Arri (industry standard) · Cinema mount

PL (Positive Lock) — flange distance, protocol, and adapter compatibility

Arri's Positive Lock cinema mount, the de-facto industry standard for high-end cine glass since 1982. 52 mm flange (the deepest of any current mount) and four locking flange-pins yield a rock-solid interface that resists shock and follow-focus torque. Pure mechanical interface — some lenses carry Cooke /i or Zeiss eXtended Data contacts for metadata pass-through, but no AF or electronic aperture in the body-to-lens protocol. PL adapters exist for nearly every mirrorless body (Sony FX, Canon C-series RF, RED, Z CAM); the deep flange means a PL-to-mirrorless adapter is always physically possible without optics.

Mount specifications

Flange focal distance: 52 mm
Throat diameter: 54 mm
Electronic protocol: Mechanical only (no electronic coupling)
Supported formats: full-frame, APS-C
Manufacturer: Arri (industry standard)
Introduced: 1982
Status: Active production

Adapting PL (Positive Lock) lenses onto other bodies

You own PL (Positive Lock) glass and want to mount it on a body with a different lens mount. Rows are sorted by feasibility.

Body mount	Result	Adapter examples	Caveats
Canon EF flange 44 mm	Mechanical MFIS lens-onlyAp. ring	generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)	Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between PL (Positive Lock) lens and Canon EF body.
Canon EF-S flange 44 mm	Mechanical MFIS lens-onlyAp. ring1.5× crop	generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)	Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between PL (Positive Lock) lens and Canon EF-S body.
Canon RF flange 20 mm	Mechanical ——Ap. ring	Wooden Camera PL-RF IBE Optics PL-to-RF Mount Module (interchangeable on C70 / C400) Vocas PL-RF	Pure mechanical — PL has no electronic interface, so AF / IS / electronic iris are all n/a. Cooke /i or ZEISS eXtended Data contacts (where present) are not currently surfaced through these RF adapters.
Canon EF-M flange 18 mm	Mechanical MFIS lens-onlyAp. ring1.5× crop	generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)	Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between PL (Positive Lock) lens and Canon EF-M body.
Nikon F flange 46.5 mm	Mechanical MFIS lens-onlyAp. ring	generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)	Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between PL (Positive Lock) lens and Nikon F body.
Nikon Z flange 16 mm	Mechanical MFIS lens-onlyAp. ring	generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)	Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between PL (Positive Lock) lens and Nikon Z body.
Sony A / Minolta A flange 44.5 mm	Mechanical MFIS lens-onlyAp. ring	generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)	Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between PL (Positive Lock) lens and Sony A / Minolta A body.
Sony E (incl. FE) flange 18 mm	Mechanical ——Ap. ring	Sony PL-mount adapter (factory-fit on FX9, FX6, FX3 with optional PL kit) Wooden Camera PL-E Vocas PL-E Hawk PL-E	PL flange (52 mm) sits 34 mm above E-mount's 18 mm flange — there is generous room for a stout, locking adapter with shims for back-focus calibration. Cinema E-mount bodies (FX9 / FX6 / Venice in E-mode) accept the PL kit natively; consumer E-mount A7-series bodies use third-party adapters.
Fujifilm X flange 17.7 mm	Mechanical ——Ap. ring1.5× crop	Fotodiox Pro PL-FX Kipon PL-FX	1.5× crop on X-Trans means most full-frame PL primes give a ~Super-35-equivalent field of view — close to the original Super-35 framing those lenses were designed for.
Fujifilm GFX (G-mount) flange 26.7 mm	Mechanical MFIS lens-onlyAp. ringvignettes	generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)	Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between PL (Positive Lock) lens and Fujifilm GFX (G-mount) body.
Micro Four Thirds flange 19.25 mm	Mechanical ——Ap. ring2× crop	Wooden Camera PL-MFT Metabones PL-MFT	2× crop applies — Super-35 PL primes give a ~4× full-frame equivalent. Useful on BMPCC 4K / 6K (BMPCC 4K is actually MFT mount), GH5, GH6.
L-Mount flange 20 mm	Mechanical ——Ap. ring	Wooden Camera PL-L IBE Optics PL-to-L	PL flange (52 mm) on an L-mount 20 mm flange leaves 32 mm of adapter — comfortable for rigged builds on Panasonic Lumix S1H / BS1H or Sigma fp.
M42 (Pentax / Praktica screw mount) flange 45.46 mm	Mechanical MFIS lens-onlyAp. ring	generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)	Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between PL (Positive Lock) lens and M42 (Pentax / Praktica screw mount) body.
Leica M flange 27.8 mm	Mechanical MFIS lens-onlyAp. ring	generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)	Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between PL (Positive Lock) lens and Leica M body.
Pentax K flange 45.46 mm	Mechanical MFIS lens-onlyAp. ring	generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)	Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between PL (Positive Lock) lens and Pentax K body.
Canon EF (cine) flange 44 mm	Mechanical MFIS lens-onlyAp. ring	generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)	Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between PL (Positive Lock) lens and Canon EF (cine) body.
Canon RF (cine) flange 20 mm	Mechanical MFIS lens-onlyAp. ring	generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)	Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between PL (Positive Lock) lens and Canon RF (cine) body.
Exakta flange 44.7 mm	Mechanical MFIS lens-onlyAp. ring	generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)	Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between PL (Positive Lock) lens and Exakta body.
C-mount flange 17.526 mm	Mechanical MFIS lens-onlyAp. ring2.7× crop	generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)	Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between PL (Positive Lock) lens and C-mount body.
Praktica B flange 44.4 mm	Mechanical MFIS lens-onlyAp. ring	generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)	Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between PL (Positive Lock) lens and Praktica B body.
Konica AR flange 40.5 mm	Mechanical MFIS lens-onlyAp. ring	generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)	Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between PL (Positive Lock) lens and Konica AR body.
Minolta SR / MC / MD flange 43.5 mm	Mechanical MFIS lens-onlyAp. ring	generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)	Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between PL (Positive Lock) lens and Minolta SR / MC / MD body.
T-mount (T2) flange 55 mm	Speed booster MFIS lens-onlyAp. wheel	Speed Booster / focal-reducer family	Flange clearance is only -3.0 mm — a plain mechanical adapter cannot reach infinity focus; a focal reducer (Speed Booster) with optical glass is required. Speed Boosters typically widen the effective focal length (~0.71×) and add ~1 stop of light, which can be desirable on crop bodies.

Adapting other lenses onto a PL (Positive Lock) body

You own a PL (Positive Lock) body and want to mount glass from other systems. Mirrorless-lens-onto-DSLR-body combinations are omitted (rear element collides with the mirror box).

Lens mount	Result	Adapter examples	Caveats
T-mount (T2) flange 55 mm	Mechanical MFIS lens-onlyAp. ring	generic mechanical adapter ring (multiple vendors)	Mechanical adapter only — no electronic communication between T-mount (T2) lens and PL (Positive Lock) body.
Canon EF flange 44 mm	Speed booster MFIS lens-onlyAp. wheel	Speed Booster / focal-reducer family	Flange clearance is only -8.0 mm — a plain mechanical adapter cannot reach infinity focus; a focal reducer (Speed Booster) with optical glass is required. Speed Boosters typically widen the effective focal length (~0.71×) and add ~1 stop of light, which can be desirable on crop bodies.
Canon EF-S flange 44 mm	Speed booster MFIS lens-onlyAp. wheelvignettes	Speed Booster / focal-reducer family	Flange clearance is only -8.0 mm — a plain mechanical adapter cannot reach infinity focus; a focal reducer (Speed Booster) with optical glass is required. Speed Boosters typically widen the effective focal length (~0.71×) and add ~1 stop of light, which can be desirable on crop bodies.
Nikon F flange 46.5 mm	Speed booster MFIS lens-onlyAp. wheel	Speed Booster / focal-reducer family	Flange clearance is only -5.5 mm — a plain mechanical adapter cannot reach infinity focus; a focal reducer (Speed Booster) with optical glass is required. Speed Boosters typically widen the effective focal length (~0.71×) and add ~1 stop of light, which can be desirable on crop bodies.
Sony A / Minolta A flange 44.5 mm	Speed booster MFIS lens-onlyAp. wheel	Speed Booster / focal-reducer family	Flange clearance is only -7.5 mm — a plain mechanical adapter cannot reach infinity focus; a focal reducer (Speed Booster) with optical glass is required. Speed Boosters typically widen the effective focal length (~0.71×) and add ~1 stop of light, which can be desirable on crop bodies.
M42 (Pentax / Praktica screw mount) flange 45.46 mm	Speed booster MFIS lens-onlyAp. wheel	Speed Booster / focal-reducer family	Flange clearance is only -6.5 mm — a plain mechanical adapter cannot reach infinity focus; a focal reducer (Speed Booster) with optical glass is required. Speed Boosters typically widen the effective focal length (~0.71×) and add ~1 stop of light, which can be desirable on crop bodies.
Pentax K flange 45.46 mm	Speed booster MFIS lens-onlyAp. wheel	Speed Booster / focal-reducer family	Flange clearance is only -6.5 mm — a plain mechanical adapter cannot reach infinity focus; a focal reducer (Speed Booster) with optical glass is required. Speed Boosters typically widen the effective focal length (~0.71×) and add ~1 stop of light, which can be desirable on crop bodies.
Canon EF (cine) flange 44 mm	Speed booster MFIS lens-onlyAp. wheel	Speed Booster / focal-reducer family	Flange clearance is only -8.0 mm — a plain mechanical adapter cannot reach infinity focus; a focal reducer (Speed Booster) with optical glass is required. Speed Boosters typically widen the effective focal length (~0.71×) and add ~1 stop of light, which can be desirable on crop bodies.
Exakta flange 44.7 mm	Speed booster MFIS lens-onlyAp. wheel	Speed Booster / focal-reducer family	Flange clearance is only -7.3 mm — a plain mechanical adapter cannot reach infinity focus; a focal reducer (Speed Booster) with optical glass is required. Speed Boosters typically widen the effective focal length (~0.71×) and add ~1 stop of light, which can be desirable on crop bodies.
Praktica B flange 44.4 mm	Speed booster MFIS lens-onlyAp. wheel	Speed Booster / focal-reducer family	Flange clearance is only -7.6 mm — a plain mechanical adapter cannot reach infinity focus; a focal reducer (Speed Booster) with optical glass is required. Speed Boosters typically widen the effective focal length (~0.71×) and add ~1 stop of light, which can be desirable on crop bodies.
Konica AR flange 40.5 mm	Speed booster MFIS lens-onlyAp. wheel	Speed Booster / focal-reducer family	Flange clearance is only -11.5 mm — a plain mechanical adapter cannot reach infinity focus; a focal reducer (Speed Booster) with optical glass is required. Speed Boosters typically widen the effective focal length (~0.71×) and add ~1 stop of light, which can be desirable on crop bodies.
Minolta SR / MC / MD flange 43.5 mm	Speed booster MFIS lens-onlyAp. wheel	Speed Booster / focal-reducer family	Flange clearance is only -8.5 mm — a plain mechanical adapter cannot reach infinity focus; a focal reducer (Speed Booster) with optical glass is required. Speed Boosters typically widen the effective focal length (~0.71×) and add ~1 stop of light, which can be desirable on crop bodies.

PL (Positive Lock) — flange distance, protocol, and adapter compatibility

Mount specifications

Adapting PL (Positive Lock) lenses onto other bodies

Adapting other lenses onto a PL (Positive Lock) body

References

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