Ode to Industar

[Spyderman]

I was very surprised by this FSU Tessar. Unbelievable sharpness and pleasant bokeh... what more can I say ? I love Sonnar look, but this Tessar ain't bad either...

Both photos taken with Bessa R2 loaded with Foma 400 and Industar-61L/D 53mm/2.8 lens @ f/4 (or f/5.6 🙄 )

 

[Spyderman]

BTW: here are 100% crops from one of the pictures. Scanned from negatives with Minolta DSD III.

 

[Santafecino]

Spyderman--
These are really sharp! Was the lens collimated for LTM rangefinders?
--Lindsay

 

[zuikologist]

Very nice - sharpness and good tonality. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Spyderman]

The lens itself has interesting history. I bought it from Max (darkkavenger) in parts - he had accidentally lost all the screws when trying to relube it. I used screws from another I-61 and put it together because the glass and all parts were minty. The other I-61 went back to Max in Kiev mount (link to the thread).

It's as I assembled it. No special adjustments for Leica standard. BUT: my Bessa R2 is adjusted for FSU/Contax standard (so that I could use all FSU lenses w/o adjustments).

 

[Santafecino]

Amazing! So you "collimated" the body. I wonder how you do that.

 

[ErnestoJL]

Nice and sharp pictures!

Ondrej, did you use or made a special mount to adapt Contax/Kiev lenses to your Bessa?

BTW.... I started thinking of buying an I 61 LD....
It´s nice to see that young people like You do things that others (like me) may not even dare to think!

Cheers

Ernesto

 

[brachal]

The I61 LD never seems to get the respect it deserves because it is so inexpensive and there are so many of them.

 

[ErnestoJL]

The I61 LD never seems to get the respect it deserves because it is so inexpensive and there are so many of them.

That´s a good reason to buy one right now, a little before some people declare it as a colectible one.

Ernesto

 

[Welsh_Italian]

The I-61 is probably my favourite lens. Its quality combined with its price makes it one of the best values out there. I have a couple and I prefer the plain I-61 to the I-61L/D even though it flares sometimes, only because the pictures have a nice "retro-documentary" style about them.

I also plan (at some point) to get the M42 mount version (I-61 L/Z) for my DSLR at some point. I've heard that it's a cracking lens too though the prices are higher than the RF version. Nice portraits too.

 

[oscroft]

I've got several FSU Tessars, and I've been really pleasantly surprised by how good they are - I love the Tessar design

 

[tr0x]

...but which Industar-61 should i look for?
I've seen a lot of different ones: 52mm, 53mm and 55mm, all in black or panda-style... and also the colour of the lens coating seems to vary a bit...
Ok, they are damn cheap, but should i really need one lens of each flavour?
😀

 

[Welsh_Italian]

...but which Industar-61 should i look for?
I've seen a lot of different ones: 52mm, 53mm and 55mm, all in black or panda-style... and also the colour of the lens coating seems to vary a bit...
Ok, they are damn cheap, but should i really need one lens of each flavour?
😀

Maybe you could find a reputable seller and buy a box of them in one go! 😉

 

[tr0x]

Maybe you could find a reputable seller and buy a box of them in one go! 😉

hum... this seems to me a sort of GAS, or not? :bang:
However in the next weeks i think i'll buy a couple of lenses (J-8, I-61), i'll post photos as soon as possible.
😎

 

[Spyderman]

..but which Industar-61 should i look for?
I've seen a lot of different ones: 52mm, 53mm and 55mm, all in black or panda-style...

There are basically 2 versions: I-61 (usually "Panda") and I-61L/D (black with yellow letters). The focal length 52, 53, 55 is just rounding of the physical focal length which should be 52.4mm i.e. they all have the same physical focal length.

BTW: according to J.L.Princelle even the plain I-61 (without L/D designation) contains Lantanum glass!

 

[tr0x]

BTW: according to J.L.Princelle even the plain I-61 (without L/D designation) contains Lantanum glass!

That's interesting... i'll go for a panda I-61 😉

 

[nzeeman]

and what do you mean when you say "Was the lens collimated for LTM rangefinders?" i think that industars are made for ltm standard.

 

[Santafecino]

That was me. The question arises because it seems likely that some FSU LTM lenses were designed to work with a rangefinder that assumes a normal focal length the same as the Contax/Kiev standard, rather than the Leica standard, which is slightly different. It is possible to collimate a FSU lens so that it works with a Leica-standard rangefinder.
--Lindsay