Best Canon lenses for Leica cameras?
Have you ever wondered about mounting Canon lenses on your Leica camera? Is it even possible? In this article I’ll cover Canon lenses for Leica cameras and share YouTube reviews for individual lenses and example photos from my Leica cameras.
In search of the best Canon lenses for Leica cameras, I include many Canon LTM lenses, a few Canon EF autofocus lenses and give Canon FD lenses a mention. Warning – Not all Canon lenses are ideal for all Leica cameras so let’s cover that first.
First time here? Get your Perks!
What Leica camera do you use?
So firstly, depending on which Leica camera you own will determine which Canon lenses you can use with your camera (via the correct lens adapters). Here is a quick summary:
- Leica SL cameras – Canon LTM, Canon FD, Canon EF
- Leica CL camera – Canon LTM, Canon FD, Canon EF
- Leica M digital cameras – Canon LTM (via rangefinder) + Canon FD (via LiveView)
- Leica M film cameras – Canon LTM (via rangefinder)
- Leica iii cameras – Canon LTM lenses only
- Leica R cameras – N/A
Small print*
This article is not a deep dive on every Canon lens ever made. My experience is limited to the Canon lenses I’ve used so the focus of this post covers vintage Canon LTM lenses (in detail), a few Canon EF lenses, plus a brief overview of Canon FD lenses.
*If you looking for detailed info on the best Canon FD lenses this is not the right place. Instead try the excellent mir.com website.
Can you focus Canon lenses on Leica M cameras?
Some Canon lenses are better suited to Leica M cameras than others. Canon started making Leica screw mount lenses for their Canon rangefinder cameras in the early 1950s. Early copies of these lenses are often marked “Serenar” and later “Canon” and these are called LTM/L39/M39 or Leica screw mount lenses.
Canon LTM lenses work seamlessly with Leica M cameras (all – film and digital) and Leica iii cameras. To mount LTM lenses to M mount you just need a LTM-M adapter ring.
Best vintage Canon LTM lenses
Canon made a huge range of Canon LTM lenses for their Canon screw mount cameras during the 1950s to the 1970s. Wide lenses, normal lenses, telephoto lenses and even exotic ultra-fast lenses.
Let’s give some of these vintage Canon LTM lenses a mention and where applicable i’ll include sample images and related YouTube videos. Scroll down for full videos and sample images for individual lenses. First, here is a summary of 4 Canon LTM lenses to give you a quick overview.
Canon 25mm f3.5 LTM
Of all the Canon LTM lenses I’ve owned the smallest and one of the most beautiful was the Canon 25mm f3.5 LTM lens. It’s like a jewel on your camera. The centre of the image can be reasonably sharp but I found the edges a bit too soft for my taste so I sold it. In hindsight, I wish I’d kept it to use on my APS-C Leica CL camera (as APS-C crops in to only use the central portion of the image circle).
I feature the Canon 25mm f3.5 LTM lens in the Canon 28mm f2.8 LTM lens YouTube video below so see that for a visual.
The following photos were shot use a Leica iii camera in Gdansk, Poland. I think I was on a morning run so the Canon 25mm f3.5 LTM lens was the small perfect size.
Canon 28mm f2.8 LTM
A lens that I still own is the sibling to the 25mm lens above, the Canon 28mm f2.8 LTM. For me the 28mm lens is more useful with better edge sharpness and a slightly faster maximum aperture. The 28mm lens is also more affordable (perhaps 50% cheaper).
First here are a few film scans using the 28mm lens on a Leica CL (film camera) and Leica iii cameras –
Small Canon LTM lenses
Ultra-small rangefinder lenses like the Canon 28mm f2.8 LTM (and 25mm) are ideal on smaller cameras. I often use 28mm on my APS-C Leica CL camera where the 1.5x crop gives me the equivalent of 42mm (which is pretty much perfect for everything, whether portraits or travel photography).
These are sample photos using the Canon 28mm f2.8 LTM on the APS-C Leica CL –
Canon 35mm f1.8 LTM
Another super small Canon lens is the little Canon 35mm f1.8 LTM which I enjoyed on both film and digital cameras. The small size and fast aperture was very appealing to me but I eventually sold it as I bought other fast 35mm lenses.
For film the Canon 35mm f1.8 LTM was a bit too soft shot wide open but you can still use it to capture great images. Here are a few film scans shot with a Leica M2 and a Voigtlander Bessa R (First photo show a model holding my setup – taken with a different camera*)
Leica CL + Canon 35mm f1.8 LTM
For digital photos, the compact Canon 35mm f1.8 LTM was a perfect pairing for the small APS-C Leica CL for portraits (giving me around 52mm equivalent with the 1.5x crop). I sold the lens due to the softness but in hindsight, again I wish I’d kept it as it was perfect for female portraits on the digital Leica CL. Here are a few digital examples –
Canon 35mm f2 LTM
Perhaps the most popular Canon 35mm LTM lens is the highly regarded Canon 35mm f2 LTM. This is a lens I bought twice but both times it was returned for various reasons. As I already owned the Canon 35mm f1.8 LTM it seemed unnecessary to own both. I don’t have sample photos but I wanted to give it a mention.
Canon 35mm f2.8 LTM
A lens I bought together with a camera (as a bundle) was the Canon 35mm f2.8 LTM lens. Size wise it was about the same as the Canon 35mm f1.8 LTM and with both lenses shot at f2.8 the performance was similar too. Again it made no sense to keep this lens as I already had the f1.8 so again no example photos, sorry.
Canon 50mm f1.8 LTM
OK onto 50mm lenses. The first is I think the smallest, lightest and most affordable of the Canon 50mm LTM lenses. This is the Canon 50mm f1.8 LTM which can often been seen on eBay for as little as £100. Warning – this lens commonly suffers from lens haze (and it’s hard to fix / clean it out) so try to get a clean copy.
I own 2 copies of this lens as my first copy developed haze over a number of years. (Note – haze is only a big issue when you shoot towards the light. It reduces contrast and results in veiling flare). I knew this lens can be an excellent performer, even shot wide open on film at f1.8 so I bought another copy.
These are film scans shooting the Canon 50mm f1.8 LTM on various film cameras –
Here are a few example photos using the Canon 50mm f1.8 LTM on digital Leica cameras (both full frame and APS-C). I’ll be honest, the lens was normally glued to my film cameras so it didn’t have much time on the digital bodies.
Canon 50mm f1.4 LTM
Next we have another popular lens in the Canon LTM lens line-up, the Canon 50mm f1.4 LTM. The f1.4 is slightly larger (and heavier) than the mentioned f1.8 LTM and not as super sharp wide open. Stopped down to f2 this lens is great on film for sharp eyes (or wide open for a more dreamy look).
Here are a few example photos using the Canon 50mm f1.4 LTM on various film cameras including the Canon Model 7, Leica M3 and Leica iif. (The first image was captured with my Nikon FM2 film camera and shows the lens on my Leica iif).
Canon LTM lenses on digital – 50mm f1.4
For digital use I use the Canon 50mm f1.4 LTM wide open for portraits –
Canon 50mm f1.2 LTM
Next up we have another sibling lens, the slightly larger and faster Canon 50mm f1.2 LTM. Compared to the other mentioned 50s, shot wide open the 50mm f1.2 gives you the most dreamy look (aka. is the softest), but it’s fantastic wide open for digital portraits. Let’s look at digital example photos first –
90yr old Leica camera + Canon 50mm f1.2 LTM
For film I first paired the Canon 50mm f1.2 LTM with my black paint ~90 year old Leica iii (Model F). The lens is so big it block part of the viewfinder but it looks cool so I didn’t mind.
Interesting, I’ve found the Canon 50mm f1.2 LTM more accurate (in terms of calibration shot wide open) on my various Leica iii cameras compared to my Leica M film cameras (and I’ve tested multiple camera bodies).
Here you can see a few film selfies that show the lens sharpness wide open at 1m, plus another example image. See more sample photos in the YouTube video.
Canon 50mm f0.95 “Dream Lens”
The Canon 50mm f0.95 “Dream Lens” as is called is a bit different to all others mentioned above as this is not a LTM lens. The Dream Lens was released in 1961 with its own special proprietary 3-lug bayonet mount (designed exclusively for the Canon 7 and 7s rangefinder cameras).
This lens is commonly adapted to Leica M mount and one of my Leica workshop students let me test their lens. See a few sample photos below and more in the Dream Lens YouTube video. For me the lens is a bit too soft so I think the 50mm f1.2 LTM would be the sweet spot for most people (and much cheaper!)
Canon 85mm f1.9 LTM
One of the most popular Canon LTM lenses for portraits is the Canon 85mm f1.9 LTM. My Patreon buddy Rex loves his copy but it’s not a lens I’ve tried so far. The 85mm is quite a solid heavyweight lens so less ideal for my overseas photoshoots, but I wanted to give it a mention.
Canon 100mm f3.5 LTM
My newest purchase is the formerly overlooked Canon 100mm f3.5 LTM lens. This lens has won my heart and it ticks so many boxes for me. The optical performance is fantastic from wide open, it’s ultralight and compact and it’s fast become my favourite telephoto lens for trips.
See these sample images below using the Canon 100mm 3.5 LTM on Leica digital cameras –
Canon rangefinder lenses on Leica cameras
If you’ve just bought a Leica camera and your on a budget, Canon LTM lenses can be an affordable alternative to Leica lenses to get you started. Prices vary widely between the different mentioned lenses but you can find used Canon lenses on eBay from as little as £100 (with perhaps the Canon 50mm f1.8 LTM being one of the cheapest).
Best Canon LTM lenses for travel?
If you often live out a suitcase or backpack like me, what would be my go-to Canon LTM lenses for travel? Of all the mentioned lenses my personal trio would be the Canon 28mm f2.8 LTM for wides, Canon 50mm f1.8 LTM for low light and portraits and the Canon 100mm f3.5 LTM for compression and more reach.
All 3 screw mount lenses can be paired with a small Leica iii camera (or if you want a lightmeter something like the lightweight Voigtlander Bessa R screw mount camera) (as shown below).
The Canon 25mm and 35mm f1.8 LTM are small but they were a bit too soft wide open. If you like 35mm perhaps go for the 35mm f2 LTM instead.
Canon LTM cameras
So we’ve covered Canon LTM lenses but what about Canon LTM cameras? Canon made the above mentioned lenses for their own Canon rangefinder cameras, not for us Leica folk.
Some of the popular Canon rangefinder cameras you might hear of include the Canon P and Canon Model 7. I owned and sold the Model 7 (see it below) and I own a Canon L3 which is a Leica III clone with the advantage of both 35mm and 50mm framing (plus easy film loading with a removable back).
Add character to your images with vintage lenses
Vintage Canon lenses (or vintage lenses from other brands) should not be seen as merely a “cheaper alternative” to new Voigtlander or Leica lenses. Old glass is often more desirable thanks to the added character gained from using vintage glass.
Modern lenses are getting so perfect that the image can look sterile. To add some imperfections treat yourself to a vintage lens – Canon or otherwise.
Slightly off topic for this article – this video on the vintage 1930s Zeiss Sonnar lens really sums up why some photographers (including myself) love vintage glass.
Canon SLR lenses
So far we’ve covered Canon rangefinder lenses but if you ask most photographers, they’d likely say that Canon is best known for SLR lenses. Let’s cover those next.
Different Canon SLR lens mounts
In simple terms, Canon made SLR lenses in two different mounts – Canon FD lenses (manual focus) and Canon EF lenses (autofocus). (There are also Canon EF-S lenses which are APS-C lenses for crop sensor Canon cameras, the same as Nikkor DX lenses for Nikon crop sensor cameras like the Nikon D90 I used to own in my early days).
Canon FD lenses
Following the Canon rangefinder cameras came Canon SLR cameras. The first Canon SLR camera was the Canon F-1 in 1971. With the Canon F-1 came the Canon FD mount and FD lenses. All Canon FD lenses are manual focus only SLR lenses designed for Canon FD mount cameras.
You can easily adapt 1970s Canon FD lenses to the mirrorless Leica SL and CL cameras (and other mirrorless camera brands) with a FD – L adapter. This is not something I’ve tried as I don’t own any Canon FD lenses.
Nikon equivalent of Canon FD lenses?
As an ex-Nikon guy it’s easy for me to think of Canon FD lenses as manual focus Nikkor AIS lenses from the same period. Again you can adapt these Nikon F mount lenses to Leica cameras in the same way as FD lenses. Here is an example photo using a Nikkor 50mm f1.2 AIS lens on my Leica SL2-S.
Canon FD mount cameras
Popular Canon SLR cameras with FD mount include the mentioned Canon F-1 plus favourites like the Canon A-1 and Canon AE/ AE-1 Program. The last professional Canon FD mount camera to be made was the Canon T90. If you’re a Nikon guy these are the equivalent to cameras like the Nikon FM2 / FE2 etc that I use.
Canon EF lenses
After 16 years of the manual focus Canon FD lenses, in 1987 it was all change. Canon released their new Canon EF autofocus lenses which now had electronic contacts and a wider diameter to support larger lenses. The wider diameter allowed Canon to make the autofocus Canon 50mm f1.2 and 85mm f1.2 EF lenses that were unmatched during that period.
*Nikon had the manual focus 50mm f1.2 AIS but the more narrow Nikon F mount design meant they were unable to make an autofocus version. In Nikon terms, Canon EF lenses are perhaps the equivalent of Nikkor AF series lenses which replaced the earlier Nikkor AIS lenses).
Sigma Canon EF to L mount adapter
If you want to mount Canon EF lenses on your mirrorless L mount camera (whether Leica or Lumix) then Sigma made the adapter you need. After making my Canon lens YouTube video, the feedback from viewers was Sigma EF – L adapters don’t work on the Leica CL / TL series cameras nor the Leica SL Typ 601. It does however work on later SL series cameras and Lumix cameras (the ones we tried at least).
Autofocus Canon lenses for Leica camera
Using the Sigma EF – L adapter with my Leica SL2-S I was able to use L series Canon autofocus lenses for a photoshoot. This might not sound exciting until you remember that Canon made some ultra-fast glass which is ideal for portraits. Leica never made an 85mm f1.2 lens for example. Let’s cover the two Canon EF lenses I borrowed from my student for the YouTube video.
Canon 50mm f1.0 EF on Leica
Leica made their Leica Noctilux 50mm f1.0 lenses but the advantage of the Canon 50mm f1.0 EF is two fold. First the price. It’s not cheap being an exotic and limited production lens but the Canon 50mm f1.0 is still less than half the cost of a used Leica Noctilux lens with the same maximum aperture.
Second, the Canon lens gives you autofocus so if your eyesight is not as good as it used to be, you will likely get more keepers using the Canon lens over the Noctilux.
Canon 50mm f1.2 EF on Leica
Canon also made a smaller more affordable sibling to the monster Canon 50mm f1 lens, the Canon 50mm f1.2 EF. The f1.2 version costs around 4x less than the 50mm f1.0 EF and is a nicer size and weight for regular use. I didn’t see a huge difference optically between the Canon f1 and f1.2 lenses but i’ll share a few samples below and you decide.
If you’re a fellow Leica nut you’ll know that Leica also made a 50mm f1.2 lens, aka. the Leica Noctilux 50mm f1.2 1966. (This lens was later made by Light Lens Lab and that’s the lens you see in the YouTube video).
What about Canon RF lenses
In September 2018 Canon announced the Canon EOS R camera and with it their new lens mount. Like other camera brands, Canon dumped their SLR camera design in favour of mirrorless. The new Canon mirrorless cameras have the new Canon RF mount which replaces Canon EF mount.
Canon users can still adapt their older Canon EF mount lenses to mirrorless Canon RF mount cameras via an EF – EOS R adapter, such as the Canon R5 that I reviewed.
Canon RF lenses on Leica
Sadly you can’t adapt modern Canon RF lenses to Leica cameras as RF lenses are not compatible with L mount. The same is true with Nikon Z lenses. Those also can’t be adapted to Leica L mount.
Leica vs Canon
In this article we are talking about lenses but if you want to see if the camera sensor is important check out my Canon vs Leica Camera shoot out videos.
Best Canon cameras?
I’m not an expert (at all) when it comes to Canon cameras but some of my Patreon are big Canon users (in addition to Leica cameras). To see more Canon camera content check out my Patreon buddies Tobi (in photo below) and Rex on Substack. (For daily posts follow me on Substack).
Universal Leica M mount
When buying modern manual focus lenses from brands like Cosina Voigtlander, it makes sense to buy everything in Leica M mount. Why? Because Leica M mount is a universal mount and lenses can be adapted to almost any camera.
The fact that Leica M mount has remained unchanged since the debut of the Leica M3 in 1954 (the first Leica M camera) means you can fit all M mount lenses (new and old) to both native Leica M mount cameras (whether Leica M film cameras, Leica M digital cameras, Voigtlander Bessa cameras (those with M mount), Zeiss Ikon, Hexar RF, Minolta CLE) plus via M adapters to all the mirrorless cameras (any brand).
For me it makes zero sense to buy a Nikon Z mount version of a Voigtlander prime lens (such as my favourite Voigtlander Nokton 75mm f1.5) because if you then change camera system you need to buy new lenses too.
Leica M mount is king
For me, when I buy lenses I always try to buy Leica M mount (or even better Leica screw mount / LTM such as the brand new Mandler 35mm f2 LTM). This allows me to enjoy these lenses on both film and digital.
I own a few Lumix L mount lenses but those share the same drawbacks as buying Canon RF lenses or Nikon Z lenses. Yes they give you autofocus but they are limited to cameras with the same mount.
Leica L mount vs Canon RF mount
One advantage of Leica L mount over Canon RF mount is for L mount lenses you have the L Mount Alliance. Rather than only one brand make lenses such as Canon for Canon, with the L Mount Alliance we have 3 companies making lenses for us – Leica, Sigma and Lumix (+ a few Chinese brands that now offer L mount lenses too).
This means no matter if I use Leica, Lumix or Sigma L mount cameras I can still enjoy the same set of autofocus lenses. (I tend to use Leica SL series cameras for photos and Lumix cameras for video but both can do both).
Canon lenses for Leica cameras – Summary
As you can see if you already own Canon lenses, whether vintage screw mount lenses or later SLR lenses, if you get a Leica camera you can enjoy the same glass on your Leica.
Equally, if you already own Leica cameras or are new to the Leica ecosystem, Canon lenses offer an affordable alternative to buying Leica branded lenses. When considering Canon lenses for Leica, Leica iii fans and M camera owners should look at the excellent Canon LTM lenses (and to a lesser extent Canon FD lenses too if you are happy to focus via LiveView on digital Ms).
For Leica SL series users if you want autofocus consider Canon EF lenses and the older Canon FD lenses for manual focus .
You may also like
If you’re new to Leica and are looking for affordable alternatives to expensive Leica lenses, consider some of these excellent Chinese lenses for Leica too.
Stay updated on the latest Leica news
Add your email to receive the free Leica newsletter and follow on YouTube for future videos. To support my work consider joining Patreon and hope to meet you at one of my Leica workshops.
