Megadap M2RF review: Get "Leica magic" on your Canon RF camera! Use manual M lenses with full autofocus

The Megadap M2RF makes a tantalizing promise: to enable manual focus Leica M lenses, designed for rangefinders with their magical rendering, to be used on Canon RF cameras with full support for Dual Pixel Autofocus – including eye tracking and subject detection.

Well, it's tantalizing and it's also true: the Megadap M2RF transforms Leica's gorgeous rangefinder glass into autofocus EOS R optics. Something for which, as a Canon shooter, I'm doubly grateful, given how closed the RF mount is to full-frame AF lenses from other manufacturers.

I had a blast using ultra-refined M-mount lenses to capture images with their unique character on my Canon EOS R5, though there are definitely a few asterisks that potential buyers should be aware of.

Latest Videos From

Watch full video here:

Megadap M2RF: Price & availability

The Megadap M2RF adapter is available for pre-order now, priced $399 / £429 (Australian pricing to follow).

For comparison, Megadap currently produces two other cross-mount autofocus adapters: the Megadap ETZ21 Pro+ (Sony E to Nikon Z) for $249 / £259 and Megadap EFTZ21 (Canon EF to Nikon Z) for $299 / 299.

Image 1 of 11

Megadap M2RF: Build & handling

The build quality on the Megadap M2RF is first class. This isn't one of those flimsy adapters you get on eBay; it's a reassuringly heavy, substantially constructed device, beautifully machined and with thick, solid gold-plated contacts.

It has a custom coreless motor, with dual-hall (using two magnetic sensors) and optical sensing, using an electronic helicoid driver system for steady and precise control of the attached lens.

All the controls are likewise exquisitely made, from the aperture switch to the AF / MF selection button to the lens release. This feels every inch a premium product, befitting the luxury Leica glass that will be mounted to it.

As I'll explain in the Performance section below, the aperture switch is used to select the aperture from the preset positions that sync with your camera's aperture setting.

The AF / MF button gives you a one-touch toggle between auto and manual focus (whereupon M2RF retracts back to infinity). You can also double-tap the button in manual mode to engage manual macro mode, which fully extends the lens to its maximum focus position.

As a bonus, because the adapter extends the lens by up to 4.5mm beyond its original position, this reduces the 0.7m standard minimum focus distance of M lenses – enabling you to get close-up shots without accessories like extension tubes, unlocking new creative opportunities.

I also want to shout out the front and back caps, which are so often an afterthought from third-party manufacturers. These are handsome-looking transparent caps, bearing the Megadap logo, and like the rest of the unit feel very premium.

Even so, while it's an impressively robust product, there is one key limitation to the lenses you can mount to the Megadap: how much they weigh.

While every make of M-mount glass is supported, whether it's made by Leica, Voigtländer, Zeiss or anyone else, it only plays nicely with lenses that are 500g or less – which means that bigger, heavier M glass won't be well suited, as they put too much strain on the mount and motor.

And of course, if you're feeling brave, you can double-stack almost any other vintage lens (such as M42 glass) via an M-mount adapter and then attach that to the M2RF for even more creative possibilities.

Megadap M2RF: Performance

I primarily tested the Megadap M2RF with the Leica Summilux-M 50mm f/1.4 Classic and Leica Summicron-M 28mm f/2 Asph. Overall, it delivers pretty astonishing performance for specific genres of photography – or, perhaps more accurately, for a specific pace of photography.

For portraiture, still life, landscape, travel, street and everyday shooting – in other words, shooting at a fairly soft pace or with a gently moving subject – it's absolutely brilliant.

For example, the autofocus keeps up with people absolutely wonderfully during a portrait session. The eye tracking is particularly impressive, and it's also steady and reliable for head and full-body tracking when your subject moves around. Using the Megadap for the first time is really quite a magical experience.

However, other genres and paces of photography are definitely not well suited to what the Megadap does. If you're hoping to shoot fast action like sports or wildlife, that's not what this adapter is for. Nor are most forms of video, where multi-axis movement overwhelms the device.

More than just the capabilities of the device itself, though, it's important to understand that there is a lot expected of the user that may surprise someone expecting a plug-and-play, fully automatic experience.

The Megadap M2RF is a "push-pull" adapter that uses a helical drive to move the lens forward and backward in order to shift the plane of focus. As such, you must remember to turn the focus ring of your adapted lens to infinity or performance will be substantially impeded.

It's definitely something that takes some getting used to – and especially if you're somebody who whips your camera in and out of a bag, you need to be mindful of knocking the focus ring too far.

In addition, when mounting the lens, you need to synchronize its aperture value to your camera's by setting it to a specific aperture value – f/1.4, f/2, f/2.8 or f/4 – corresponding to the values on the aperture switch on the side of the adapter.

Again, if you don't do this then the performance will be significantly degraded. Getting your muscle memory used to these steps each time you use the adapter or switch lenses is crucial, otherwise you'll likely experience hunting or complete focus failure.

Obviously different lenses are going to have different focal length and aperture combinations, which is a further point to factor in.

The adapter comes with four factory presets (Leica Summilux-M 50mm f/1.4 Asph, Leica Summicron-M 35mm f/2 Asph, Zeiss Biogon T* 25mm f/2.8 ZM and Voigtländer 50mm f/1.2 Nokton Aspherical II), but it can be customized for any four lenses via the Megadap M2RF Custom Tool.

While it's brilliant to be able to add your own lens data (which is then helpfully written to your EXIF), it's fair to say that Megadap's expertise is in optics and not software. The Custom Tool is certainly usable, but it's a bit clunky and doesn't have the same premium feel as the M2RF itself.

Megadap M2RF: Samples

Megadap M2RF: Verdict

I've always been skeptical about cross-system adapters, but I was pretty blown away by the Megadap M2RF… once I'd mastered its setup intricacies! Setting infinity focus and syncing the aperture before shooting is an extra step when mounting a lens, but once it becomes part of your muscle memory you can enjoy seamless shooting.

I love the magical rendering of Leica's M lenses, but rangefinder focus gets harder as my eyes get worse with age. So it's nothing short of liberating to be able to use them on an RF-mount camera – and the ability to make use of Canon's Dual Pixel AF and algorithmic subject detection is a truly transformative experience.

It's obviously important to be aware of the Megadap's limitations. While it offers fairly fast focus that can keep up with gently moving genres, it's not designed for fast action – which limits its usefulness for wildlife, sports and video. But then, I don't believe anyone is really interested in adapting M lenses for any of those.

The Megadap M2RF is ideally suited for the intended purposes of M glass, like portraiture or street photography. It replicates rangefinder results on your RF camera but supercharges them with the power of Canon's autofocus. If you've ever wanted to add a touch of class to your EOS R camera, this might be the best way to do it!

You might also like…

Take a look at the best Leica M lenses to adapt and, if you get a taste for the finer things, check out the best Leica cameras.