GEAR TALK - Mamiya 645M 200mm F2.8 APO on the Leica M

Ever since the Leica M Typ 240 in 2013, I have been trying to find a lightweight 200mm lens that scaled nicely with the Leica and performed well. The search has spanned ~10 different lenses, ranging from the Olympus Zuiko 200mm F5 on the cheap side to the Voigtlander 180mm F4 SL on the expensive side. None of these have stuck, so that led to exploring the "not" lightweight options. One of those lenses includes the Mamiya 645M 200mm F2.8 APO (full review here).

Mounting the Mamiya 200mm F2.8 APO on a Leica M does not have to be expensive. Fotodiox makes a 645M lens adapter for the Canon EF, Nikon F, etc. So that adapter plus a corresponding Nikon F to Leica M adapter and mission accomplished. The downside of this stacked approach is the the Fotodiox's inherent level of crappiness. It is a poor design and physically failed, resulting in the lens falling off the adapter. Setting aside the build issues, a "stacked" adapter approach seldom works well optically, and there is no tripod foot (the Mamiya 200mm F2.8 APO weighs ~2.4 pounds).

So now onto the expensive option that doesn't leave your lens on the ground. Novoflex makes a very robust solution consisting of the Novoflex MAMRING (attaches to the lens) and the Novoflex LEMA (attaches to the MAMRING and mounts to the Leica M). For the tripod collar, Novoflex makes the ASTAT. The ASTAT NEX version comes with two plastic rings to work with Novoflex's NEX and Leica M adapters. Sadly, the included plastic rings do not fit the LEMA... one is too big, the other too small... of course. No problem, just wrap some paper around the LEMA tube and problem solved.

The first time out in the field, the paper slipped, the lens shifted, paper fell out and the camera/lens rig jammed up against the tripod collar... insert Charlie Brown sigh... Fortunately no damage, just frustration. After this learning experience, I decided to design a spacer. Autodesk offers a free, lightweight on-line version of their CAD program caller Tinkercad. Think of it as PowerPoint meets CAD.

With a digital micrometer in hand the basic design was finished in about 20 minutes. The inner lip (see the pictures to the right) keeps the spacer from sliding around on the LEMA tube. The MAMRING effectively locks the spacer in place. The outer lip ensures there is no way the tripod collar can slip off the spacer and jam against the Leica M body. The design was exported from Tinkercad as a STL file and uploaded to Shapeways.com and printed in their "Versatile Plastic". Cost was less than $20 per print (including shipping).

Odds are that I am probably the only person on this planet trying to use a Mamiya 200mm F2.8 APO on a Leica M, but just in case there is one other person out there, the spacer can be ordered at - Shapeways.com. Generally it takes them 3-4 days to complete the print.

Another way to mount the Mamiya 645M 200mm F2.8 APO is to attach the Novoflex MAMRING to the Novoflex LEA-R. The Novoflex LEA-R is the Leica R mount. From there the set-up can be attached to the Leica M using the Leica's R/M Adapter. The downside with this approach is that the lens is fixed in the landscape orientation. Also, we are stacking adapters again, but both Novoflex's and Leica's are of high quality, so probably not much issue in this case. Optically, I have noticed mechanical vignetting with this step-up, which is a pity because it really is a very solid set-up.

And if you are wondering how the Mamiya 200mm does on the Leica M, read more here - Mamiya 645M 200mm F2.8 APO Lens Review. Also, the recently added Mamiya 645M 300mm F2.8 APO Lens Review. And a full review of the Leica R/M lens adapter is available here. Finally, if all this sounds like crazy talk and way more than anything you would like to undertake, rest assured, the Leica 180mm F2.8 Elmarit-R APO is wickedly potent lenses - just try to get the 2nd version - 11357.