Is it possible to use a PC lens (any brand) with a visoflex.

-- Jim Lennon (jim@jmlennon.com), March 27, 2002

Answers

When you put a lens without a removeable head on a viso, the viso effectively becomes a fancy extention tube that you can view through. The good news is that the further a lens is away from the film plane, the larger its image circle, so putting just about any lens on a viso will work, and specifically the image circle on the PC lens will be more than adequate to allow for complete adjustment. The bad news however is that you will have a limited focus range, and only be able to focus close-up with it. Cheers,

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), March 27, 2002.

Hello Jim,

the shortest lens which enables you to focus on infinity with the VISOFLEX is the 65 mm V-ELMAR. All other shorter lenses will only give you a close up picture, as has been said. The M-mount which the VISO has is so small in diameter, that I doubt you can find a PC lens for it. I couldnīt think of one.

Best wishes

-- K. G. Wolf (k.g.wolf@web.de), March 28, 2002.

You can get one of THESE adapters, and utilize available PC lenses from one of these systems on your M/Viso combo.

Cheers,

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), March 28, 2002.

Jack those adaptors are the right thickness for using the PC lens (such as the Nikkor) directly on an M (of course you'd have no way of visually guaging the PC shift). Mount it on a VISO and you'd have a PC Macro lens. Great for photographing one of those tiny replicas of the Empire State Building you can buy at the airport, but little else.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), March 28, 2002.

Would medium format PC lenses offer any possibilities?

-- Jim Lennon (jim@jmlennon.com), March 28, 2002.

I won't say I am an expert, but I don't think it can be done. Even if it was possible to mount a w/a PC lens on the viso the width of the adapter would mean, as Jay says, that they would be good only for close ups and infinity focus would not be possible. There is no Leica PC lens that can mount on any viso. One could mount a modern PC shift (including the Leica ones) lens on an M directly however using the Gandy adapters, but there is no way of previewing the effect, so it seems pointless. Are there any MF to viso adapters? I somehow doubt it. But even if there were (and they gave the right objective to film plane distance) an MF PC lens would not be very wide on the 35mm format and so of limited use for a 35mm camera. I think you can give up on this one!

-- Robin Smith (smith_robin@hotmail.com), March 28, 2002.

Jay and Robin: If you read my first response, you will see I already covered this aspect of using the Viso in this situation, but I am answering the gentleman's question. And hence, my second answer is in response KG's post...

So in summary, YES, it CAN be done, but the practicality of application will be of limited value.

:-),

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), March 28, 2002.

Jim. If you want to use a PC lens properly, you will have to buy the manufacturer's camera brand, although you do not have to buy an expensive camera. for example, I have the Canon 24/3.5L Tilt-Shift lens and a cheapo EOS body (any one will do, and the lens cannot autocus anyway). I think it was Jay who pointed out that even if you could adapt such a lens to a Visoflex, 65 mm is the longest focal length that can will focus to infinity on a Visoflex. Also, I'm just not sure you will get all of the movements built-into the lens, since it was designed to work off-axis with the camera bodies made by the manufacturers. Viso is a suitable way to go for macro and tele- photography (and there are many very long Leitz Viso lenses that are relatively cheap on the market). But it is not the way to go for PC lens photography.

-- Eliot (erosen@lij.edu), March 28, 2002.

delayed answer, so maybe no one will read it. I have done it, with tilt /shift as well, with an old Kopil bellows. But, for any sort of non-macro work, I am limited to 100-135 lenses, especially enlarging or large format lenses. Anyhting shorter, too macro, nad no 35 mm lenses (any rand, the 65 mm film to flange distance, plus adapter thickness, virtually rules it out. Should be able to use a medium format, I haven't. Agreed, buy a Canon (or something). Conversely, a LEica R makes a good visoflex replacement.

-- L Smith (lacsmith@bellsouth.net), March 29, 2002.