oregonfrank Loc: Astoria, Oregon

I have two questions which are related: First, to those have used both, how do Zeiss and Leica M lenses compare when used on a Nikon body (the Leica with an adapter)? Second, for Leica M lenses is IQ affected by whether they are mounted on a Leica body (e.g., an SL2) or on a Nikon body with an adapter (e.g., a D850)?

petrochemist Loc: UK

Leica M lenses will need optical elements in the adapter to use with a DSLR.
They should work well on the Z series.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Use them on mirrorless bodies with no additional glass, just an adapter that sets the flange distance correctly so the lenses can focus to infinity.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

I had several (too many) Zeiss lenses for my Nikon auto focus bodies. I sold them all because I had to Manual focus. If you do buy them make sure to get the model that shows you the dot when focus is achieved. ZF.2 lenses, not ZF lenses.
I am now a spoiled auto focusing brat that forgot how time consuming manual focusing was.
But, the images where grand. And so are my images from my prime, auto focusing 1.8 Nikon lenses. ie. 20, 24, 28, 35, 50,and especially the 85 1.8's.

JDefebaugh

Adapting either Leica M or Zeiss ZM lenses to Nikon or Canon can produce outstanding images if you are comfortable with manual focus; very high IQ. But, you must be careful about adapting any rangefinder lens that is wider that 50mm, as image IQ can suffer with corner smearing / softness and color casts (most Leica M and Zeiss ZM lenses wider than 50mm tend to suffer from this; 50mm and longer lenses typically work just fine). Lots of articles to google on this; many conclude that the Leica M Tri-Elmar 16-18-21 f/4 or the Voigtlander Ultron 21mm f/1.8 are the best choices. You can avoid this problem by adapting Leica R or Zeiss ZF lenses, which are lenses intended for 35mm cameras not rangefinder cameras. (And as previously pointed out, for Zeiss the ZF.2 lenses have a slight advantage over the ZF lenses.) The advantages of the Leica M and Zeiss ZM rangefinder lenses are size and weight, build quality, IQ (particularly if you like the “Leica look@), and the manual focus experience.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Leica M series lenses are rangefinder designs with a short flange to film/sensor distance (27.8mm). Because of that it is not practical to adapt them for use on a Nikon DSLR, which have longer flange to film/sensor distance. Doing so requires an adapter that uses optics,, and in this case a really strong one. Most of those adapters.... at lease the reasonably affordable ones... have crappy optics that will pretty much spoil the image quality of the lens.

I don't know about the Zeiss lenses. It really depends upon what they were made to work with originally. If they are similar rangefinder design, or even made for use on Leica M-series cameras, it's exactly the same problem. But if they are designed for SLR use, they might be usable without need for optics. However, that's not guaranteed. Nikon DSLRs/SLRs have one of the longest flange to film/sensor distances... 46.5mm. if memory serves. Most other SLR/DSLR mounts have a shorter flange to film/sensor distance, so even if the Zeiss lenses are designed for SLR/DSLR use, but it's not Nikon F-mount, optics still may be needed. The difference might not be very great, though.... some other mounts had 46mm, 45mm 44mm flange to film distances. Plus it may be possible to use the lens even though it's not able to focus all the way to infinity. With many large telephotos and very wide angle that aren't normally focused to infinity, this may not be a problem. It certainly wouldn't be an issue for macro lenses that are only being used for close-up work. Portrait lenses might be usable, too, at typical distances for that type of photography.

It's a different matter, if you are using a Nikon mirrorless camera. Any of the current Z-series use a very short flange to sensor distance, providing plenty of room to adapt a wide range of vintage, manual focus lenses without need for any image quality degrading "corrective optics". There are adapters that allow Leica M-mount lenses be used.

The lens being adapted (in most cases), must be manual focus. It also must have a mechanical means of setting the lens aperture, usually via a ring on the lens near the base. There will be no means of controlling an adapted lens' aperture from the camera or using autofocus. And, when you stop the lens down, it will actually stop down. With many lenses on their native system cameras, the aperture is maintained wide open until the very instant of exposure, when it stops down to a set aperture very briefly, then re-opens to facilitate focusing and composition. But when there is not communication between camera and lens controlling the aperture, that can't happen. So the lens actually stops down (but rangefinder lenses like M-series did that anyway... since focusing was not done through the lens or TTL).

One of the nice things about a mirrorless camera is that its electronic viewfinder can help by providing a brighter view even though the lens is stopped down, as well as offering manual focus assist features like "focus peaking". You may need to enable "exposure preview" on the camera, in order for it to brighten the viewfinder with a manually stopped down lens.

I don't know for certain, but you also will probably have to set any Z-series Nikon to "shoot without lens". This is necessary with many modern cameras that communicate with lenses electronically. They don't "recognize" the fully manual adapted lens when it's mounted and may try to prevent the shutter from releasing. Look in your user manual or camera menu.

Obviously you can use camera in fully manual "M" exposure mode, where you select the aperture (on the lens), set the shutter speed and choose the ISO. The exposure preview simulation and/or a live histogram can help you set a reasonably accurate exposure.

You also can use aperture priority auto exposure mode (A on Nikon and others, Av on Canon). In this mode you select the aperture (on the lens) and you choose the ISO, then the camera selects a shutter speed that it thinks will make for a correct exposure.

You also can get a form of auto exposure by selecting M and enabling Auto ISO. Here you set both the aperture (on the lens) and the shutter speed (on the camera), but leave it to the camera to choose an ISO that it thinks will make a correct exposure.

You CANNOT use shutter priority AE (S in Nikon and others, Tv in Canon). You also cannot use program AE (P). In these auto exposure modes the camera needs to be able to adjust the aperture, and it cannot do so with an adapted lens. Depending upon your camera model, you also may have pre-programmed "scene" modes such as "sports" or "landscape" or "portrait" and will need to avoid all of those, too. While using the adapted lens, also avoid any full "Auto" mode your camera might have.

You also will find some EXIF info missing that with a modern lens would normally be recorded and embedded in each image. With a vintage adapted lens you won't see the lens' manufacturer and model number, the focal length and max f-stop, or the f-stop that was selected or distance focused. If you need record of that info, with adapted vintage lenses you'll have to go "old school" and carry a notebook to make notes.

Vintage lenses can be fantastic to use on modern cameras. Obviously there are some limitations and it will probably be slower working with them, compared to using modern electronically controlled, autofocus lenses native to your camera. But it can be fun and breathe new life into great old glass, which often can be bought pretty cheaply (though I dunno about Leitz and Zeiss lenses... they might still be pretty pricey!)