How do I get a "known good" J-9 for M-mount?

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tofagerl

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I use both a Zorki and a Bessa R2A, and would like as many lenses as possible to be compatible with both, albeit with an adapter on the R2A of course.
I understand that it's hit or miss wether a J-9 will focus correctly on an M-mount camera, but that some DIY will fix it. Well, I suck at DIY, and if I understand it correctly, if I change the length of the J-9 for the Bessa, it will no longer focus correctly on the Zorki.

So plan A is to get a J-9 that someone has tried on an M-mount camera and confirmed the focus on, plan B is to get two J-9s, of which one focuses correctly on the M-mount and one on the Zorki.

Also, I might have to do this for the J-8 as well, since I still haven't gotten the first film from the Bessa developed to see if _that_ lens is focusing correctly.

Any tips? I understand Brian Sweeney is the man to see, but it just seems easier to get a known good lens from the start instead of buying a bad lens and shipping it around to get fixed...
 
Good Luck, I have the same problem, only with Industar 61 l/d's and a Canon P. best learn how to do it yourself, there are a number of websites out there that show you how I have been told. Good luck -Kievman
 
Yeah, that'll end in horrors, bloodshed and cursewords.

My alternative plan is to get a CV 75mm 1.8, but then my other personality kicks in and tries to convince me that since I'm already "spending money", why not get a Tele-Elmarit, or even a Summicron!
 
When you figure out how to get a known-good FSU anything, let me know! 🙂

Seriously though...the proof of the pudding is in the eating and sample photos taken with the lens from a known-good body constitute the gold standard. That being hard to find (duh!), Yuri at Fedka will sell you a J-9 with warranty and will replace/service if you have problems. The other option is buy from some vendor and fix if needed (DIY or Fedka). I have heard that Oleg in Russia does (service/sell) lenses as well as cameras.

Good luck!

Steve
 
I've dealt with Fedka before, great service. I don't know if he'll replace a lens that doesn't focus correctly on an M-mount, but I could ask him if he has an M-camera and adapter to check focus on the lens before he ships it to me...
 
I'd have to say that you need to start with someone like Fedka. That way you can get a good Jupiter 9 lens - that's the first step. But Fedka can not be expected to get you a lens that will work on a Leica. Can Not. Period. Full stop.

A FSU Jupiter 9 LTM lens will require reshiming to focus correctly at any range. At best you can get someone like Brian Sweeney to do that work for you or, next best, tell you someone who can do that work for you.

Worst case you'll need to do it yourself or pay for a lens made to focus correctly in the first freaking place...

Realistically if you are needing a portrait length lens for LTM on a budget, get a 90/4 Elmar and stop playing at being a cheap ****.

Sorry for the insult, but that's the real world. You have to pay $$$ at one end or the other.
 
Adjusting a J9 is not actually that difficult as its made to sound... Dante Stella's got excellent instructions on his site on how to collimate them.
 
If you want an 85/2 that will focus across the entire range with your M-Mount camera, that you do not have to worry about, buy a Nikkor 8.5cm F2.

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79337&highlight=jupiter-9

With a J-9: you can make it focus on a Leica across a range, but not across all distances. My solution: use the Contax/Kiev Jupiter-9 on my Contax II. and that required the main shim be thickened by 0.5mm. It was a New-Old-Stock lens.

The Silver J-9 in Leica mount- I could make it focus on the Leica wide-open at 2m to 5m. after that, focus drifted. You can set it up as a portrait lens. Otherwise- get a Nikkor.

To make a J-9 focus accurately across all ranges on a Leica, you would need to take the helical apart and change the pitch of some internal cams. On my lens I changed the focal length by moving the optics, that bought me some extra agreement. But not full-range.
 
I think Brian is right in saying that it is impossible, or close to impossible to make a J9 to focus correctly across the whole range. I've got mine to focus correctly between approximately 1.55m to infinity. Any closer than 1.55 and I have to "lean back" when shooting with my M6. Results have been good though, I think this is very close to minimum focus:


hands by randomm, on Flickr

With my copy the focal length had to be shortened, and I also had to remove one of the shims between the focusing and optical units to retain infinity focus. Also, I have not tried it with any other RF camera than my own M6 so cannot vouch for its true accuracy according to specs 🙂 ... works for me though.

I also looked at Dante Stella's site and I think it may have changed since I found the repair instructions. Perhaps it might be worthwhile asking directly from him if he'd share the PDF privately?
 
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I have to admit to being tempted to get a J-9 in LTM, but the value is just not there considering the risk and current price points. Instead, I will likely buy a J-9 in Contax/Kiev mount for use on the Kiev 4A.


Steve
 
stevebrot said:
I have to admit to being tempted to get a J-9 in LTM, but the value is just not there considering the risk and current price points. Instead, I will likely buy a J-9 in Contax/Kiev mount for use on the Kiev 4A.


Steve
Click to expand...

I think somewhere either at Kim Coxon's site or Dante Stella's stuff there is a detailed explanation on why FSU lenses and Leica just do not mix without collimation (FSU stuff being LTM but with Contax cam specs or something like that??). I've had to collimate both my J9 and J8.

ps. I'm looking for a J3, if anyone's got a spare lying around... 🙂
 
Buy 20-30 examples.

Choose the best.

The either do the decent thing and smash the 10 worst with a hammer and sell the rest, or just sell the rest anyway.

Cheers,

R.
 
My hacked J-9, wide-open at 2meters:

picture.php


At 1.5M: Good enough, focus on the stalk.

picture.php


Not usable at 1.15m:

picture.php


At 5M, front focus at F2. At F4, is Okay.

picture.php
 
Yeah... Not even in my world would that classify as "known good", so I guess I'm going to have to look for another lens.
The reason I wanted the J-9 was both that it's cheap and that I use a Zorki as explained in the first post. I'm a student, so buying a $500+ lens is a long-term decision, and I just ordered a Nokton 35mm 1.4 SC, to be used on my christmas present - a R2A. I already have a J-8 which focuses perfectly on my Zorki, but is sort of dodgy (but not at all awful actually) on the R2A, so it's not like I have the biggest lens collection in the world 🙂
 
I got an LTM one from Yuri--hand selected and collimated/CLA'd by his repair guy and it's pefect. Pay a little more and you'll be happy.
 
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OK, I thought I was confused before...

If the J-9s are made to a different registration distance than the Leica standard, shouldn't ALL J-9s be made to that distance? So why do some work and some don't?
 
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