My next Russian lens...suggestions please

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OMboy

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Howdy folks.

I've got a Zorki 4 and 4K and also a lovely FED 2 which is in the process of some gentle refurbishment.
I have a Jupiter-8 50mm F2 and an Industar 26M 52mm F2.8 (with a loose aperture ring 🙁).

I was looking to get a couple of other lenses without breaking the bank and wondered what other users would recommend...?

I have been looking at the Jupiter 3, 12 and 9 but I realise there is a huge choice of possibilities for the M39 mount.

Any other reasonably priced gems I should be considering...?

Cheers
 
I would recommend the J12, and get the VF. 🙂 I'm not sure if the universal turret "fits" the zorki 4/k ergonomic-wise, but I have the dedicated 35mm J12 VF, all from Alex Photo.
 
Definitely J3 if you like 50mm, but try to get an early one in good condition.

The J12 is a good lens too, but some seem to have had a hard life and don't always perform too well. A good one is a real joy, and I regret selling mine.

I have a J9 too, but rarely use anything longer than 50mm these days.

There are nice lenses from Canon in LTM - the 50mm f 1.8 is probably the most overlooked.
 
The J8 is great. I have and use two of them - most of the time.
The money for a J3 isn´t worth the one stop for me.
Around 35mm and 85mm with f2.0 is nice to have but not really
necessary. Get a lens if you really need and use it. My opinion.

Regards, Axel
 
Well what are you intending to shoot? Get a J-12 if you lean towards "street" and are comfortable with getting close to your subjects. Get a J-9 if you want to go more into portraits, or picking out details.

If you don't know yet, keep shooting your 50 until you do.

Remember you will also need a good finder, especially if you wear glasses.
 
I have a Jupiter 12 and turret finder (both with keepers) which I'm about to put on Ebay..... I just bought a Bessa R and as I understand it cannot use this particular lens. I've a Zorki 4K - with case which will also be appearing!
Best regards,
RoyM
 
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Yes, there are some other lenses you might think about. To make your FED2 a nice pocketful, you might consider a collapsible Industar 50 50mm/f3.5. Slower than either the J-8 or I-26 but it will make very good photos, I think. It should work fine on your Zorki as well.
I like the J-12 quite a lot--enough that I recently got myself a FED 4 so that I can use the J-12. I've been happily using Bessa cameras for a couple of years now but missed that lens.
The J-9 can be an excellent lens but finding a decent one is problematic. I bought three before I got one that worked well for me.
I'm happy with both the 35mm finder and the Universal finder. Which one you might want would depend on the lenses you want to use; if you just get a 35 then I would suggest the 35 finder and if you decide to go for others as well, then I think the turret finder makes more sense.
Good hunting!
Rob
 
For wide-angle the J-12 is a common and pretty good lens. Word of caution: on many FED 2 models the RF sensor doesn't quite sit in the right place and fouls or misses the lens-cam. Take the back off the camera and have look to see. The sensor arm can be bent up or down a fraction (carefully!) if needed.

For faster, the J-3 is liked by many but they can be a lottery and need adjustment. Personally I think faster film can go along way to negating the need for the 1-stop advantage over the J-8.

For longer there's the J-9 but they are also a lottery, many have been re-assembled wrongly and don't focus properly. The J-11 is worth having, if perhaps too long for portraits.

The turret-finder isn't the most compact, some prefer the brightline type. Personally, I like the turret-finder a lot - choice of focal lengths in one unit and it shows more than full-frame, allowing you to see what you might want to include.
 
I also have a 50 collapsible that is uncoated and its perfect for that old timey look I use it with a blue filter.



paulfish4570 said:
industar 50 rigid or collapsible (as already mentioned). talk about your bargains. very easy to self-CLA if necessary. check fedka.com (it will not need a CLA). i love what it does with light and my bessa ...
Click to expand...
 
Well - thanks for all your thoughts - I have lots to chew over now...!

The collapsible Industar 50 is an option I hadn't considered - I'll keep an eye open.

wakarimasen - can you send me links to the items you mentioned you were selling (PM if you prefer).
 
The I-61/LD as stated above which is a 55/2.8 is a sharp lens. Perhaps the sharpest of the lot. I like the click stops on the later model ones like that come standard on the Fed 5. I use this lens on my Bessa R. Has Lantham glass like the old 50/1.4 Takumar on Spotmatics. Also get a J-12. I use the tele-wide finder with this lens. It's a fairly bright finder that can be had for cheap.
 
Viewfinder

Viewfinder

You may want to consider the Japanese Helios viewfinder (for 35 mm - 85 mm - 135 mm); lightweight and inexpensive, I use one with different FED and Zorki cameras and it seems quite accurate.
Joao
 
Thanks Joao - I had been looking into viewfinders and found the Helios version available.

It looks ideal without spending a fortune on the Voigtlander or Leica versions...!

gbhill - which tele-wide finder are you suggesting...?

Many thanks for the continued suggestions - I love this forum 🙂
 
Tele/Wides: The Petri is workable if you don't wear glasses. I do, and the roughly-35 outer frameline is useless for me. I'd give it to you but postage to the UK may be prohibitive. It's a $10 or less item on ebay, wouldn't pay more than that. (Some people do, I saw $50 recently, goodness they can't be helped...)

I just picked up a Kaligar which is much better made. Really quite impressive. All aluminum, very crisp brightlines, protective front glass to keep the silvered surface safe. Problem is it's made for Instamatics, so the frames are square and the foot is non-standard. I will need to tinker with it. $5.99 shipped for the whole set (case, lenses, a filter thrown in), I was the only bidder.

Not an ideal solution for 35 but better than the Petri. Plus, I also needed a better 50 finder than the stock IIIf built-in.

These are the two I have tried.

PM if you want to work something out for the Petri.
 
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