Thread: Leica Visoflex

Hi, I was reading on the 43rumors recently about using the leica visoflex on a G1. I wondered if anyone had tried it and had sample images or any advice about how to use it. Will it only accept leica mount lenses or is there an adaptor available to change that to micro43 (or even 4/3or nikon f lenses). On another note is there any further news of the olympus optical view finder for micro43.

Regarding the Leica Visoflex, here are some links:
das erste Mal - oder mein neuer Freund - Seite 4 - Systemkamera Forum
Visoflex on Micro 4/3 ! - Rangefinderforum.com

The images on 43rumors were made by Olybold who registered in this forum today:
View Profile: Olybold - MirrorlessForum

Some more Adapter Stuff
Elmar 3,5/65mm ohne Visoflex an der G1 - Systemkamera Forum

looks quite a palaver with the release arm not locking with the shutter button on the GF1 (or i assume my G1) might give it a miss for now and live with the evf its rare that i find it hard to focus anyway. Might look into the LED focus assist lamp that somebody had made a prototype of.

It makes no sense to use an original Leica Visoflex with a µFT-Camera. Because the µFT-Cameras have good Viewer/Displays. If you use the Visoflex, you have to move the mirror by hand befor you can take the picture. Notice that the flange focal distance of the combination is much bigger than µFT/FT/Leica-M an others.

I made the pictures of the combination you have seen at 43rumors only to demonstrate the patent.

The front mount of the Visoflex is Leica-M-Mount, but not with the flange focus distance of Leica-M .

Originally Posted by jamiefrew

Hi, I was reading on the 43rumors recently about using the leica visoflex on a G1. I wondered if anyone had tried it and had sample images or any advice about how to use it. Will it only accept leica mount lenses or is there an adaptor available to change that to micro43 (or even 4/3or nikon f lenses). On another note is there any further news of the olympus optical view finder for micro43.

I have tried using a Visoflex and bellows with my G1 as follows:

This lens was salvaged from a Crosfield or Fujifilm Electronic Imaging drum scanner in 1999 when scrap parts were sold to the factory staff.



Crosfield Electronics Ltd, based in Peterborough UK, was a pioneering drum scanner design company and reputedly manufactured the world's finest digital scanners ... Crosfield & Fuji Drum Scanners, Magnascan & Celsis & Lanovia. The lens which has an LTM 39mm mount has been in my box of oddments for the last 10 years. I have previously used it with film years ago when I made some Waterhouse stops and obtained reasonable results ... for this experiment I wanted to see the results at full aperture.

Apparatus used was an ancient Leitz bellows via an LTM to M adaptor plus an M Visoflex and Leica M to μ4/3 adaptor enabling use with the Panasonic G1. The lens would have been designed with flat field as a priority. Lens' focal length and aperture are unknown.



This was the first time I'd tried this set-up and focusing was achieved via the Leitz Visoflex and also via the Panasonic G1 LCD screen using the 'manual focus assist' function which magnifies any designated part of the image ... but the set-up was rather wobbly. Shutter was operated via a remote release.

Subject chosen was a 2 pence coin. This was very much a Q&D exercise just to see if the lens has some potential and so far I'm quite pleased with the results. Pix are not cropped and were taken using failing natural light late in the afternoon using auto white balance at 100 ISO



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Lens' exit and entrance pupils are both the same diameter so no point in trying to reverse the lens. The bellows plus Manfrotto slide was not as stable as anticipated but the image seems quite sharp at the edges ... but bear in mind this is on 4/3 format.

The Viso worked fine with the G1 but it was easier to use the G1's live view screen ... especially with the selective magnification function.

Magnifications used in two of the above photos have been estimated by measuring the actual parts of the coin illustrated in the photos and comparing them to the sensor width (18mm) and the sensor diagonal (22.5mm).

In the '2007' close up photo, magnification is 2.8x or 2.8:1 ... and for the Crown (below the Prince of Wales' Feathers) photo, the magnification is 3.6x or 3.6:1 .

If I knew the actual bellows length I could calculate the focal length ... At a guess and from memory, the bellows extension was approx. 200mm for the 3.6x mag. photo which equates to a focal length of 200/3.6 =55mm .. but this requires confirmation with actual bellows length measurement.

Regarding the lens aperture I'm not sure how to ascertain this but at a guess it could be f2.8 max or f4 minimum ... or somewhere between the two.

dunk

The G1 already has direct focusing, so why add a mechanical reflex housing? In any event, there are visoflexes which are strictly Leica screw mount, and visoflexes that are M-Mount. With a Leica adapter, you can mount any Leica screw to any Leica M mount, but not visa-versa. So to mount the visoflex, you would first need a micro 4/3 adapter for M-mount lenses, and then if your Visoflex is screw-mount, you also need Leica's screw-to-M mount as well. Short answer: get a Visoflex with M-Mounts, and micro 4/3 adapter to M-Mount.

Keep in mind that with any lens not built strictly for the Visoflex, you will likely end up having very close focusing only. If the lens has no focusing helix, then you will need a Visoflex focusing helix or bellows.

IOW - pain in the butt and good only for macro work, really. I'd not even bother with any of the Leica visoflex lenses for macro work - you can get better lenses far cheaper today.