I'm in the J-12 Club. Oh yes!

[oljim]

I just received a nice 1956 Jupiter12 for my Kiev and Contax Cameras. The glass is excellent, the barrel is like new and the focus is buttery smooth. All for less than forty aussie dollars, including express postage!

Now, the lens mounts perfectly on my 1956 Kiev III, but when mounted on my 1978 Kiev 4a the focus wont turn all the way back to 0.9m - it stops at around 0.95m. Now, that's not really a problem itself (I can certainly live with it if everything else is okay), but will this effect the focusing throughout the entire range? Is there perhaps something amiss with the external mount? Should I stop asking questions and start taking pictures? 🙂

Anyone had this problem before?

Anyone got a nice 35mm finder just lying around gathering dust? 😉

 

[reagan]

Congrats on the Jupiter.12. Did you check out the "Spice up the Kiev" thread for a VF? Max's looks pretty good to me. Good luck and enjoy the 12!

 

[captainslack]

Be careful with that lens on your 4a!!!

I have a 1960 J-12 and was seeing a similar issue: I couldn't focus to infinity with the RF even though it appeared that the lens was mounted properly. Well, one day when I removed it from the body, the entire focus mechanism locked up! It's on it's way to G'man to get fixed as I type this.

As for a 35mm viewfinder, I'd post a WTB in the classifieds and see what comes up. Or, do what I did and get one of the CV new-old-stock ones from Photo Village. They're the same as the new ones, except they're plastic instead of metal and only cost $65.

 

[Bob L]

Good luck

Good luck

Good luck with your new lens

 

[wlewisiii]

Oljim, you have a PM.

William

 

[oljim]

Thanks gang.

The lens mounts on and off both cameras easily and the focus feels smooth throughout the range. It just stops a bit short on the 4a. Thanks captainslack, I'll take extra care when using the lens on the 4a.

Should I chase down a later 'black' version for the 4a, perhaps? From reading around the place it appears the earlier chrome J-12s seem to work better on the early bodies, while the later black J-12s work better on the later bodies. Would that echo experiences had by members here?

Interestingly, I have a junk 4am (this camera worked for less than a minute) which wont accept the J-12 at all!

Anyway, I'm off to shoot a test roll, half in one body, half in the other. Wide open and focused on something around 1.5m should give me a pretty good idea.

 

[varjag]

The early J-12s I've seen appear better made than black ones. I have one from 1986, and it sucked until I re-collimated it. The shim was wrong, the focusing action is uneven, and it apparently came in such shape from conveyor belt.