Fast Sonnar on Kiev?

[Pherdinand]

Hillo!

A question to the gurus: How about sticking a 50/1.5 (Zeiss-Opton) Sonnar to a Kiev? Could get a Sonnar for a reasonable price but, does make lotsa difference what's the black box behind?

Any experiences? Ideas?

 

[phototone]

Go for it. Or just get a Jupiter 3 50mm 1.5. Should be same lens, just made in Ukraine.

 

[wlewisiii]

Shouldn't be any issues. I use a Sonnar 50/2 on my Kiev 4a and I'm bidding on a J-3 right now.

William

 

[kiev4a]

I have the Zeiss lens on a Contax II and love it. My only experiencewith the Russian 1.5 was a Jupiter 3 LTM and it stunk up the place.

 

[phototone]

A lot of J3 in LTM are not calibrated correctly, as they have been disassembled and re-assembled incorrectly. This doesn't seem to be the case with the Jupiter lenses in Contax/Kiev mount. You are more likely to get a good one in Contax/Kiev mount. Particularly the J3 and J8, as the focusing mount is in the camera, not the lens.

Phototone

 

[Pherdinand]

OK, OK...I know about the issues with the J3. However i was more curious about any focuscalibration problems rising from the ultrafast f/1.5 Zeiss (a good working one) used wide open on a Kiev body. Any mismatch in the flange distance, or such. Good point is, i guess, that there's no helicoid in the lens but in the camera body.

Kiev4a...did you try your Sonnar on the kiev4a?

Thanks so far.

 

[rover]

I have not heard of any incompatability issues with Contax mount FSU lenses. It is the LTM ones that have issues. I think a Sonnar on a Kiev should work fine.

 

[supermarcel23]

Of Course You Can But...

Of Course You Can But...

Assume your lens will not focus properly as it will have to be adjusted to the body. There is only one way to adjust a normal lens on a Kiev/contax mount camera : see at http://www3.telus.net/public/kaylalyn/checking lens working distance.html
It is the same thing for the Zorki/leica mount, and I'm angry against those who speak of the LTM J-3 that had been incorrectly set at the factory. Even it is true some lenses are better than others in FSU production.
For a Zorki or a Kiev, if you have not a perfect lens to film distance, a perfectly adjusted rangefinder, and a lens adjusted to the body nothing good will result from this combination, even if you have a marvelous lens as the Zeiss or the Jup'

 

[phototone]

Remember, the Kiev cameras "ARE" Contax cameras, just the pre-war ones. The Lens flange was not changed, just the tooling was moved to Ukraine from East Germany, and of course certain features were updated over the years, but the basic shutter/lens flange internal focusing mount, rangefinder are the same.

If a Kiev won't focus with a Sonnar, then it won't focus with a Jupiter. If it will focus with the J3, or J8, it should focus just fine with a Zeiss Sonnar/Opton f1.5.

 

[Wayne R. Scott]

I wish I could answer this for you, as I have 2 Zeiss Sonnar 50mm f1.5 lens and I have a Keiv 4AM. Unfortunately, the Keiv does not focus any lens so it would not be a fair test. I have found some string (not Yak hair) but I think it will do and I'm going to ship the 4AM off to Oleg and hopefully in a couple of months I will be able to answer your question. Not much help now though, is it?

I do like the sonnar lens on my Contax for what it is worth.

Wayne

 

[jdos2]

I've a CZJ Chrome 50 1.5 (Coated! With the magenta T* coating) and it works fine on my Kievs.

"Takes nice pictures," though it does need to go in for a cleaning. It's the one lens that I look at and REALLY wonder what it's seen.

 

[Pherdinand]

Thanks everyone🙂 Seems promising.

 

[carolus]

My very early 50mm Tessar does not collapse on my Kiev 4 due minor difference in construction.

The camera working distance on my brand new Fed is slightly out of spec: it needs another thin paper shim: anyone know anyone who sells/makes such?

My (1972) 50mm f/2 Jupiter 8 is a good lens and better than the old Tessar, save the Jupiter has low contrast at f/2.8 and very low at f/2.

 

[wlewisiii]

If it's "very early" then that Tessar won't collapse fully on any Contax II/III/IIa/IIIa either. The ones for the Contax one were constructed slightly longer than the ones for the Contax II/III. There were many that were modified by Zeiss to fit, however... 😀 If it's a too much for you to bear, I'd be willing to take on the burden of providing the Tessar with a home :angel:

William

 

[jdos2]

My very early 50mm Tessar does not collapse on my Kiev 4 due minor difference in construction.

The camera working distance on my brand new Fed is slightly out of spec: it needs another thin paper shim: anyone know anyone who sells/makes such?

My (1972) 50mm f/2 Jupiter 8 is a good lens and better than the old Tessar, save the Jupiter has low contrast at f/2.8 and very low at f/2.

(whispers: Yellow Pages!)