sm-02-04-26

A Weekly Column By Mike Johnston
Kustomizing Kameras
Photographers know that there are two kinds of screwmount‚ Leica (39mm) and Pentax (42mm, and actually a German invention despite its name). The advantage of screwmount lens mounting is interchangeability‚ it allows you to use one make of lens on another make of camera.
Before the advent of the Leica M3 in 1953 (and for a short time thereafter, on the IIIg), small-format photographers mixed and matched screwmount lenses with freedom. During and after the Korean War, for instance, it was fashionable to use Nippon Kogaku's impressive new Nikkor lenses on Leica bodies. It put Nikon on the map.
As photographers work to tailor their equipment kits to their own specific tastes and uses, the temptation to use one kind of lens on another kind of camera has remained strong for some photographers. Not every lens line provides everything we want or need, and sometimes a situation may exist where a superior lensmaker provides limited or ...