L39 => Kiev RF converters do exist

V

varjag

Guest
..and I've got one yesterday (see the photos).

Problem is, looks like it is for Kiev-5 only. The ring has m39 treads on inner side and grooves on the outer side, resembling those found within inner Kiev/Contax bayonet. Unfortunately the ring can't be inserted in my Kiev-4A as it is blocked by the inner bayonet's rotating barrel: it seems to have the same diameter.

The seller (an aged Soviet collector) was confident that the ring is an adapter for rangefinder Kievs. He said that the L39 lenses should be focused to infinity prior to installation, and that the range then can be set using the Kiev's finder. The catch is that the minimal focusing distance would be slightly longer. He also mentioned that M42 SLR lenses then can be installed, using M42-M39 adapter rings.

The ring is apparently made of steel, well machined, and has a fixing screw. Could well be a factory product.

So could some Kiev-5 owner (I know some are around here) please post a photo of the bayonet innards?
 
I'm not sure, but this may be an adapter for contax style enlargers to use LTM style enlarger lenses. I don't see how it would focus on the Kiev-5, which does not have an internal bayonet mount.
 
But there still should be a helical for rangefinder coupling within the Kiev 5 lens mount, no? My idea was that the ring could attach to it, effectively constituting an inner bayonet but with with M39 treads.
 
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I just sold mine (to another RFF member) but I still remember that the Kiev 5 has a rotating inner sleeve for RF coupling. This is engaged by tabs on a tube that extends from the rear of a 50mm lens in the special Kiev 5 mount. In other words, the 5 has an outer bayonet only, and uses the same type of coupling for all lenses that older Kievs (and Contaxes) used for the wide and tele lenses that mount on the external bayonet.

The rotating coupling sleeve is not on a helical (it doesn't move in and out as you focus) and it doesn't have bayonet fittings -- just slots to engage the tabs on the lens' coupling tube. So it's hard to see how this adapter could mount on a 5 -- the adapter's lugs look to be spaced for an inner bayonet, which the 5 doesn't have, and there's no way to couple the lens' in-and-out focusing movement to the rotation of the coupling tube.

I wonder if this adapter could be intended for mounting on some other type of Kiev accessory that has an inner bayonet but does not have a focusing helical -- maybe a reflex housing, or a bellows or other close-up attachment?
 
Ok, I've caught the seller on the phone. He states that he used it with plain Contax II, and that I should "just push it harder" and it will fit. Hmm.. gonna try it later today then.
 
It's interesting how different companies made their products. In the case of Zorkis, try putting a lens on at other than the CLOSEST focus, and it simply won't go on the camera. There is an inner sleeve that protrudes at the infinity setting and prevents the lens from screwing in. So much for the old idea that the infinity catch on Leica (Zorki) lenses was to make removal of a lens easier. The catch should be on the close focus side! In reality, the catch was a nuisance anyway.

And with most modern SLRs with auto-focus and auto-exposure, trying to use an adapter for another make of lens will usually cancel out the automatic features.
 
The enlarger adapter sounds like the best analysis. The Russians seem to have been big on making lenses do double duty.
 
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