Canon LTM Canon 7s lens question(s)..newbie here

Canon M39 M39 screw mount bodies/lenses
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wblanchard

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I will soon be the proud owner of a Canon 7s. I wanted to know of any lens recommendations. I like to shoot 35,40, or 50mm. I like very sharp and contrasty lens like my Hex 40 1.8 or hex 50 1.7 ....i realize those wont work on the 7s mount and wanted to ask everyones opinion. I will shoot cityscape, people shots, lowlight...i was wondering if the 35mm pancake II lens would work on this camera or Jupiter 12 lens (35/2.8)? as you can tell..im totally new to the canon 7s and need help.

thanks!
Bill
 
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i think most screw mount lenses will work.
i want a canon 35/2 for sharpness and contrast also. (no real exp w/ this lens, just from reading)
the cv 35s will fit but they will feel light compared to the camera. this is one reason i prefer canon on canon, good balance.
the standard 50/1.8 is relatively sheap and excellent, very sharp.
no 40 framelines on the 7s.

i'd like to get a 7s someday, much prettier than the 7, but i'm in no rush.

joe
 
The Jupiter 12 probably won't work, as only a very few of them have a smaller rear element, and noone quite knows which ones have it.
All the Voigtlander ltm lenses should work, or basically any other m39/ltm lens- it's only the Jupiter 12 that is really only for Fed/Zorki cameras.
I have the unpancake Voigtlander 35/2.5 and have found it has good characteristics. I like the way it treats colour more than b&w so far.
In 50mm, there are 2 great cheap Russian lenses the f2.8 Industar 61 (plain or L/D) (~US$12) and the f2 Jupiter 8 (~US$25+?). Both of which will produce pics just as sharp/contrasty as the Hexanon's you mentioned (I've got those AR Hexanons too- you are talking about the SLR ones?).
In 50mm I'd go for these two first before spending more money, I think they're among the best bang for bucks bargains in the field of photography. There's been talk very recently here about both lenses in the Russian rangefinder sub-forum for instance.
With 35mm or 40mm you start having to pay significantly more money, there aren't any cheap alternatives to the Jupiter 12 (which is a good lens on a Zorki/Fed), probably the 2nd hand Canon ones? then new Voigtlander?. Leica lenses tend to keep their (high) value.
M.
 
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The 2/35 Canon is very small a lens for that big camera (though good performer).
For the same price or less, the new 1.7/35 Voigtländer looks nice on it, esp. the chrome version, sharper than the 40 year old Canon wide open (at f/8 no big difference), and finish is better and more durable.
The Canon 2.8/35 is said not as good as the 2/35 (but I have seen very nice pictures made with it on this website, and I'm not sure about). It should be considerable cheaper (mostly in chrome). It should be, on a Canon RF, better than any Russian 35mm but no match for the 2.5/35 Voigtlander.
The Russian lenses very often have focussing problems with German or Japanese cameras, the longer the focus the more. See Davidde Stellas website for details. I just got a roll B&W through my Canon-P and most of the pictures with the Jupiter 2/85 wide open were out of focus. I used it for some "pleasant" contrasts but with my 1.8/85 Canon the yield should have been higher.
As far as 50mm lenses are concerned: the Canon 1.8/50 is one of the best, also pricy. I just got a mint one for 140 USD. The older, chrome versions are better finsihed, though more heavy and more adequate to earlier cameras like the IV, V, L, VI (optically the same). Avoid haze or fungus at that lens. Leave the 1.4/50 Canons for the collectors like me ;-) If you want it fast and sharp, look for a (new) Nokton 1.5/50
If 35mm is your first lens then an option is to skip the 50mm and look for a 75mm, like the Voigtlander 2.5/75. An excellent lens and looks also excellent on a 7/7s. You can use the 85mm framelines and some "plus". It works.

cheers, Frank
 
Hello Frank (sorry I'm feeling a bit arguementative), I've always thought though that it is the 85mm Jupiter 9 specifically that's the terror of the Russian lenses (mostly through improper reassembly they say). Similarly I didn't recommend the 50/1.5 Jupiter 3 specifically because I'm a little sceptical that it's possible to focus lenses accurately at ~f1.5 on rangefinders compared to SLRs.
I've always had the impression that the Stellas (who write very interesting stuff) had a photographically privaleged background and have been influenced by their exposure to expensive top notch gear, which has influence on their impression of the Russian gear.
Have you tried the I61 and/or J8 yourself? In the bangs for bucks arena the US$12 I61 wins easily over a US$140 Canon 50/1.8. I think because it's so cheap people can't take it seriously and dismiss it out of hand.
It's also hard to respond once someone does a blanket/sweeping impression/dismissal of Russian gear based on a lens outside the range the question was asked about- it obscures the original question i.e. it muddies the waters.
Like I said in my previous post after recently doing lots of subjective lens tests (on the Hexanons he mentioned, various 50mm m42 lenses and the Russian m39 lenses mentioned), the performance of the 50mm lenses I recommended is at the same high standard as the Hexanon lenses he's accustomed to. I've even come round to thinking that once lenses get to a certain high standard (which I'll include the I61 and J8 in) the results from them in the areas of sharpness and contrast are all very similar to each other (to the naked eye at least, though they'll be those people with their 40x loupes who disagree). At this lens plateau point I think it gets into the realm of personal preferences/appeal- as people prefer a particular subtle look a specific lens imparts over another subtle look another lens may have- in both case the lenses will be sufficiently sharp, just one has more appeal than the other to that individual.
Regards
M.
 
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A correctly calibrated Canon 7s will have no problem focussing a fast lens; I use the F0.95 on my Canon 7. It is right-on. I have more problems with the 55mm F1.2 on the Nikon F2AS.

The Jupiter-8 is sharp; I have a $2 J-8 on a Nikon S2 and a $15 Helios-103 on the Contax IIIa. On LTM, you have to be careful with the focus. The 52.3mm J8 is slightly off from the 51.6mm that the Canon 7 expects. The error should be covered by the DOF; but it will be shifted behind the focus indicated by the camera's RF. Focus on the subjects nose at 3' to get their eyes in focus. Some Russian LTM lenses shift the focus slightly closer to compensate. I use a Sonnar 5cm F1.5 on a Nikon S2, but I increased the camera mount shims by 0.5mm to compensate.
 
Bill, I also had a thought- have you got the Hexanon 50/1.4? That combined with a Konica TC-X (with a body only weight <390gm, which is very comparable to a lot of rangefinders) would give you a very light and low light street shooting package. (Coincidently I have both available for sale, plus even a nice 7 element teleconverter in Konica AR).
M.
 
Hello Brian, if you say so (about the fast lenses). I don't have much experience in the field, I've only used a few 50/1.4 SLR lenses. It just doesn't look like it should be accurate.
Regards
Mike
 
Mike,

I have all the lenses mentioned (Hexanon 40/1.8 for SLR, Canon 50/1.8 LTM, I-61 LTM, J-8 LTM), and mostly agree with you - I'd say, they are all on the same standard, but not all similar - the J-8 is a bit different from the others becaus it is a much lower contrast lens (which must not be a bad thing, though!), and is a bit more flare-prone, and the I-61 has definitely more contrast than the others; as fo sharpness, ther's not much difference (OK, wide-open the J-8 ( and I have 3 in LTM mount and 2 J-8m in Kiev mount to compare) is a bit soft, but already at around f/4 it gets very sharp!
As for the other issue of the focussing differences, that article on the Stella homepage is definitely right - I did focus tests with all my LTM lenses wide-open and close (at around 2.5 to 2 meters, because that's where I use them most of the time), and the Russian LTM lenses consistently focussed behind a target with the Bessa R; that was the only reason why I got the Canon 50/1.8 - if the Russian lenses would focus correctly, or if I only used them stopped down a bit and not at such close distance, I would have been just as happy with their results.

Roman (who is carrying the Konica TC with the 40/1.8 and TMax 3200 in his jacket at the moment - as much as I love RFs, once in a while something different is nice, too! And in the othe pocket of the jacket is the Bessa R with 35/2.5 and Neopan 400, anyway...)
 
".. Russian LTM lenses consistently focussed behind a target " Hi Roman, this is how 2 out of 3 of my pictures looks like with the Jupiter-9 at my Canon-P. All my Canon LTM lenses focusses well with my two Canon's and my Bessa-R. The 0.95 focusses precisely at the Canon-7, as well as the 1.8/85. This even works at my (small RF base) Bessa-R! My Nikkor-LTM 2.5/105 is also a bit (but slighter) out-of-focus wide-open.
Yes, it's only one Russian lens, so one-rat-experiments doesn't say much. Also I cannot complain because it was cheap, looks beautiful, is compact, handling like silk, a pleasure at f/5.6-8. But Sonnar lenses were famous for pictures wide-open, weren't they? When it arrived it was so horribly calibrated that it wasn't to focus beyond 6m! Despite of recent recalibration in Russia it shows this behavior. So next time I will use it with my Russian Fed-3
 
Regarding the J-12... Mine fits the 7, but I'd seriously recommend you (if you want to try yours) to do it with extreme care, with the shutter open at the T setting, and looking with the open shutter through the back of the camera as you SLOWLY screw in the lens. Chances are that the huge rear element will collide with the top/bottom/left/right light baffle. Mine didn't, but probably was 1/10th of mm to do it, hence I leave the J12 for the Ruskies, and use the CV 35/2.5 on the Canons...
 
Thanks for the extra info guys. Sorry for sounding a bit cranky.

Taffer can you measure your J12 and post the results in that thread I started in the Russian RF subforum on finding smaller J12's?
M.
 
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