Bessa-R with Jupiter 12

[Kapa]

I recently scored a near mint, boxed Bessa-R for $300 NZD. Have just finished first film with a Jupiter 8 50mm f2.0. An absolute pleasure to use, and nice to have metering for a change. I know this question comes up alot and have trawled thru the posts. My Jupiter 12 35mm fits fine onto my Bessa-R as opposed to some other posts. However, of course the meter is inoperable because of being blocked by the rear element. I can handle that though. Is there any other issues I should consider...? Cheers!

 

[Uwe_Nds]

That's unusual. I tried one (very carefully) on my R and the J12 hit the shutter, so I can't can't offer any advice. Is there that much variation in Bessa R's?

Either in the Bessa-R or in the J-12s.

Best regards,
Uwe

 

[Kapa]

Yeah, my J12 fits snugly into the recess and the rear element rests couple of mil shy of the shutter. Maybe the J12's vary, as Soviet gear seems to excel in the novelty of randomness. This is a 7602153 serial number, so from 1976. Rangefinder seems accurate but no meter, just going to load some TriX and see what happens. Any other feedback appreciated.

 

[Kapa]

P.S for the record my Bessa-R is a chrome unit with serial number C0117845

 

[nzeeman]

and what is the number of j12?

 

[Kapa]

7602153 and it's a near mint copy.... where it was manufactured....? it's the logo with the "c" in the triangle....?

 

[oscroft]

J-12s do vary - mine would not fit on my R (but the R/J-8 is a very nice combination)

 

[Kapa]

Yeah, I'm not sure what the deal is here... I was loath to even try my J12 on my recently aquired Bessa-R. I was careful though and set shutter on bulb, inserted cable release and locked it. Inserted J12 and rear element seemed clear... bingo... TriX loaded now and first roll just dev'd in kitchen looks bang on. Freck, it's nice to have a meter. All negs look nice and tasty !

 

[QUAsit]

7602153 and it's a near mint copy.... where it was manufactured....? it's the logo with the "c" in the triangle....?

.... and it is black lens.
Yours J12 is just another proof that some late black Jupiters-12 of LZOS (Lytkarino) production fit Bessas

 

[Kapa]

.... and it is black lens.
Yours J12 is just another proof that some late black Jupiters-12 of LZOS (Lytkarino) production fit Bessas

I was hoping someone was going to say something like that ;-) Yeah, it's a "Black" lens... bought way down here in New Zealand.... about as far away as you could get from the factory without going off planet... I like that..... QUAsit, it seems you are sure this is a late model Lytkarino sample.... do you have a similar unit that fits a Bessa-R ? I'm proberbly going to shoot this rol in the next day or two so shall post some results asap. Thanks all for the feedback 🙂

 

[QUAsit]

Living in Russia it is much simplier to obtain information about manufacturers of various lenses. Also it is very well known which variations of J12 were existed. You know - Soviet cameras are history and it is quite stable. And of course, you described Lytcarino logo quite well.

Here it is:

Btw, it is not `C`, but russian `C` which is equal to `S`

Regarding particular samples - yes I`ve seen such, but did not use them - once I bought Bessa-R I moved directly to CV 35/1.7 + soviet 50 mm lenses.

 

[lubitel]

i have a black j-12 which fits my bessa R fine. lucky 🙂

 

[QUAsit]

Let me warn you that black J12s are also lottery.
The reason is that later J12s have no metal cover around rear element, this rear element is covered by paint+glue and sometimes (perhaps different production parties) this rear elements protrudes less deep that other J12s do.
I saw also quite many black J12s who were unusable on Bessa because they were blocked on 20m and could not be set to infinity.

 

[Kapa]

The rear element of my J12 is the black painted variety. Although it fits nicely on my Bessa-R it does however not focus to infinity. This does not really bother me as I'm not going to use it for landscapes etc... just happy that it fits at all. Cheers

 

[Spyderman]

Sorry QUAsit, but I've got an '88 black Lytkarino J-12 and it fits my Bessa, but can't be focussed farther than 3m, so your theory might not be 100% right...

 

[Spider67]

Let me warn you that black J12s are also lottery.
.

Second to that. You did the right thing checking it with an open shutter. That should be a recommenden step. So your lens is a winner then!

 

[QUAsit]

Sorry QUAsit, but I've got an '88 black Lytkarino J-12 and it fits my Bessa, but can't be focussed farther than 3m, so your theory might not be 100% right...

Yes, I saw such lens also. And that`s why I said about `lottery`

 

[Kapa]

I get maximum focus at 5 meters.... mindue if I stop down to f22...