A Look at the Metabones Leica M Lens to L Adapter

A Look at the Metabones Leica M Lens to L Adapter:

I know no one really reviews an adapter but I had the opportunity to give the Metabones Leica M Lens to L Adapter a try, and I figure this is a blog where I do talk about the Leica L mount quite a bit, so I might as well write up a short review (if you can even call it that) about my experience with this adapter.  I currently own the Leica M-Adapter L, which is great but I definitely don’t remember paying $450 for it when I first bought it haha.  As I said, It’s an excellent adapter, and I’ve owned it since I bought my SL a long time ago (I’m with the SL2 now) but I was just curious about one that maybe isn’t priced so high.  For those just getting into the L mount system whether it’s through a Leica, Sigma, Panasonic system or a combination of the three, $450 can be a lot to spend in addition to whatever lenses one might need.  If you think about it, you can buy a lens for that price.  So, that’s how I ended up giving this adapter a try.

The Leica M to L Adapter is actually the first Metabones product that I have used.  It comes in a pretty large hard plastic case, and all you get is the adapter.  The adapter feels very solid, and it should since it’s made out of precision crafted brass, and given a chromium plating.  I didn’t have any flexing or loose parts with my copy.  I did not use it with my SL2, since I didn’t have it at the time.  Instead, I was using it with a Panasonic S5, an S1, and a Sigma fp L, since those were the cameras I was reviewing at the time.

↑ The Metabones Leica M Lens to L Adapter comes with a hard plastic case.

↑ Here’s the Panasonic S1 with the VM mount Voigtlander APO-LANTHAR 35mm f2 Aspherical lens attached.

On all the cameras I’ve tried with it, I always had a nice, tight fit.  I didn’t experience any play, and it mounted smoothly on each camera every time.  I used the Metabones Leica M Lens to L Adapter quite a bit too, and I also had it for a long time; in fact, I used it with the S1 more than I used my native L mount lenses.  I mainly used the Voigtlander APO-LANTHAR 35mm f2 Aspherical that I was reviewing at the time, and also a couple of my own M lenses.  It worked great with all the lenses that I tried with it.

↑ Here’s a photo taken with the APO-LANTHAR 35mm f2 Aspherical, and the S1 that I took at f2 with 100 ISO.

↑ This was taken with the S1 and Leica Summicron-M 50mm f2 ASPH at f2 with 100 ISO.

↑ This was taken in Chinatown with the Sigma fp L, and the APO LANTHAR 35mm f2 ASPH set at f5.6.  500 ISO was used.

There are just two things to keep in mind.  One is there’s no sensor for 6-bit coded lenses, and at least for me, I wish it came with caps for both sides of the mount.  The hard case it comes with looks cool when you first see it but it’s huge, and something I definitely don’t like carrying around.  I think caps would be better just to keep the dust to a minimum when transporting the adapter in my bag.  The Leica version does come with caps for both sides of the adapter.  However, both these issues are even really concerning to me, especially when you consider this adapter costs $89.

↑ This was taken with the Voigtlander APO-LANTHAR 35mm f2 Aspherical, and S1 right on Canal Street with my lens set at f8.  I used 125 ISO.

↑ This was taken around Chinatown using f11 and 500 ISO.  The camera was the S1, and the lens was the APO-LANTHAR 35mm f2 ASPH.

↑ This was taken with the S1, and Voigtlander APO-LANTHAR 35mm f2 Aspherical, while I was walking around downtown.  The settings were 2500 ISO and f5.6.

So, if you’re already invested in the L mount system, and thinking about trying some M mount lenses with your L mount camera, the Metabones Leica M to L Adapter might be a nice option for you to consider.  The copy I was using was well made, and worked great with the cameras that I tried with it.  The price also makes it quite attractive.