Omnar Lenses – a collaboration between 35mmc’s Hamish Gill and Skyllaney Opto-Mechanics’ Chris Andreyo – has unveiled its first lens conversion for Leica M-mount cameras.
The Omnar CN26-6 is a 26/6 lens taken from a Canon AF-10 compact camera from the early 2000s, converted to work on Leica M-mount film or digital cameras. The lenses are all designed, converted and hand-painted in the UK.
“The Omnar CN26-6 is our first lens,” the company says in a press release. “A rangefinder-coupled, M-mount, fixed-aperture, 26mm f/6 lens. Mechanical build quality that’s up there with the best, combined with optics repurposed from an entry level, early-2000s point and shoot camera.”
Omnar lists the lens specifications as:
26mm f/6
Wide angle, small aperture lens for quick snapshot photography.
Rangefinder coupled
Coupled from 0.67m to infinity with a short focus throw
Close focus
Option for close focus uncoupled focusing down to 0.3m
Focus feel
Light focus or heavy focus feel options
Finish options
Matte Black Chrome Cerakote, Silver Chrome Cerakote, High Gloss Black Lacquer, or Custom Paint to your specification
Custom engraving
‘Omnar Lenses’ engraved on the front, or custom engraving up to 12 characters of your choice
“The Omnar CN26-6 makes use of the 26mm f/6 optics from a Canon AF-10 point-and-shoot camera, rehoused in rangefinder coupled, brass mechanics. With extremely precise manufacturing tolerances, the mechanical feel of this lens is on par with the highest build quality lenses on the market. The lens has a fixed aperture of f/6, and a focal length of 26mm, giving it broad depth of field, which combined with the short focus throw makes for a lens that’s quick to focus and shoot.”
Omnar says it was drawn to this particular lens because of its point-and-shoot aesthetic and the fact it was mostly made of glass (only the rear element in made of plastic). “The coated elements help keep the contrast relatively high, with the rear polycarbonate –given the right angle of light – creating a rainbow flare the sort that is more commonly associated with cameras such as the Vivitar UWS, but to a lesser degree.”
The lenses cost £779 (excluding VAT) and come in a bespoke lined box.
Omnar Lenses has shared a gallery of images shot on film on various Leica M-mount cameras, which can be seen below (all taken by Hamish Gill):
I'm a New Zealander who has been living in London since the mid-1990s, shooting film seriously since the year 2000. Kosmo Foto was launched in 2012 and has since become a film brand, with the release of my first films Kosmo Foto Mono 35mm (2017) and Kosmo Foto Mono 120 (2019).
I’m doing everything I can to promote film photography in the 21st Century, and help it survive and thrive. If you want to write something for Kosmo Foto, please drop me a line at foto.dowling@gmail.com.
