Lenses For Russian Bodies?

[ARCHIVIST]

I recently posted a thread 'Which Rusky do I buy' and the response was fantastic.

I have been offered a mint Elmar 3.5cm lens and was told that it would fit any of the Russian RFs with a Leica thread - is this true and if so do all lenses with a leica thread fit and function with regards to focus etc. as they should?

Regards
Peter

 

[colyn]

I recently posted a thread 'Which Rusky do I buy' and the response was fantastic.

I have been offered a mint Elmar 3.5cm lens and was told that it would fit any of the Russian RFs with a Leica thread - is this true and if so do all lenses with a leica thread fit and function with regards to focus etc. as they should?

Regards
Peter

I've used the 35mm Summaron, 50mm Summitar, Summicron, Summarit, 90mm Elmar, and 135mm Elmar and Hektor on FSU bodies with no problems. So I'm sure the 35mm Elmar will work fine..

 

[ARCHIVIST]

Thanks colyn. I was hoping that would be the case.
This puts a whole new aspect on the situation.
All the best for Christmas.

Regards
Peter

 

[Screwy]

Peter , Not all LTM lenses fit on FSU bodys with out problems. Have a look at Fedka,s site for more information .

Theres also a bit more information in This thread .


Paul

 

[Jocko]

In post 6 of this thread - http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32692
- Jay lists many of the incompatible lenses.

There are also a few more issues. I'm always a little surprised when people apparently switch Soviet lenses and retain rangefinder accuracy, particularly at close distances. My experience has been the opposite, to the extent that I've tended to keep dedicated lens/body combinations, the exception being those cameras with RFs adjusted to standard Leica lenses.

In addition, as I believe has been pointed out elsewhere, the FED manuals never refer to the use of interchangeable lenses (unlike, apparently, their Zorki counterparts). My experience suggests that changing lenses mid-roll on a FED results in film fogging. A possibility to bear in mind, anyway 🙂

Cheers, Ian

 

[Richard Black]

I successfully used FSU lenes on a IIIc, but alas I never owned Leica optics that I could use on the FSU cameras that I owned. As a rule, and you know how rules are, ltm lenses will work on FSU cameras, even the new C-V lenses. But to each rule their are exceptions! Disclaimers abound!

 

[Stu W]

I am a former FSU addict. I found that if you are going to use Leica lenses on an FSU body, the body has to be collimated to the lens as Leica lenses have no collimation adjustement that I can find. On the other hand, FSU lenses do. My advice would be to have the body set for Leica, and adjust each FSU lens accordingly. You would need a depth micrometer for most FSU bodies, and if you have a Zorki 3 like Screwy has, a ground glass would do. I'm not an expert on these things so please guys correct me if I'm wrong. Merry Xmas. Stu

 

[ARCHIVIST]

Thanks to you all for your info.
Over the 30 years I've been in photography I have had the chance of buying many 'Leica' type cameras from Nicca to Zorki to FED to Kiev etc. but always said no.
The information from the two questions I've asked on this forum about Russian RFs has invaluable.

Now, not tring to sound like a complete drongo ( Aussie term for dingbat ) but what does LTM and FSU stand for?

Merry Christmas to all and a safe and prosperous New Year!

Regards
Peter

 

[Screwy]

LTM= Leica Thread Mount
FSU= Former Soviet Union

Acronym's , the bain of the Internet at times 😀

Merry Christmas all 🙂 🙂


Paul

 

[ARCHIVIST]

Thanks Paul.

 

[John Robertson]

Lenses For Russian Bodies?
Seems like a strange exchange!!😱

 

[ARCHIVIST]

Lenses For Russian Bodies?
Seems like a strange exchange!!😱

Not really strange.
Funds are tight so I'm thinking of a Russian body with Leica optics - but this may or may not be the way to go as I'm finding out by all the excellent responses I'm getting.

Peter

 

[John Robertson]

Not really strange.
Funds are tight so I'm thinking of a Russian body with Leica optics - but this may or may not be the way to go as I'm finding out by all the excellent responses I'm getting.

Peter

Sorry! poor attempt at humour.
OT I regularly use my 50mm Nokton on my Fed 2 with no problems even at close focus. In fact it is probably easier than the Bessa due to the long R/F base.