Camera for Biotar?

rbiemer

rbiemer

Unabashed Amateur
Local time
2:20 PM
Joined
Sep 17, 2004
Messages
5,092
I just recently bought another M42 SLR camera; I have (now) three M42 lenses that I'd like to be able to use. 2 are no problem on either of my M42 cameras or, with an adapter, on my EOS. The third lens--of course it's the one I want to use the most--is a CZJ 58/f2 Biotar. That one is optically very good though the barrel is obviously well used. But it will not mount on any of my cameras--if I put it on the EOS, it will interfere with the mirror. As it does on the Fujica I own. And with the Pentax ES I just got, there is a small hook like thing just behind the lens mount threads that keeps the Biotar from mounting.
SO, 2 questions:
Which camera was this lens made for? And which other cameras should I be able to use this on?
I suppose I could just sell the darn lens and be done with it but I'm sometimes a bit stubborn about this sort of thing.
Thanks!
Rob
 
Beautiful lens, mine is on an Exakta IIa. :) I assume the lens was originally made for that camera. Check out Contax D and Chinon CS, I seem to recall reading somewhere that the T version of the lens works on them.
 
I have a Biotar in Praktina mount that I really like. The Contax D is a lovely camera but old and perhaps not reliable. The Zenit B might work and is inexpensive. Aperature control is manual. Good Luck. My Biotars in Exacta and Praktina mount make lovely images. Joe
 
It's a screw mount lens, right? Because this lens was made for the Exacta bayonet and M42.

I have a small early Tessar that I can't use on most M42 cameras for the same reason -- the rear of the lens housing blocks the mirror.
 
They were made in both Exacta bayonet and Practica screw mount with either pre-set or semi-auto diaphragms, auto stop down but you had to recock it each time. They may have also been made for the Praktina breech lock mount. By the early sixties C.Z. Jena replaced it with the 50mm f/2 Pancolar with fully auto diaphragm.

The Contax D takes Practica / Pentax thread mount, not Praktina breech lock (often referrred to as "bayonet").
 
I have used the Biotar and Tessar M42 lenses on my Canon 40D with the proper adapter. I could see where the mirror on a "regular" SLR would hit the back of the lens though. The hook style mount sounds like an Exacta, though
 
Thanks for your suggestions, y'all!
I should have attached some illustrations about what I'm encountering.
So, here they are.
The ES camera is a M42 screw mount, my reference to a "hook" in the lens mount was to this--circled in red:

ES%20mount.jpg


And the Biotar I own is this one:

Biotar%20T.jpg


And the mounting problem on this camera is caused by the "extra" metal after the screw threads--again, marked in red:

Biotar%20image.jpg


This is a pre-set lens and looks very much like the one here:
http://www.praktica-collector.de/CZJ_Biotar_2_58_T.htm except that that lens is stated to have a minimum aperture of f/16; mine does go to f/22. Otherwise the same lens.

Good suggestions about cameras so far, folks. What about the Bessaflex?
Thanks again,
Rob
 
The Hook on the ES is to allow wide-open metering with the later generation Super-Taks that came out with the Spotmatic II.

I used a 42mm "universal screw mount" Tessar with my Cosina STL1000, but had to file the offending metal down. Otherwise it hit the camera's plate that stops down the aperture of the lens.
 
Praktica models prior to the L-series, except the Super TL, should provide the greatest compatibility; for lenses made prior to automatic diaphragm actuation with long threads, the actuator plate inside the lens mount can be disengaged if the camera has this function, but if not, as in pre-FX2 models. then no problem at all. The automatic diaphragm actuator in the Contax-Pentacon models cannot be disengaged, however.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom