Menopta : mystery possibly uncovered!

darkkavenger

darkkavenger

Massimiliano Mortillaro
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Dear comrades,

I will post here what our fellow RFF member Jean sent me in a private message regarding the listing... Jean has met Princelle recently and discussed with him about several topics, one of them being the mysterious Menopta lens.

(english translation)
For the Menopta, the rumour makes of it a re-badged Helios-103. And it's in this direction that I had questioned Princelle. He has been categorical regarding the filiation with the Helios-94 (The 53/1.8 lens in external mount of the Kiev-5). It is indicated in his book, but not in a clear way. So from there comes the easy confusion with the Helios-103...

(french original text)
Pour le Ménopta, la rumeur en fait un hélios 103 re-bagdé. Et c'est en ce sens que j'avais interrogé Princelle. Il a été catégorique au sujet de la filiation avec l'hélios 94. C'est précisé dans son livre mais pas de manière franchement claire. D'où la confusion facile avec l'hélios 103...

I hope my translation is correct, english isn't one of my maternal languages. 🙂
 
That is enormously interesting Max! But now we know the "What", there remains a yet greater mystery - "Why?"! If it's true the lenses were made in the early 90s, I find it almost inexplicable.

But as Churchill said "Russia? It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma"!

Cheers, Ian
 
Churchill was certainly right about Russia!

According to Princelle KMZ/Krasnogorsk stopped producing Jupiter-8 lenses in 1955 and handed over to Zavod Arsenal/Kiev, but still we have some examples of lenses produced by KMZ in 1959. And it's like this with almost all the lenses of the Jupiter line... I was discussing this with Jean through PMs earlier. So crazy...
 
I've got a Helios side by side with a Menopta (940015) and they are twins. Slight, slight difference in the ribbing on the aperture ring and the haptics are a bit nicer.

I don't why the Menopta exists or who decided it should exist, but it's always been a topic that piqued my curiousity.
 
Me too, and for the reason that menopta lenses aren't expensive and do not seem faked. That said, the Helios-94 and Helios-103 share similar features, though the Helios-94 is in external bayonet mount.
 
No, that quote has always been attributed to one Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill.

Does this have any relation to the Meopta Opemus enlargers? I have an Opemus III, purchased in about the early 1970's. Or does this refer to a lens for a camera - there were also Meopta cameras, at least for a while.

Having been a Spanish major/teacher, I won't comment on the translation of French.
 
*grins* I hope the translation is correct. French, Italian and Sicilian are my maternal languages, so if I made any mistake it must be in the english translation ;-)

Regarding the Menopta lens, it has no ties with the products of Meopta, the Czech (and former czechoslovakian) company based in Prerov who produced enlargers, TLRs, rangefinders and other optic equipment. Meopta cameras are usually known as the Flexaret (TLR series), Opema (type I with viewfinder, type II with RF), and Etareta (compact). + some other goodies... Enlarger line : Opemus, Axomat, Magnifax (if I remember well)
 
Max, do we have any idea who made these lenses? I find myself wondering (with my near-zero knowledge of Russian) if "menopta" is short for малая оптика ("small optics"), suggesting some sort of specialist producer, which might throw light on just why they were made.

Cheers, Ian
 
Just received my £8.00 Menopta today (#940146). I already have a Helios-103 (83xxxxx). Whilst they are outwardly similar, but for the "milling" on the aperture ring, the appearance from the rear of the lenses is different. The rear element of the Menopta seems to be more recessed into the metal body. Or to put it another way, the distance from front to rear element seems to be less in the Menopta. No measurements yet, and certainly no photos. It's just an initial impression. And I also have a strong impression that this is an Arsenal product, even though there is no logo on the lens itself.

Cheers, Peter.
 
Jocko said:
Max, do we have any idea who made these lenses? I find myself wondering (with my near-zero knowledge of Russian) if "menopta" is short for малая оптика ("small optics"), suggesting some sort of specialist producer, which might throw light on just why they were made.
Click to expand...
More idiomatic term would be миниатюнрая оптика ("miniature optics"). But, it doesn't look like an acronym of either. That said I actually like how Menopta sounds, given my compatriots' poor record of inventing original product names 🙂
 
dll927 said:
No, that quote has always been attributed to one Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill.
Click to expand...
This reminds me of that time, a long while ago, when hearing the same on the radio, a companion said: "Juan Winston Churchill?? I didn't know his name was Juan!" 🙄

Slightly back on topic: does anybody know if the Helios-103 and any of its variants are coated at all? I have a Helios-103 in Contax RF mount and it doesn't seem to be coated at all.
 
They are all coated, as about every Soviet lens since late 1940s. Most of them have neutral coating, you still see it though if you watch reflections from a light source at an angle.
 
darkkavenger said:
(english translation)
For the Menopta, the rumour makes of it a re-badged Helios-103. And it's in this direction that I had questioned Princelle. He has been categorical regarding the filiation with the Helios-94 (The 53/1.8 lens in external mount of the Kiev-5). It is indicated in his book, but not in a clear way. So from there comes the easy confusion with the Helios-103...

(french original text)
Pour le Ménopta, la rumeur en fait un hélios 103 re-bagdé. Et c'est en ce sens que j'avais interrogé Princelle. Il a été catégorique au sujet de la filiation avec l'hélios 94. C'est précisé dans son livre mais pas de manière franchement claire. D'où la confusion facile avec l'hélios 103...

I hope my translation is correct, english isn't one of my maternal languages. 🙂
Click to expand...

Max, your translation looks quite accurate to me. (I'd never seen the verb "re-badger"!) I might have said "relationship to" or "common lineage with" or the like for "filiation," but I have less trouble understanding you than understanding most Americans! (Then, I'm an old codger who's never even sent a text message...)
 
Hello, I unearth this thread as I just bought a Menopta myself (they seem more uncommon now...). I did not find much info on it except here.

I got mine with a non focussing m39 adapter :
$(KGrHqN,!q8E+0VpNY5GBQB9M6WEW!~~60_12.JPG$(KGrHqV,!pkE-1bCc9M0BP+(6dlny!~~60_12.JPG

In Princelle's book, the Menopta is pictured with the same adapter :
menopta_princelle.png

I think it is an adapter to mount it on an enlarger, no? But I did no see anything about it on the web.

By the way, my lens was not really on the Contax register (backfocus) but with a small paper shim it is now a fine lens:

 
PT2615. In the 1993 and 1994 years, when Kiev rangefinder cameras were no more produced, Arsenal Factory of Ukraine prepared a special series of “Helios 103” with “Menopta” name intended to substitute original "Jupiter 8" lenses on overhauled Kiev rangefinders. Lenses were also sold separatedly (source: Luiz Paracampo).

http://www.sovietcams.com/index.php?1916563424
 
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