Leica Super Angulon on Nikon Z

[Martin Kellermann]

Hi All,
I have recently purchased a Leica M lens adapter to Nikon Z for my Z7. The 35mm and longer focal lengths Leica M lenses are not a problem to adapt, plenty room to spare between the back of the lens and the Z7 shutter mechanism. I also have a Super Angulon 21mm/f3,4 that has only about 8mm space between the back of the lens and the sensor/film when focussed to infinity. The Z7 shutter mechanism is fairly "thick" - the front "curtain" is quite far away from the sensor. Does anyone have experience whether the shutter clears the back of the Super Angulon, or will it snag and damage the shutter when operated? Thanks for any feedback. Kind regards, Martin

[Birna Rørslett]

I haven't got that lens myself. However, the CV 21mm f/4 is a non-retrofocus design for Nikon S (RF) mount and extends almost to touch the shutter curtains. No issue encountered, though.

[Akira]

Rayqual, a Japanese manufacturer of various mount adapters warns that the rear elements of Super Antulons 21/4.0 and 21/3.4 hit the shutter curtain and advises users not to use it on Nikon Z cameras via LM-NZ (Leica M to Nikon Z adapter):

http://www.rayqual.com/NikonZ.html

(Sorry, the texts are all in Japanese.)

Basically Rayqual advises the user to refrain from mounting either 21mm Super Angulons on any mirrorless bodies via the Leica M mount adapters.

[Martin Kellermann]

Thanks very much for the feedback - would have been nice to try the lens. I saw that Leica also warns against the use of the lens on the Leica SL via their own adaptor, and the shutter mechanism of the Z7 and Leica SL are probably not too different in dimensions. Martin

[Birna Rørslett]

Not mentioned so far is the sad fact these non-retrofocus wide-angle designs, harking back to the film era,  *will* lead to severe vignetting, spherical and chromatic aberrations and/or colour smearing towards the periphery of the frame on a digital camera. Expect loss of corner sharpness as well.

The wide retrofocus designs tend to behave better, however only lenses specifically made for digital cameras might be optimised for combating the issues mentioned above.

[Martin Kellermann]

All of the above are well understood - but it would have been nice just to use the Leica Super Angulon because of its sheer mechanical excellence. Martin