Investing in Zeiss glass = M/Leica mount or Nikon?

A

andrew00

Well-known member
Hey,

These days with GH2 this and NEX-7 that and Canon DSLR the other I'm finding myself wanting to get a few Zeiss lenses that I can swap onto whichever camera body is the flavour of the month at the moment.

However I was wondering if peeps would recommend getting M/Leica mount Zeiss or ZF Nikon mount lenses, in each case then getting the relevant adapter.

Is there any advantage either way, anything to sway me etc?

Thanks.
 
Are the M/Leica mount Zeiss lenses physically identical to the ZF Nikon mount lenses ?

The reason I mention this is that the Voightlander Nikon mount lenses are physically much larger than the M/Leica mount Voightlander lenses, and I find the larger lenses easier to grip and focus. ( many of the M/Leica mount lenses appear to be "pancake" style )
 
Indeed nikon mount lenses could be adapted to all common mounting systems, but then again i have no idea about leica m.
 
andrew00 said:
...lenses that I can swap onto whichever camera body is the flavour of the month at the moment.
Click to expand...

David W. Jones said:
PL mount would be my choice.
Click to expand...

PL mount does not fit the criteria for all lenses. No PL mount primes I have yet tried will fit on a Canon with mount adapter. The diameter of the end of the lens' mount is too large to fit into the adapter orifice. There are replacement mounts that work around this problem by completely replacing the Canon mount, but those aren't a simple "swap" and then you still have to deal with the mirror in the way if the lens pokes very far into the body.

Many PL zooms are fine. I've fit nearly all the Optimos and some older Angenieuxs on Canons with my trusty Polish adapter (eBay seller ciecio7) and I love how they work there.
 
Last edited:
Not Leica "M" as it won't focus on a Canon body (But will on short BF mirrorless cams). The lenses are also expensive, even S/H as they are snapped up by collectors (*spits*)

Leica "R" glass will fit on most, but watch out for clearance problems with wide-angles on FF Canon. If you're not planning on FF then you're clear apart from the 21 f/3.4 Super-Angulon which won't fit on ANY Canon body, but should work on mirrorless.
 
Heads up the zeiss Leica M mounts are optically deferent. Stick with the Zeiss nikon mounts, they are called ZF.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top