Bessa R and jupiter's.....

[bellyface]

This may have been asked before, or not... slap me if you have to. Bessa R is LTM, but are there limitations with other jupiter LTM lenses? J9, J12, J8. I know some lenses stick out far, particularly the J12. Just wondering besides the old leica lenses out there, what is available...

 

[nikola]

Bok Ivan,

I think that J12 is only one unmountable!

Just wondering besides the old leica lenses out there, what is available...

Canon...

 

[mike_j]

J8 is a fantastic lens for the money if you get a good one, J12 is unusable and J9 is a decent portrait lens. Cameraquest is a great source of information on compatible lenses.

 

[RML]

SLAP SLAP SLAP!!!

🙂

Just try them out. There are some lemons in the bunch but when you score a good one, every Jupiter is a great lens. I particularly like the J-8. I'm not the only one. 🙂

 

[captainslack]

What RML said.

Only thing to watch out for, at least with the J-8, is the collimation since the lens registration was different in the FSU than in the West.

Don't mount a J-12 on the Bessa, though. It'll hit the light baffle and possibly damage both lens & camera.

 

[brachal]

As far as FSU lenses go, I've used the Jupiter-3, Jupiter-8, Industar 61LD, Jupiter-9, and Jupiter-11 on my Bessa R and have had great results with all of them. Try to buy from a reputable seller and not a random ebay vendor. I would recommend fedka.com for FSU gear.

 

[Nokton48]

I just bought a J9 in the classifieds to use on my Bessa R and Bessa T. The former owner states that he believes the lens was "set up for Leica", using it with a M4-2, RD-1, and R3 with great results. Others reported in my recent thread that the lens will focus sharply wide-open with a Leica type, so I am hopeful. Usually set-up for Contax/Kiev L39, apparantly it is possible to collimate the lens for Leica🙂

 

[tedwhite]

I've used a J8 on my Bessa R and it works just fine, but with a caveat. My J8 is a black one, and when I screw it on, the centerline on the J8 does not line up exactly with the Bessa's centerline. It goes a bit beyond.

Also, when I focus at infinity through the viewfinder, the J8 is not quite there.

But the results (negs and prints) are perfectly OK.

Go figure.

Ted

 

[ampguy]

Hi

Hi

If you're referring to the one you bought from me, that's an M4-P, R-D1 (estimating framelines), and Hexar RF. I've never used an M4-2, or Bessa.

As far as LTM/M focusing and aligning, it is not all clear to me about the differences. See the archives for tests where I ran a bunch of old LTM lenses on an M-Mount and Zorki 4K, and all close focused fine at 1-2m, except for the I-50.

I've tried this particular I-50 again on the R-D1 and have determined that it backfocuses about 1-2m close up, but works at longer distances, while my I-22 works fine on the R-D1 and M film bodies at minimum distance wide open (only 3.5 for both).

So you have to try. 3.5 and the 2.8's of the LTM lenses I have may be too slow or give too much DOF to show differences, but of the 2 J8's I've owned, one has worked fine at f2 at min distance (on both Zorki AND M body), the 2nd works fine at min distance wide open on the R-D1 (have not tried 2nd one on Zorki yet).

You can see some of the J9 photos on my blog from last year I believe.

I just bought a J9 in the classifieds to use on my Bessa R and Bessa T. The former owner states that he believes the lens was "set up for Leica", using it with a M4-2, RD-1, and R3 with great results. Others reported in my recent thread that the lens will focus sharply wide-open with a Leica type, so I am hopeful. Usually set-up for Contax/Kiev L39, apparantly it is possible to collimate the lens for Leica🙂

 

[bellyface]

thanks guys, looks like the other alternative is the orion-15, 28mm... if I can find one.

 

[RML]

thanks guys, looks like the other alternative is the orion-15, 28mm... if I can find one.

If the reports are true that is one over-priced lens for the image quality it delivers. More of a gimmick, and you pay the price for that.

 

[QUAsit]

Neither Orion-15 28/6, nor Russar 20/5.6 will mount on Bessa-R. Orion by the way is so-so lens, Russar is very good one.

 

[brachal]

Neither Orion-15 28/6, nor Russar 20/5.6 will mount on Bessa-R. Orion by the way is so-so lens, Russar is very good one.

The Orion-15 will mount on a Bessa-R; I've done it. I think the Orion delivers very good pictures, but it's so slow. Because of it's rarity, it's also very expensive compared to other FSU glass. fedka.com has one for sale now, but for the money I would buy a CV 28/3.5 instead. f6 is just too slow for me.

 

[Nokton48]

Oops, Ted!

Thanks again for the J9, I'm looking forward to testing the rangefinders in my cameras with my new lens. Others have reported OK use wide-open, so time will tell.

The majority of the time I will use the 75CV, the J9 is (hopefully) workable with wide-open apertures, if not, I'll use it at f4, or even further stopped down.
I have a lot of medium format Sonnar lenses, they are all great users.

 

[ampguy]

No problem

No problem

You may want to do a lens test with cans of beans or a tape measure at 1meter or so, with several items a cm in front and behind your focus point, then you can still use it wide open, you'll just know if you need to front or back focus when wide open and close.

Maybe at 1m, you'll have ot focus on ears to get the nose in focus, etc. In any case wide open at f2 and close up, no matter how perfect your gear, you've got to really concentrate on focusing and hope your subject doesn't move quickly.

I like F2 close up because I can take portraits almost anywhere without cleaning up the room first, the background will always look like some colored garden 😉 but lately I've been digital "chimping" a lot, which is kind of cheating.

Oops, Ted!

Thanks again for the J9, I'm looking forward to testing the rangefinders in my cameras with my new lens. Others have reported OK use wide-open, so time will tell.

The majority of the time I will use the 75CV, the J9 is (hopefully) workable with wide-open apertures, if not, I'll use it at f4, or even further stopped down.
I have a lot of medium format Sonnar lenses, they are all great users.

 

[Nokton48]

My test target is a full-size sheet of newspaper (the stock reports-very fine type over the whole surface). I taped it to a piece of foamcore board, and drew a + with a sharpie marker. I shoot the target at a 45 degree angle, as close as possible, and can easily vary the shooting distance. I always use a cable release and heavy tripod.l

I focus on the exact center of the sheet through the rangefinder, and I can study the film sharpness, and line of sharp depth-of-focus. Hopefully with the J9 it will be right on the nose, as it is with all my CV lenses, and Canon 1.2

Later