Re: The Temple of Emily Jo
EDIT: Sorry for the lame question: I would like to ask about good places to convert these lenses to M-mount, and do they really need to get converted when used with a G1? (I'll check the archives for the later question.)
Glad you liked the image. Re the conversion question, it's a little confusing because this lens was sold both in a photo version (which has a rangefinder coupling cam) and a TV version (which doesn't, although apparently some rangefinder-coupled ones got a "TV" placard stuck on them and were sold for TV use; mine is like this.)
If I understand all the ins and outs correctly,
both versions of the lens have a special breech mount that is NOT compatible with Leica M, Leica threadmount, or in fact any 35mm cameras except the Canon 7 and 7s, which had a matching external mount around their regular thread mount.
The TV versions were sold with a special rear "cap" which fitted the breech-lock flange and also functioned as a C-mount adapter. TV versions of the lens are often found with this cap/adapter, but check before buying as sometimes they go astray.
The photo version did not come with this cap/adapter -- but (if I understand correctly) if you can find the cap/adapter separately, you can put it on the photo version and then it will work on a C-mount.
Now, one thing I don't know about this option is whether either C-mount version will fit on the C-mount adapters that are available for the G1! These adapters are recessed into the lens mount, and because of that there are usually mechanical limitations on the diameter of lens that will fit. The 50/0.95 is a very fat lens, and I don't know if it will work on any extant C-mount adapter. Maybe someone else here does.
What I do know will work is to have the lens converted to Leica M mount, and then using it on the G1 via an M>µ4/3 adapter. That's how I use mine. There are various places that do the conversion; I'd have to look up the name of the tech who did mine, and I don't know how it compares to others, so I won't make a recommendation right now. Maybe others have some authoritative info.
Generally the process requires removing the Canon breech-lock flange and drilling holes in the lens to mount a Leica-type M bayonet (I supplied a donor screw-to-bayonet adapter to provide the mount for my conversion) so it's NOT totally reversible if you later decide you'd rather put your lens back into Canon 7 trim.
A point to consider: The main reason for having these lenses converted is that the Canon is about the only f/1-class lens that can be used on an M-mount camera and that isn't ridiculously expensive (as opposed to, say, the new Noctilux 50/0.95 at $10,000 a pop.)
However, since the G1 can also accept C-mount lenses, and there seem to be quite a few of these with maximum apertures in the f/1 range, you may also have other ultra-speed options to consider that do NOT require a non-reversible conversion!
