Close Focus adapter Tinray LM-NEX for Leica M mount lenses on A7

[Markoe]

Hi guys,

 

New to the forum here.

 

I wondered if anyone has tried the Tinray LM-NEX close focus adapter on their A7 body with M mount lenses?  I have a Voigtlander VM-E close focus adapter and it works great at $300+.  But the Tinray found on Ebay is $88.  Very tempting but only if it functions as designed.

 

Your experiences would be very much appreciated.

 

 

Cordially,

Markoe

California USA

[speclegacy]

I've been looking at getting one, myself. No experience with the Voigtlander, but looks like the Tinray is a straight copy, just maybe without the infinity lock

[Markoe]

I've been looking at getting one, myself. No experience with the Voigtlander, but looks like the Tinray is a straight copy, just maybe without the infinity lock

 

GAS took over so I ordered one. I'll let you know after I receive it, how it compares with Voigt. The Voigt is a great companion for M mount glass and brings in the close focus distance by about 1/3 from the original distance.  Works better on shorter focal lengths like 50 and below.  

[michaeloneworldproductions]

I ordered 3 of them.  The Tinray, The Leicaist and the all black no-name one from China.

 

The Tinray is very good. HEAVY with smooth operation.   I can not imagine the Voigtlander being much different.  Very nice. Works well.

 

The Leicaist. Is almost identical to the Tinray.  A tiny bit lighter.  The small button and many of the crews are black aluminum rather than silver steel.

Also good quality.  Both do have a tiny bit of lubrication evident in the inner slide points of the rings. Very minimal. I am not worried about contamination into the body.

 

The black no-name from China is a mixed bag.  MUCH LIGHTER.  Much less money.  I paid $29 vs $88 and $99 for the others.

The focus ring (helicoid) makes a sliding noise. Like a slight scraping hiss when turning. So it kills your buttery smoothness zen when using. BUT....it does the job.  Looks pretty good in black. Costs very little. and weighs next to nothing.   The other two are much better build quality but heavier and more expensive with smooth, dampened helicoids.

 

Hope this help!  Michael

[Markoe]

I ordered 3 of them.  The Tinray, The Leicaist and the all black no-name one from China.

 

The Tinray is very good. HEAVY with smooth operation.   I can not imagine the Voigtlander being much different.  Very nice. Works well.

 

The Leicaist. Is almost identical to the Tinray.  A tiny bit lighter.  The small button and many of the crews are black aluminum rather than silver steel.

Also good quality.  Both do have a tiny bit of lubrication evident in the inner slide points of the rings. Very minimal. I am not worried about contamination into the body.

 

The black no-name from China is a mixed bag.  MUCH LIGHTER.  Much less money.  I paid $29 vs $88 and $99 for the others.

The focus ring (helicoid) makes a sliding noise. Like a slight scraping hiss when turning. So it kills your buttery smoothness zen when using. BUT....it does the job.  Looks pretty good in black. Costs very little. and weighs next to nothing.   The other two are much better build quality but heavier and more expensive with smooth, dampened helicoids.

 

Hope this help!  Michael

Michael,

 

Thanks so much for your very informative response.  I've never heard of the Leicaist nor the all black third party one you mentioned.  Are you concerned about the scraping noise that may leave any dust particles near your sensor? Lastly, just curious what lenses you're using with these?

 

Again,thanks,

Markoe

[michaeloneworldproductions]

Hey Markoe

 

The scraping noise in the black inexpensive one is very minimal.  More like a shhhh noise. Like two pieces of flat aluminum touching each other on the flat side.

I am not worried about metal shavings. It seems very minor.  However, of course, I may be naive.

For $30 its damn good.

In-fact. I just traveled this week with only a photo backpack and small shoulder bag.  The weight of my backpack became too much when finally

loaded with Macbook, iPad and camera gear. (Sony a7sII and Sony a7R and 4 lenses) I chose the cheap black one to travel because it weighs nothing. (over the Tinrey and Leicast versions)

BTW  I do believe the Tinrey and Leicast are copies of the $300 Voigtlander.  All look identical.

 

LENSES used with the close focus Leica M to Sony E adapters.

I use the:

Zeiss ZM 21mm f4.5 which yields tremendous results in macro mode. Gorgeous and cool.

Voigtlander 40mm f1.4 Nokton  It makes a world of difference. I could not use this lens without it.  Better Bokeh. 

Voigtlander 15mm f4.5   I use it on this one the least.   I rarely want to be that wide and really close.  The foreground objects I like in a 15mm shot tend to be much larger and don;t need to be a few inches for that.

 

Hope this all helps.  Enjoy, Michael

[speclegacy]

I also decided on starting with one of the cheap ones. Works quite well, and feels very solid to me. Only annoyance is that the focus ring does not cover the whole circumference of the adapter, so about a quarter of the body can't be used for turning the focus. Hasn't actually been a huge deal, though.

[Markoe]

As promised, now that I've been using the Voigt close focus adapter and the Tinray (copy) I'm happy to say there is little to no difference in image quality or ease of use with either one. The only difference obviously is the price: Voigt at $307 and the Tinray at $89.  They look very similar except the Tinray does not have the name printed on the lens mount, hardly worth the extra $218 I paid over the Voigt. 

 

The only minor difference from my testing is the Tinray allowed me to focus slightly closer than the Voigt but this is insignificant for my purposes.  I'm happy with both and may check out the Leicaist that Michaeloneworldproductions noted above.

 

Lenses used for my testing: Zeiss Distagon 35mm f1.4 ZM, Leica 50mm Summicron, Leica 75mm Summirit and Leica 90mm Summicron.  

 

Thanks to all for your responses and shared experiences.

 

Now go out there and shoot!

[speclegacy]

Thanks for the report back! Does the Tinray have an infinity lock?

[Kilsort]

Got one of this just now. Mangospaceship appears a friendly seller. Anyways, that machine-oil-color lubricant (brown) looks potentially worrying. One drop and the sensor would be a goner I think judging by how much trouble a repair shop had with a spot of saliva on an A6k sensor. No reason for it to drip unless put in an oven with the lens pointing up, or..?

 

Intend to use it with a Jupiter 8. And haha for the Leica lens cap included.

 

Edit. Infinity lock commin with Leica bayonet or what? I have never heard of an infinity lock.

 

The tactile feedback of this Tinray is nice but it leaves the starting position somewhat reluctantly and with a wet, sucking sound. Machine oil ..worry or worry not? Just got this A7 and while it doesn't have the heartbeat shutter of the XD7 is is for lack of a better word "sympathetic".

[Cine4Production]

I have got the Leicaist myself and used it with the minolta m-rokkor 40mm f2 and 28mm f2.8.

 

The sharpness looks great for what it is but the vignetting on the 28mm looks quite strong.

 

 

 

 

 

With close focus enabled

 

 

 

Posted a basic review test on youtube before:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZLdPGJ3EZU