Ejg1890
Member
I’m a little confused and looking for information. I bought a Jupiter 9 m39 (silver)mon eBay. My impression was these lenses would work on all FSU rangefinders and with appropriate adapters on today’s digital cameras. However, as I was communicating with the merchant he was indicating some of the m39’s will work on a FSU RF, but not on a mirrorless (slr), and some m39 would work on a mirrorless/dslr, but not on a FSU RF. I know there are a few Jupiter 9 m39’ made for a short period of time for the first Zenit slur’s that won’t work on RF. I don’t get the person was lying to me as if the lens worked on a FSU RF I would have bought a turret viewfinder as well. I am not sure,if,any of this makes sense to anyone, but if you understand what I’m trying to learn would appreciate any comments. Thanks
santino
FSU gear head
There are M39 lenses for early Zenit SLRs and M(L)39 lenses for soviet RFs. Draw your own conclusions… IMO every lens will work on a mirrorless (with the adequate adapter).
dexdog
Veteran
Yes, like Santino said. When buying these lenses you need to know whether it was made for a Fed/Zorki RF or a Zenit SLR. Both have 39mm thread mounts, the ones set up for the Zenit SLR have a different point of focusthan the RF versions. I have a few 39mm thread mounts for Zenit cameras that I have adapted to my Sonys using a 39mm to 42mm adapter that allows the native 39mm mount to attach to a standard M42 to E-mount adapter
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Ejg1890
Member
Ok. Thanks. That was my plan for the mirrorless and was surprised to be told the RF compatible lens would not work on the DSLR/mirrorless. Curious then if I add the m42 step up ring will it also work on my m42 camera (this is the lens that won’t work on the FSU RF)?
dexdog
Veteran
In general, a 39mm thread mount RF compatible lens will work well on a DSLR or mirrorless digital, provided that you use a proper adapter. For example, I have both Sony E-Mount and Nikon Z-mount mirrorless cameras, and even the cheap m39 to SonyE and NikonZ adapters work well. If you have a 39mm thread mount made for the Zenit SLR, you can use these on a DSLR or mirrorless if you have a 39mm to 42mm thread adapter that will in turn be used on a standard 42mm adapter for the camera in question, such as a Sony E-mount or Nikon Z-Mount. The lens made for the 39 Zenit mount will also work on an M42 film SLR camera such as a Pentax Spotmatic, provided that you have a 39mm to 42mm adapter attached to the lens
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Ejg1890
Member
Thanks. I have an m42 adapter for my Nikon Z so that wasn’t a concern. That stated an m42 lens didn’t work well with the F2/FM and adapter. I wasn’t sure if the m42 ring would work with the Spotmatic. Thanks again.
Coldkennels
Barnack-toting Brit.
(Soviet) LTM ones will look like this:
The M39 one is shorter and has a pre-set aperture ring:
(At least, I think they all have the pre-set aperture ring - I may be wrong!)
And then there's Kiev ones, but hopefully no seller is stupid enough to get that mixed up with the others!
Assuming they're not damaged or mis-calibrated, all of the Soviet LTM ones will work perfectly fine on a FED, Zorki, or mirrorless camera with an LTM adapter. They won't work on a Leica, Canon, etc. due to differences in rangefinder spec.
The M39 ones will work on an early Zenit, on any M42 SLR with the M39-M42 adapter, and on any mirrorless camera with an M42 adapter via the same M39-M42 adapter (I've never seen M39 to mirrorless adapters - I guess technically you could find an LTM or M39 extension ring of the right thickness and use an LTM adapter?).
If you're willing to play around with weird gizmos, you can use the M39 ones on a screwmount Leica via a Focoslide or similar, though; I've used the M39 Helios-44 that way. That gives you infinity focus, and the pre-set aperture rings work a treat on that setup.
I can only assume any confusion here is because people (incorrectly) use the term M39 to refer to LTM and Soviet LTM (which are two different things!), when M39 should really only be used for the Zenit mount, in my opinion.
The M39 one is shorter and has a pre-set aperture ring:
(At least, I think they all have the pre-set aperture ring - I may be wrong!)
And then there's Kiev ones, but hopefully no seller is stupid enough to get that mixed up with the others!
Assuming they're not damaged or mis-calibrated, all of the Soviet LTM ones will work perfectly fine on a FED, Zorki, or mirrorless camera with an LTM adapter. They won't work on a Leica, Canon, etc. due to differences in rangefinder spec.
The M39 ones will work on an early Zenit, on any M42 SLR with the M39-M42 adapter, and on any mirrorless camera with an M42 adapter via the same M39-M42 adapter (I've never seen M39 to mirrorless adapters - I guess technically you could find an LTM or M39 extension ring of the right thickness and use an LTM adapter?).
If you're willing to play around with weird gizmos, you can use the M39 ones on a screwmount Leica via a Focoslide or similar, though; I've used the M39 Helios-44 that way. That gives you infinity focus, and the pre-set aperture rings work a treat on that setup.
I can only assume any confusion here is because people (incorrectly) use the term M39 to refer to LTM and Soviet LTM (which are two different things!), when M39 should really only be used for the Zenit mount, in my opinion.
xayraa33
rangefinder user and fancier
Even if you get a RF LTM FSU lens, it might not work on the Fed 2. I had an LTM J-12 lens that would not work on my Fed 2, as the RF cam was set too low on my Fed 2. I had an Industar 10 50 mm lens that would fit few FSU LTM cameras and not on LTM Leicas or Canons but fitted the Nicca Leica copies just fine. I have an early 60s J-9 in Kiev/Contax mount that would not fit an early 1980s Kiev M4 or AM4 but fits Kiev 4 and 4a cameras up to the 1972 vintage.
Coldkennels
Barnack-toting Brit.
The FED 2/Jupiter 12 incompatibility is a common problem, true. You can normally bend the cam follower up slightly so that the J12 fits correctly (but be aware you'll likely have to recalibrate the rangefinder afterwards). There should be no problem with any Soviet LTM Jupiter 9s on a FED 2, though - in fact, they're the best body for them due to the long baselength.
The Industar 10 is a weird one, as that's a very early lens that usually isn't standardised (mine is out of focus on any post-war Soviet body; scale-focusing it on a mirrorless camera with an LTM adapter shows it's back-focusing quite considerably, so it's not just an RF calibration issue).
The other thing that can sometimes throw up issues are the bodies that have a raised area around the lens mount (late FED 2s have this design, earlier ones do not), as that gets in the way of the focusing tab engaging with the infinity lock on the Industar 22 (and Elmar 50/3.5, if you want to set the FED to Leica standard instead of Soviet ones).
tonytantillo
Newbie
I wondered why the infinity lock on my industar 22 did not work properly on my Fed 2.