Any hope fitting a J12

[wyk_penguin]

I want to fit the J12 (35mm, f/2.8) onto a Bessa. Is there any hope or should I just buy something else? Also, I am interested as to which collapsables will fit. I have heard that some people slip an O-ring onto their collapsable lens so that it would hit the shutter when retracted, but wouldn't it be nice if It would just do so out of the box?

 

[lubitel]

Some of the j-12 fit - some dont. I heard that the later versions have more chances of fitting. Personally I have a black one and it fits the bessa-R quite well, obviously blocking the light meter, though. dont have any experience with collapsible lenses.

 

[Spyderman]

AFAIK there are only 3 versions of J-12.

First was in Kiev mount with metal around the rear element.

Then came both the Kiev and LTM without the metal.

IMO there are no "versions" that in general fit Bessa.


There are 2 reasons I can think of why some J-12 fit Bessa and some don't:

1.) the main shim. This shim is used to adjust the distance of the optics from the film - thus a a slightly thicker shim might cause some lens to mount and focus to infinity and some lens not to focus to infinity.

2.) variation in Bessa manufacture. After all - it's the light baffles that hit the rear element of J-12 before it would reach the grey shutter curtains. But those baffles needn't be positioned precisely - after all it's just baffles 🙂 So just a slight variation in position of those baffles could make the difference how far a J-12 can focus. Some can focus to infinity, mine can only to about 3m...

 

[Kim Coxon]

Although there are no distict "variations" as such, the later LTM J12 do appear to have a slightly smaller rear element. It is these ones which will fit a Bessa.

Kim

 

[Spyderman]

Kim: I'd like to see some real measurements...

in this thread is a discussion about this same question a couple of members (although not many...) atually measured the diameter of the rear element and they were all the same...

 

[wyk_penguin]

Hmmm... now that is gaseous. Being without the meter is not a problem. Since I was extremely pleased with the one in Kiev mount, I am thinking of buying a J12 in LTM for my Bessa now. Perhaps I should take the camera to the shop to test fit it (no *Bay-ing this time...).

Am I correct to think that even though the rear element will collide with the light baffles at infinity focus, it will fit nicely when set to near focus? If that is so, it has become even more gaseous because I mainly do street photography and stopping down to something like f/5.6 with the lens set at 3m will give me all the DOF I need.

I'll go try tomorrow. Hopefully the local store has a nice J12 in stock. Damn, the local shop is 15% more expensive than *Bay.!!!

 

[wyk_penguin]

Just succumb to GAS.
The J12 fits and focuses to somewhere between 4-5m, which means infinity at f/8. And as I said, that won't be an issue for street photography, though I wish Voigtlander would move the baffle back 1mm.
Still haven't shot with this lens yet, but I believe it will interfere with metering.

 

[Spyderman]

Congratulations. But be careful and don't force it furthar than the 4m you mentioned...

Always mount / unmount with great care (because of the rear element) and FOCUSSED AT 1m !