Good Russian wide ltm lenses?

J

jojoman2

Guest
Hey folks. I'm pretty happy with my gear for serious work. This hasn't cured my gas for gear to just fool around with. Now I'm searching out ltm wides just to have fun with. I know the canon 28/25 lenses are a thing, anybody use either of them? I am particularly curious about Russian wides, though, and welcome any information about them.

Recommendations, precautions?
 
I was hoping to pick up something in the f3.5 to 4 range, f6 is a little slow. I want to be able to shoot 400 film at 800 indoors with acceptable results.
 
I know the various examples differ but my J12 is the best 35 I have. I confess I do not have a German 35 but I do have 2 CV's and a Komura and the J12 out performs them. Mine is black and is coated so maybe a later version but its small light and very sharp.
 
hmm that does seem to be pretty good given the speed of the lens. How thin did the negative look? It's also possible that color film scans better than black and white when thin. I wouldn't know because I've never scanned a thin color negative (never shot color).

If I can pick up the lens for under $100 I'll do it. It looks, from what I can see, to be in the price range of the canon 28/2.8.
 
The industar-69 28/2.8 can be had for $20. Anybody have one of those?
 
jojoman2 said:
The industar-69 28/2.8 can be had for $20. Anybody have one of those?
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I haven't done it (yet) but the I-69 can be converted pretty easily. See here: http://hamishgill.blogspot.com/2008_11_01_archive.html

Can't help you too much with your original question. Up until yesterday the only lenses I had in 28 or wider were CVs (21/4 and 25/4). I just got a Canon 28/3.5, but I haven't done anything but clean it so far.
 
feel free to post back with some results from the canon. I think my best option for ltm wides are either one of the canon 28's or the canon 25. Doesn't look like any russian wides can be had on the cheap...
 
02Pilot said:
I haven't done it (yet) but the I-69 can be converted pretty easily. See here: http://hamishgill.blogspot.com/2008_11_01_archive.html

Can't help you too much with your original question. Up until yesterday the only lenses I had in 28 or wider were CVs (21/4 and 25/4). I just got a Canon 28/3.5, but I haven't done anything but clean it so far.
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Yes, you can 'fix' the focus issue with the Industar-69. You still can't turn it into a lens worth using however.
 
Out of curiosity, I once investigated the Industar-69 (temporarily adjusting the focus helicoid to suit the different lens mounting face - to - film distance of the full-frame FED 2). It doesn't cover the full 135 frame, it vignettes severely in the corners. Cropping off the vignetted area, you're no better off for angle of view than that given by a normal f=35mm lens, and on smaller film area. It's why they're comparatively cheap.
 
I'm not really bothered by significant vignetting and less-than-razor-sharp optics, so I'm sure I'll still modify an I-69 one day. But then I've hacked questionable lenses before - see here for one example of wide and (very) cheap: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=149900

The J-12 is a good 35mm option, but I was under the impression that the OP wanted something wider. Generally speaking, the affordability factor drops away quickly once you go wider than 35mm.

I'm sure the Canon 28/3.5 will be good. I've got several other Canon lenses that I like.
 
I also own the J-12 (black version) and agree 100% about its performance. But it sounds like you want something wider than a 35mm field of view.

If you're open-minded to try a non-Russian lens, I would highly recommend the Cosina Voigtlander "Color-Skopar" 21mm F4. It's a LTM lens, very compact, well-built, and has excellent image quality. It's faster than the Russian "Orion" lens mentioned earlier, so that's a bonus.
 
Yeah I need something wider than 35mm. I'm set with a 21mm super angulon for ultra wide.

I want a 28 or 25 ltm for the following purposes:

1) Something to bring out when I'm hanging out with friends and don't want to carry $3000+ around my neck.
2) a kit to use when it is raining really hard.
3) a kit to bring somewhere that I'm worried about getting mugged and losing my best gear.
4) just because
5) I am a wide angle shooter, and would like to be able to use Russian/Leica/canon ltm bodies with lenses I actually enjoy shooting.
 
Skip 5, honestly, Russian wides are not worth of the current market price.
Konica off-road 28 for 1-4.
Well, well under $100.

And 35mm is not wide, of course. :)
 
jojoman2 said:
Yeah I need something wider than 35mm. I'm set with a 21mm super angulon for ultra wide.

I want a 28 or 25 ltm for the following purposes:

1) Something to bring out when I'm hanging out with friends and don't want to carry $3000+ around my neck.
2) a kit to use when it is raining really hard.
3) a kit to bring somewhere that I'm worried about getting mugged and losing my best gear.
4) just because
5) I am a wide angle shooter, and would like to be able to use Russian/Leica/canon ltm bodies with lenses I actually enjoy shooting.
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Watchoo want is a Voigtlander Snapshot Skopar 25mm LTM. Great lens. For an RF coupled LTM you'll be wanting the Voigtlander Skopar 28mm LTM.

edit - oops, just noticed u were asking about Russian lenses..
 
I like J-12 and hate that most LTM don't have usable 35mm frameline/peephole for glass-wears. Which LTM body are you using?

newst said:
Here is a cheap LOMO 40mm modified to LTM mount.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Russian-LOM...470221?hash=item2362349b8d:g:5hgAAOSw9mFWKpuc
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I have this lens. The T43 they sell does not have RF coupling, and the distance scale is of course wrong. Unless one shoots at infinity only, it's not usable.

02Pilot said:
I'm not really bothered by significant vignetting and less-than-razor-sharp optics, so I'm sure I'll still modify an I-69 one day. But then I've hacked questionable lenses before - see here for one example of wide and (very) cheap: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=149900
Click to expand...

The Industar-69 is quite sharp in the center, but from middle to edge I have to stop down to f/11 and beyond to eliminated obvious smearing, and it's still blurry at far corner. And the camera I used this lens on was an M4/3 camera (x2 crop factor to 135). The only feature I like about the lens is the compactness. And it's fun to tinker it at home.

I have album of the lens, with all unedited jpgs: https://www.flickr.com/photos/98455087@N02/albums/72157635454345860
 
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