Industar 26m to Industar 61 L/D progression

[mark-b]

I read little bits of information here and there about the Industar 26m and the improved version, the Industar 61 L/D lanthanum-coated lens. Aside from the fact that lanthanum is radioactive, and that the I61 has click stops, were there any improvements to the optical design?


mark-b

 

[Nickfed]

I understand that there is nothing noticable that cannot be put down to manufacturing variations. All I-61s had some Lanthanum glass, it's just the with the later ones they decided to tell you about it.

 

[mark-b]

Heheh, no worries about the radioactivity =) ...so essentially, it's the same optical formula?

 

[wolves3012]

General opinion is that all the I-61s had Lanthanum oxide glass (it's not in the coating). I read somewhere that a guy tested his with a Geiger-counter and it read about twice the normal background radiation - hardly something to worry about.

All the I-61s have click-stops, as do the very late I-26s. The optical arrangement is the same in both and they are sharp and contrasty, more so for the I-61. If you get one, try to avoid the later I-61 L/D types since they had silk-screened markings and were quite badly made. The drop in quality is quite noticeable. Many think the "panda" I-61 (black/silver) are the best.

 

[mongo141]

General opinion is that all the I-61s had Lanthanum oxide glass (it's not in the coating). I read somewhere that a guy tested his with a Geiger-counter and it read about twice the normal background radiation - hardly something to worry about.

All the I-61s have click-stops, as do the very late I-26s. The optical arrangement is the same in both and they are sharp and contrasty, more so for the I-61. If you get one, try to avoid the later I-61 L/D types since they had silk-screened markings and were quite badly made. The drop in quality is quite noticeable. Many think the "panda" I-61 (black/silver) are the best.

This it true, I must have about 9 or 10 of the things and they are a nice sharp, contrasty lens. In fact the are one of the best for B/W work, I use one on a Leica II. The Lanthanum lens element gives almost the same effect as a #8 yellow filter. However the quality control is very POOR. I have had to dissasemble and relube every single on of the things and find them full of metal shavings and really sloppy machine work. When you find a good one that wasn't machined by a vodka swilling ex T34 tank mechanic it is an really nice lens and they are inexpensive. I bought 5 at a time from one FSU seller for about $9.00 each and ended up with one that I liked. Regards, David

 

[Al Kaplan]

The lanthanum glass in the first model 50mm Summicron gets slightly yellow with age.

 

[Dave Wilkinson]

I got an I 61 LD from an Ebay seller in the Ukrain, - you've seen the ads...'checked by professional repair man' !, first roll was terrible!, I stripped it and found the focus helix started in the wrong position! ( multi-start thread ). Now it's one of my favourites - lovely rendition.
Dave.

 

[Spider67]

Alfred Klomp made an experiment you can find here:

http://cameras.alfredklomp.com/fed5/radiation/

I concur that the 61 L/D's are a singn of decline in Lens building. If you have them side to side you'll see and feel immediately the difference. On the other side the 61 L/D is still cheap on the bay. 2-3 Years ago you could buy them for about 18$ with a special lenscap on the back: a Fed 5. The SLR version (in M 42) of the I 61 L/D is still a decent lens with a bit of a macro capability although the f stops are a PIA.

 

[mark-b]

🙂 This is all very helpful in choosing which variant to get! So avoid getting the later version L/D, as the panda (or zebra) version is most likely better made that day. And it's good to know that lanthane glass is its own yellow filter. I do notice that when using color film (Kodak Gold 200), it's warmer than usual.

mark-b

 

[mh2000]

the 26M is significantly nicer to look at and to use, *my* late 61 L/D is significantly sharper and has better contrast than my immaculate 26M. I've wondered about just swapping out the optics. I like the focus lever on my early 26M and don't care about click stops at all... stopped down it does fine.

 

[mark-b]

That's good to know, MH2000 😀 ...as I've wondered how much better the I61 is compared to the I26m.

New question (maybe this is like comparing apples to oranges, but) : How does the Industar 61 compare to the venerable Jupiter 8 at its best day of manufacture? 😕

mark-b

 

[blazejs]

Hmm.. I have always thought that L/D is better. Buy as I have also 2 zebras I'm almost never using I have to test that.

 

[kievman]

My later 61L/D IS sharper than my any of my Jupitars (I have 6 J-8's) especially wide open. where the 61s is very sharp, My sharpest J-8 is comparable to the 61L/D at F4 for sharpness, but has a different look. The 61 is a very contrasty lens, the jupitar is medium contrast. Some people say that the 61L/D is the sharpest of all russian lens. I can't say that as I dont own that many russian lens - Michael

 

[mark-b]

thanks for the comparison info on both the J8 and the I61-LD, Kievman. With that, one has to choose film wisely for the lens, and vice-versa. 😎

 

[kotokot21]

Sorry for bumping an old thread, but do anybody know the size of optic elements in I-26M, I-61LD and I-62LZ match? I know that you can swap elements between I-22 and I-50, I've tried and it works. Now, I'm thinking about a diy perfect rigid f2,8 Industar. To my taste, the construction of I-26M is the best one, it has a focusing tab, it has much more aperture blades for round bokeh than any I-61 and the engraving quality of markings is much better. On the other hand, the later I-61 L/Z (the SLR ones) are multicoated (and lanthanium). I'd like to know if the diameter of the lens elements match, so that it could be swapped (with proper shimming)?

 

[ForestCap]

Sorry for bumping an old thread, but do anybody know the size of optic elements in I-26M, I-61LD and I-62LZ match? I know that you can swap elements between I-22 and I-50, I've tried and it works. Now, I'm thinking about a diy perfect rigid f2,8 Industar. To my taste, the construction of I-26M is the best one, it has a focusing tab, it has much more aperture blades for round bokeh than any I-61 and the engraving quality of markings is much better. On the other hand, the later I-61 L/Z (the SLR ones) are multicoated (and lanthanium). I'd like to know if the diameter of the lens elements match, so that it could be swapped (with proper shimming)?

There are 10 blades I-61 as well, even with click stop. Usually early Zebra version.

I-26's build is like sliver J8, you need to screw the lens block into the end to have it fixed. While I-61 has this long screw in the middle of the body that fixes the lens block in place. So it is easy to "shim" the I-61 if there is focus problem as it does not require a shim.

I don't think I61's lens block can screw in I26 body.

BTW: I've also swapped elements between I22 and I50 and found no ill effect 😀

(All I61 in the above discussion refer to the RF versions.)

 

[kotokot21]

Yeah, but I mean't not the lens block, but the separate glass elements. I know, it might be tedious to center align them while reassembling, but theoretically possible. The optical scheme looks like it's the same in all these lenses. I'm just thinking, should I by an LZ for the glass. Or at least put the glass from LZ to LD, for the multicoating sake.

 

[ForestCap]

http://www.zenitcamera.com/archive/lenses/industar-26.html

http://www.zenitcamera.com/archive/lenses/industar-61.html

Diagram of I26

and I61

I haven't removed the individual elements of neither lenses, but from the blue-prints the front element of I61 looks rather "fat", if the drawings are realistic.

 

[Valkir1987]

The elements of the I-61 L/D are indeed thicker. The lens contains more glass in other words. The entire optical unit can be changed from the mounts and helicals from the I-26M But the elements themselves can't be exchanged.

The Industar 26M is not a spectacular lens, it performs less than the regular Industar 22 or 50.

The 61 L/D has very good contrast and center sharpness. But it is darker and less sharp in the corners.