Using Nikon Rangefinder Lenses on Leica M Cameras

From the late 1940s through the 1950s, Leica, Contax, and Nikon were in serious competition in the interchangeable-lens 35mm rangefinder market. While Contax and Nikon rangefinders share the same physical lens mount, Nikon chose to use Leica’s registration distance (51.6mm) rather than Contax’s (52.4mm). As a result, all but the widest angle lenses were not quite compatible between the Contax and Nikon systems. While Nikon did produce a number of its S-mount lenses for the Leica M39 standard, Contax produced very few (usually just its 50mm f/1.5). Even back during the 1950s, there was interest in adapting native Nikon and Contax rangefinder lenses directly to M39, with two companies (Cooke in the UK and Orion in Japan) fabricating adapters in small quantities.

Four adapter options currently exist that permit rangefinder coupling of most (but not all) Nikon S-mount rangefinder lenses to the Leica standard.

Although these adapters are pretty great, some of the most desirable Nikon S-mount lenses are not compatible with them, not because of the adapter itself but because those lenses’ design interferes with a Leica’s rangefinder cam. Here is a compatibility chart of the adapters and Nikon S-mount lenses.

So why would you want to adapt Nikon S lenses to Leica? Well, for those invested in both systems, having an adapter would make sense. Furthermore, certain compatible lenses tend to be a little cheaper in Nikon mount than in M39, like the excellent 35mm f/2.5, the iconic 105mm f/2.5, and and the 50mm f/3.5 Micro Nikkor (if you can find one). If you have the 2000 version of the 50mm f/1.4 Olympic Nikkor, that provides a fast, capable, and affordable alternative to the Leica Summiluxes. Otherwise, because there are M39 versions of the compatible Nikon S lenses, one could just go that route.

The only major issue with the various Nikon S to Leica M adapters is that they will all bring up the 50mm frameline on a Leica body, regardless of the focal length of the adapted lens. Thus, if using a 35mm or 105mm Nikon lens, you would have to manually use the Leica frame preview lever for the appropriate frameline. This would obviously not be an issue on the Voigtlander Bessa M-mount cameras, as those cameras permit the manual selection of the framelines.

If using Nikon S lenses on a native Leica M body other than the 50mm models, a better choice may be the Amedeo M39 adapter. Not only will you be able to use compatible Nikon S lenses on all M39 camera bodies, but you can use the appropriate M39 to M adapter to bring up the correct frameline on a native Leica M body. If looking to adapt a variety of Nikon S lenses to Leica, the Amedeo M39 adapter may be the way to go.