Autofocus for Leica M rangefinder lenses? Now it is possible (on Nikon Z bodies)

Source: HW Upgrade added 05th Nov 2020

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by Roberto Colombo, published on

?? Megadap MTZ 11 allows you to use Leica M lenses with autofocus on Nikon Z bodies: there are also several additional mounts for other manual lenses, such as L 39, M 42, Canon FD, Minolta MD, Olympys OM, C / Y, Pentax K ??

Many of us have a good number of lenses in the closet, some of them belonging to old fully manual analogue reflex systems . Through adapters it is easy to use them on current mirrorless bodies, also thanks to the presence of the focus peaking , which makes manual focusing a simple and fairly precise operation.

Done now used to the very fast autofocus systems that today equip cameras, for many it is not the best to return to manual focus and many photographers would like to goat and cabbage, being able to use the old digital lenses using autofocus.

The good news is that the diverse world of adapters also offers this possibility. In particular, an interesting novelty is represented by Megadap MTZ 11 Leica M / Nikon Z Autofocus Adapter , available with several additional mounts for other manual lenses, L 39, M 42, Canon FD, Minolta MD, Olympys OM, C / Y, Pentax K.

The concept is simple: the adapter is active and motorized and to focus the distance between the lens and the sensor varies . Communicating with the camera body, the adapter takes advantage of the hybrid phase / contrast focus and moves the lens to the point where the image is in focus, with an extension of 6.5 mm, which according to the manufacturer covers the needs of most lenses.

The adapter supports all focus modes, AF-S, AF-C, AF-F and even more advanced modes such as Face Detection and Eye-AF and can be exploited on all Z: Z series bodies 50, Nikon Z5, Nikon Z6, Nikon Z6 II, Nikon Z7, Nikon Z7 II.

The adapter has a cost of 349 $ and to have the additional adapters for the other couplings it is necessary to add 50 $ each.