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Features

Adapt These 3 Great Leica Lenses to Sony Cameras

Chris Gampat
No Comments
01/07/2022
3 Mins read
Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Sony a7c with Leica M lenses product images 21-4000s1600

It’s not every day that we think about adapting luxurious Leica lenses to Sony cameras. But the truth is that when you do, you get the best of two worlds. You get great, full-frame image quality with some of the best lenses money can buy. Of course, you don’t always need to dish out lots of money either. So in this round-up, we’re focusing on good Leica M-mount lenses that we’ve reviewed (and we’ve reviewed a ton). None of them are from Leica, and we’re mixing it up with affordable and mid-tier prices. Considering adapting Leica lenses to Sony cameras like the Sony a7c. We had a lot of fun doing that.

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The Phoblographer’s various product round-up features are done in-house. Our philosophy is simple: you wouldn’t get a Wagyu beef steak review from a lifelong vegetarian. And you wouldn’t get photography advice from someone who doesn’t touch the product. We only recommend gear that we’ve fully reviewed. If you’re wondering why your favorite product didn’t make the cut, there’s a chance it’s on another list. If we haven’t reviewed it, we won’t recommend it. This method keeps our lists packed with industry-leading knowledge. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Pro Tips on Adapting Leica Lenses to Sony Cameras

Here are some tips of adapting Leica lenses to Sony cameras:

  • Leica M-mount lenses come in all sizes and flavors. Here, we’re focusing on a few alternatives.
  • Make sure you get a good adapter for these. A cheap adapter can be a bit loose fitting and won’t give you optimal image quality. A good adapter will mean that your lens doesn’t shake.
  • Just because it’s a lens for Leica M-mount doesn’t meant that it’s going to be expensive. Only one lens in this roundup is over $1,000.
  • Use focus magnification; Sony’s focus peaking is notoriously bad.
  • Live a little; try shooting in black and white!

7Artisans 50mm f1.1

Why is it special?: The fact that it’s an f1.1 lens and there’s so little contrast will make this lens tough to focus. But if you have patience, you’ll be well rewarded when you nail the focus.

In our review, we state:

“Yup, there’s tons of bokeh here. The best bokeh from this lens obviously comes at f1.1 and when you’re focused closely to the subject. But given that this is a rangefinder lens, the closest focusing is around 3 feet. The bokeh is creamy, dreamy, gorgeous, there is so much to say about it that simply can’t be put into words. But in addition to that it’s also unlike any bokeh that I’ve seen before. Some say that this lens is a copy of a Voigtlander, but I’m not sure that I see that. Portrait photographers will surely be pleased here.”

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Zeiss 35mm f1.4 ZM

Why is it special?: The Zeiss 35mm f1.4 ZM has great build quality, but it also boasts sharp images while having a low contrast and that token Zeiss “pop” to the photos.

In our review, we state:

“The bokeh overall is very creamy and beautiful. I’d even call it cinematic. For that reason, both photographers and videographers alike will like what the Zeiss 35mm f1.4 ZM can do on a full frame sensor.”

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7Artisans 35mm f2

Why is it special?: The affordable price and the design being based on an older Leica lens is a great reason why you should pick this one up.

In our review, we state:

“The bokeh from the 7Artisans 35mm f2 is very nice to my eyes. It’s not what the f1.4 lenses that I’ve tested have, but it’s still very beautiful in its own way. This is partially due to the design and how subjects tend to bloom with light if they’re backlit. If you love bokeh, then you’re not going to really complain. Instead, you’re going to be more thrilled that you’ve got an affordable lens that can give you solid quality.”

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7Artisans 7Artisans 35mm f2 7Artisans 50mm f1.1 Bokeh image quality leica leica lenses leica lenses to sony cameras review sharpness sony Sony cameras zeiss Zeiss 35mm f1.4 Zeiss 35mm f1.4 ZM
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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