Anyone here using Russian Wides and Ultra Wides.

[peterm1]

I have recently been looking at the Russian wides and ultrawides as an option for a bit of fun. (No way I want to spend the several grand needed for a Leica ultra wide and besides I already have enough Leica / Canon lenses from 35mm - 135mm of various vintages and do not need more. While I could spring for a Voightlander ultrawide if I wanted to, I am a bit interested in the Russian glass more as an interesting experiment than anything else.) Like many others (or so it seems) I am kinda interested in using different lenses a bit like painters use different brushes - to reveal different images. At present I only own one Russian lens. It is the 85mm Sonnar copy in LTM and very nice it is too.

Maybe I was lucky. You see, yes, I know about the poor quality control in Russian lenses. What I am interested in knowing is whether, when working well, the lenses mentioned below are worth the bother. Two ultra wide lenses in particular and maybe two less wides.

These are:

UltraWides

The MIR 20mm f 3.5

I know these are available in M42 thread mount. Not sure about LTM but no problem I have an adapter and the depth of field means zone focusing is not an issue.

The Russar 20mm f5.6 in LTM

Said in some quarters to be good but I have not been able to find much apart from one review at Stephen Gandy's Cameraquest site.

and

35MM (ish) wide angle

Jupiter 12 35mm f 2.8

and

MIR 37mm f 2.8

This is also available in M42 thread mount (not sure about LTM availability) but could be used with an adapter on a Leica. ( I already have an adapter.)

I do not know much about either lens

OK. Knowledgeable opinions please not the sort of speculation that sometimes passes for hard info on the web - You know what I mean, I am talking about not providing too much opinion based on heresay from a second cousin's late husband who's uncle twice removed once has a neighbor who's second wife's father once thought he knew something but he did not really. 😉

Any links to articles or first hand users' experience much appreciated however.

 

[Kim Coxon]

No experience with the Russar. The J12 is good value and produces good photos. If you get one, it may require a re-lube but that is not difficult and it will only work on some cameras due to the rear element.

The other lens you have missed out is the Orion 15. If you can get one for $100 or less, they can be fun but they are certainly not worth the $200 or so most people ask for them. For more info check this thread http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18726&highlight=orion

Kim

 

[photobizzz]

I have the Orion-15 and I got a proven copy for $175. A bit much but the size is also a plus, very small profile. Very contrasty lens as well. I usually keep it stopped down to 11 or 16 most of the time.

 

[rbiemer]

I like (and own) the Jupiter-12. I like the "look" of it, it's small, uses a relatively common filter size(40.5m), and--this is speculation on my part--seems to not have the QC issues that some Russian lenses are plagued with. The one thing I don't like so much about them is that I can't use 'em on my Bessa R and couldn't use the lens I have on the Canon P I had.
Don't really know anything about the other lenses you asked about except that if I could find an Orion 15 for a decent(OK, cheap😀 ) price I'd buy it.
And I don't think the MIR-37 was made in LTM but if you have an adapter, that's no worry.
Good hunting!
Rob

 

[payasam]

I'm quite happy with my Jupiter 12, peterm, but 35 mm is now only the beginning of the wide world and that lens will not work with all bodies because of its protruding rear.

 

[moretto]

Peterm 1, I'm sorry to intrude Your thread, but I have just ordered a J12, and I see here that it will not work on some bodies. I have a M3 and 39mm to M adapter. It works perfectly with J8.Will it work with J12? I appologise again, Peterm, but I had no idea that J12 had this "bugs".
Thanks

 

[peterm1]

Thanks for this input everyone. In particular I did not know about the Orion and will research it. Moretto, no need to apologise. Why not post a thread when you get you J12. I would be interested in see in what it can do. The bodies I own are all Leica (LTM and M) or Canon (a IVSB ) I don't think these lenses have a reputation for problems mounting with these cameras do they? rbiemer, I agree with your observation about the look of the J12. I like the look of it too. Any photos you can post with your J13 ? I would be very interested in seeing them. cheers.

 

[wolves3012]

The J-12 is a very fine lens. It has a rather protruding rear element that prevents its use on some cameras (like some Bessas, I believe). It will work on LTM Leicas and I think the issue on M-series is only that it blocks the meter cell on those so fitted.

The Mir 37mm is also a very good lens but I think you'll find it's only made as an SLR lens. It certainly can be found in 39mm and 42mm for SLRs (I have one in 39mm for my Zenits).

Can't help you with the others!

 

[nico]

Hi, I have a Orion 15 (28mm), I agree with Photobizz opinion but when I want to go wide I prefer a wider one. I'm not a lens expert but on the side of the orion I can say it gives a nice vintage to the photo taken with it.

 

[peterm1]

Hi, I have a Orion 15 (28mm), I agree with Photobizz opinion but when I want to go wide I prefer a wider one. I'm not a lens expert but on the side of the orion I can say it gives a nice vintage to the photo taken with it.

Maybe its worth me considering. I like that "vintage" look.

Truth is as far as ultra wides are concerned, I do have an M42 20mm lens that I could use with an M42- E39 adapter and a LTM to M bayonet adapter combined - Its a third party lens, one of those motley bunch that was often made for Pentax cameras etc in Japan by third party manufacturers back in the 1970s. (There used to be many, of verious quality. Hardly any exist anymore. They all went broke or were taken over.) I cannot recall the name of the lens (am at work right now) but I have tried it and its sharp and quite contrasty. But the front element is 82mm. Big enough to block not just the built in viewfinder on an M but most of an accessory finder too.

 

[rxmd]

OK, it looks like most have been mentioned. The only one I've been using regularly is the Jupiter-12, which is a nice lens; the main drawback is that it tends to flare when there's bright light sources in the frame. Two other common wideangle lenses that haven't been mentioned so far are the fisheyes, the Peleng 8/f3.5 and the Zenitar 16/f2.8. The Peleng is a circular fisheye, the Zenitar is a full-frame fisheye. Both are available in a number of different lens mounts and are probably the cheapest fisheyes on the market, while still being quite decent lenses. The Peleng is probably the widest Russian lens of all.

Then there's some oddball lenses 🙂 For example, every now and then on eBay there appears a Zorki with a "STAR-6" 28/f2.8 lens; the Star-6 is actually an Industar-69 for the Chaika-2 half-frame camera, with the "Indu" and "9" rubbed out so that people don't notice. The lens doesn't fully cover 35mm, so it looks really fuzzy at the edges and, well, quality is like what people associate with Russian lenses if they've never heard that there are some good ones, but for Lomography-type shooting I guess it could be a nice lens 🙂

Philipp

 

[payasam]

Moretto, the J-12 will work well with your M-3. As Wolves said, the protruding rear element can block a meter cell -- but the M3 has no meter. [edit] You will need an external 35 mm finder.

 

[rbiemer]

rbiemer, I agree with your observation about the look of the J12. I like the look of it too. Any photos you can post with your J13 ? I would be very interested in seeing them. cheers.

Here's a link to one I took with my Zorki 3m and J-12:
"Foggy Sunday Morning"
I had a few in my gallery here but recently cleaned out most of those photos. And am not where the CDs are.
Rob

 

[julio1fer]

J-12 works well in my Leica IIIb. I love that lens, both in Leica and Contax (Kiev) mounts.

 

[greenrobbie]

Re: Anyone using Russian wides and ulta wides?

Re: Anyone using Russian wides and ulta wides?

The Russar 20mm super-wide was well reviewed in Photon magazine a few years ago - here's a link:

http://www.iconpublications.com/photon/april95/russar.html

I have the Jupiter 9 in Leica screw fit and in Kiev (Contax) fit, and I really like it - it has a certain appeal to it, something I can't quite put my finger on. It is a devil to mount though - always concerned I'm going to scuff the very prominent exposed rear element. Both my copies are well built and optically superb. Having said that, they are not as sharp as my modern Cosina-Voigtlander 35mm f2.5.

 

[android]

The Russar 20mm super-wide was well reviewed in Photon magazine a few years ago

Based on the review you've linked to greenrobbie (thanks, I'd never heard of this lens!) I've just taken the plunge and ordered this lens off of the 'bay. I'll be attaching it to an r-d1s so it'll be coming in at around 30mm - still pretty wide.

It's being sent from Russia so may take a while to arrive but if anyone's interested I'll upload a couple of shots once I have it.

 

[android]

A couple of shots (RD1-S/Russar MP2)

Paris

London

Not a great lens but it can be fun to use.

 

[nico]

Peter, if it may help here some links to shots taken with the Orion-15 (28mm)

4 seascapes

A field before the harvest

From above

Ciao

 

[Roger Hicks]

I've used two 20mm Russars (on owned, one borrowed) and both were absolutely awful. I have heard one person say that his wasn't too bad but I don't know his definition of 'not too bad'. I'd go for ANY other 21mm lens as an alternative.

The 20mm finder is good, though.

Cheers,

R.

 

[rxmd]

I guess the Russar was a lot more interesting before the CV 21/f4 hit the market.

Philipp