Photographer Hacks An EOS 5D Mark II To Mount Leica Lenses

Robert Benson, a photographer based in S. Diego, wanted to use his Leica Noctilux 50mm f/1 (around $6,500, ) lens. But he didn’t have a Leica for that purpose, so he decided to modify a Canon EOS 5D Mark III to mount Leica Lenses.

I modify 5dmk2 cameras and turn them into Leicas. But why? Here’s a little background: I have this $6500 exotic Noctilux 50mm f1 Leica lens, and didn’t have a camera to put it on. Couldn’t afford the M9 at the time, and wasn’t sure I wanted to afford it, so I decided to cut into a Canon 5dmk2 and modify it to accept Leica M lenses; all of them. I can do this modification for you.

He describes the procedure (isn’t that easy). R. Benson is doing this modification on your EOS 5D Mark II bodies if you want. He does everything (including getting an EOS 5D Mark II) for $2950

The modification isn’t easy; nearly impossible for the average person to do it. For modifications, the camera is completely dissasembled and the mirrorbox is stripped of its components and removed. The mirrorbox is then machined by a precision machinist – 30 years experience with hyper-minute detail – to the correct flange distance for Leica, 27.8mm.

The mirrorbox is reinforced with a two-part plexiglass frame. It is further reinforced with a 3mm thick piece of steel which serves as the lens mount. As a result, the mirrorbox is more durable than when it came out of the camera, and strong enough to hold even the weirdest, heaviest rangefinder lenses out there, from which there are hundreds. Everything is put back together by a factory trained camera technician.

Are you wondering which Leica lenses you can mount on the hacked EOS 5D Mark II?

It is custom modified to accept Leica rangefinder lenses and their equivalents. The camera has a 42mm or 39mm threaded mount – lenses – like all leica screwmount lenses, mount to the camera. If you want to use a bayonet M mount, you just use a screwmount flange, which I send with the modified camera. This goes in place of the bayonet mount on your lens(s).

There are sample images for you to check.

[Robert Benson via PetaPixel]