bought a bessa r body today ...

[paulfish4570]

i promise to be patient. thanks for all of the excellent advice.

 

[paulfish4570]

i just found this on an fsu seller's ebay site:
"Any replacing the main lens, as a rule, requires lens adjustment according with camera's rangefinder. Adjustment is available at special workshops, where you should bring Your camera with all your lenses."
so this makes me wonder if the bessa-r's rangefinder can be tweaked a tad to match up with an fsu normal lens that might not match up perfectly ...

 

[rbiemer]

i just found this on an fsu seller's ebay site:
"Any replacing the main lens, as a rule, requires lens adjustment according with camera's rangefinder. Adjustment is available at special workshops, where you should bring Your camera with all your lenses."
so this makes me wonder if the bessa-r's rangefinder can be tweaked a tad to match up with an fsu normal lens that might not match up perfectly ...

You could do that but you'd then have a camera that would focus well with only that specific lens. Sort of defeats the advantage of an interchangeable lens camera.
Rob

 

[paulfish4570]

e-mailed yuri at fedka. he said a new (or newish) jupiter 8 fits the r nicely.

 

[rxmd]

The Russian lenses are built to the Contax standard, even those in Leica Mount. Many of them (most) need to be shimmed for perfect focus. Including the J-8 that I just disassembled. It was off my 1m at 5m. Added 0.1mm to the shim.

Note that being off 1m at 5m has nothing to do with being built to the Contax standard, rather than with being badly misadjusted.

I wouldn't worry too much about it. For the cost of a Nikkor 50/2 you can get about twenty Industar-61s. If all you want is a lens, an I-61 will do the job.

Starting down the quest for the ultimate FSU lens is not all that different from the quest for the ultimate 50, or the ultimate portrait lens, or the ultimate Leica lens, or any other of the quests practised on sites with a high nerd quota such as this. (It is a lot cheaper, though.) However, I suggest you don't start on any quest. If you want a cheap 50 to take pictures, getting an RFFer to sell you a known good I-61 or J-8 is not the worst idea.

 

[rxmd]

Another thing: the R rangefinder is adjustable, but it's not entirely comfortable and rather fiddly. Try not to adjust the camera if you can avoid it. Get a known good lens instead, from a reputable seller or from someone knowledgeable in a place such as this.

 

[paulfish4570]

thanks, rxmd.

 

[paulfish4570]

the new-in-box color-skopar 35/2.8 on ebay has gone north of $125 with three days to go. i am fearful it is racing beyond the cost of the r body - and beyond my pocketbook.

 

[ferider]

I recommend to try to find a Nikkor 50/2 or canon 50/1.8 for US 150 or so. Outstanding lenses, very solid, no worries about wrong collimation, faster than an Industar. To shoot people indoors, f2 or faster is very useful on an RF.

Roland.

 

[rxmd]

Well if the $150-$170 ballpark is an option at all, KEH has a collapsible Summicron 50/f2 in screw mount for $172. Granted it's in UG condition, but you'll still be able to take pictures with it (KEH don't sell complete junk). On the Bessa you'll probably even be able to collapse it, it doesn't go all that far inwards.

Alternatively, Fedka has several J-8s for $60 or so. It's one of those dreaded Soviet lenses that will eat first your camera and then your soul, but Fedka is a reputable US-based seller, if the lens is complete junk, miscollimated etc. (which in all probability it won't be) you'll have somebody around to complain to.

 

[gho]

e-mailed yuri at fedka. he said a new (or newish) jupiter 8 fits the r nicely.

I use a black J8 on the Bessa R and the Bessa T with an adapter. No problems so far.

 

[paulfish4570]

thanks to all.