as it had some separating elements and returned it to the seller. In difference to the 350 CF f5.6 and the 350 FE, the fact that the lens has a tripod mount really helps balance and keeps the stress off of the mount. Like you I did find a little CA with the 350 FE but it is correctable in Lightroom and is better handled than the 350 CF f5.6. The 350 SA is another story altogether, great imaging, at a cost.

    Cheers,
    Al

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