[Leica] Leica R lenses on Nikon bodies with the Leitex bayonet

[drodgers at casefarms.com (David Rodgers)]

Howard,

I'll be very interested to hear how the 19 R performs. I probably went
on more than I should have regarding the conversion. Personally, I was a
little nervous about the level of difficulty. But as I said, changing
the bayonet was pretty simple. 

It made me realize that Leica lenses are expensive for a reason. They
are extremely well machined. Plus the components are top quality. I
could feel quality just by removing the bayonet screws. I've worked on
industrial machinery enough to know that not all nuts and bolts are of
the same quality. I'm sure Leica only uses the best materials. And they
spare no expense in machining to very high standards. 

I've taken apart lenses that were broken, not to fix them but just to
see how they were made. Not Leica lenses (they never break :-) ) but
others brands. Leica lenses are special. Nothing compares, all things
are considered, IMHO. 

DaveR


-----Original Message-----
From: H&ECummer [mailto:cummer@netvigator.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 9:09 PM
To: lug@leica-users.org
Subject: [Leica] Leica R lenses on Nikon bodies with the Leitex bayonet

Dear David,
Thanks for your extensive report.
I am glad that the bayonet change was easy and trouble free. I have  
three bayonets in the mail and will be changing my 19 Elmarit Version  
1, my 90 Summicron and my old faithful 180 APO f3.4 as soon as the  
bayonets arrive.
Should be later this week. David Llado told me that ROM lenses may  
need special attention so I am holding off changing my 28 Elmarit ROM  
and 100 Elmarit APO Macro ROM until others have done it. The 100  
Elmarit also requires a 10 hole bayonet - not the 6 hole the other  
lenses use. I am most interested in the performance of my 19 Elmarit  
on the D700 and whether it will be suitable for panos. I think the  
mating of Leica R glass with the D700 is a marriage made in heaven -  
the best glass on a state of the art digital body with wonderful low  
light high ISO performance. The fact that you get focus confirmation  
is just icing on the cake.
I look forward to seeing some sample pictures. Mine will be up as soon  
as they are made.
Cheers
Howard