Pairing a Bessa R with Jupiter 8

[m.sids]

Yes, the marks on the ring don't index with the line any more in the old position.


I first adjusted with the retainer ring that holds the aperture ring(the one hidden under the ring with the aperture marks). But adjusting with that ring makes the aperture ring wobbly. So I then noted how much adjustment had been necessary, by how much that retaining ring had to be rotated (same rotation you can see on the front lettering after reassembly), and in shim thickness directly as well, by just squeezing the shim material between aperture ring and retaining ring. The sheet metal thingy from a floppy disk was the right thickness for mine, appears to be aluminum and can be cut with normal scissors. Although it's too small for an actual ring, cutting a spiral and bending it a bit wider works. Hope this was clear, if not I'm happy to answer more questions.

That's pretty clear I think I can figure it out from there. Thanks for the explanation. When my I61's aperture ring was off I loosened one of the retaining rings in the back and rotated until it indexed right It sounds like you hit the limit if that adjustment though?

Only thing I'll have to figure out from here is where to get a floppy disk haha.

 

[Artingei]

I didn't like the R regarding it's build quality. Most parts of it felt shaky and I did not manage to take balanced pictures when shooting vertically. If you can live without a built in light meter I would recommend a Canon LTM body for half the price. These are reliable and well built cameras for your Jupiter 8 and/or even 35mm lenses. (I even prefer a Zorki 4k over a R…)

 

[Graybeard]

I didn't like the R regarding it's build quality. Most parts of it felt shaky and I did not manage to take balanced pictures when shooting vertically. If you can live without a built in light meter I would recommend a Canon LTM body for half the price. These are reliable and well built cameras for your Jupiter 8 and/or even 35mm lenses. (I even prefer a Zorki 4k over a R…)

I formed a similar impression and sold mine while it was still in one piece.

I particularly worried about breaking the back door off, given its plastic construction.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

But after shimming, the aperture ring needs to be set in a new position. Have you found it necessary to tap new holes for the screws the hold the aperture ring or just gently tightened them?

It is in same or another PDF file. You have to with white J-8.

 

[rfaspen]

OK. So much talk about shimming:

If your J-8 works/focuses now (on Leica, FSU, Canon, etc.) I doubt you need to shim the lens. The amount of "off" among J-8 lenses has more to do with manufacturing variability and history (people opening up the lens to shim it 🙂 ). If you're J-8 is out of focus with other cameras, its probably simply out of adjustment and probably not due to the small difference in the Leica vs. Contax FL standard for 50mm lenses. I think most people cannot really notice the need for shimming until you work with fast lenses and close focus distances (e.g., f/1.5 and 1 meter).

I have used a few different copies of J-8 on my R with good results. Also used CV 35/2.5 (highly recommend for the R!), Minolta Super-Rokkor 45/2.8, Canon 28/3.5, Industar-22 (two copies), Fed-50, Industar-10, Leica Elmar 90/4, Leica summaron 35/3.5, Canon 50/1.8 (two copies), Canon 50/1.4, CV 21/4, CV 15/4.5, Leica Summar 50/2, Jupiter-3, Leica Hektor 135/4.5 (not recommended), Arco 135/3.5 (also not great), Canon 100/3.5 (nice lens!), Leica Elmar 50/3.5, and a Jupiter-12 35/2.8 (no metering with this guy). I'm pretty sure I'm missing some others, but by now you get the idea...lots of lenses.

There are a few FSU lenses among those I've used on the R. I don't think I can attribute any problems with my photos to bad shimming. Bad photographic technique - absolutely! 😉

Why mess with something that ain't broke? Try your J-8 on the R first and see how it looks. If you aren't satisfied and it appears to be something that will be fixed by shimming, then open the lens and shim.

OTOH I'd say avoid the J-9 85/2 on the R. That lens has a problematic mismatch between Leica and Zeiss standard. Also, if you get a Jupiter-3, then you might want to go through the hassle of shimming. Its nice to have that lens properly perform wide open at close distances. But you also have to consider focus shift with these sonnars -- its always something.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I formed a similar impression and sold mine while it was still in one piece.

I particularly worried about breaking the back door off, given its plastic construction.

Film plate is hold by two plastic pips. I dropped R on the carped with film door open and film plate went off.

 

[David Hughes]

...Now, whereas the Fed/Zorki cameras were based on the Leicas captured at Stalingrad, the lenses were copies of Zeiss designs from Jena in the Russian occupation zone...

Hi,

Where did this come from? Asking because the FED appeared in the mid 1930's, long before Stalingrad and the Zorki after the war to compete with the new built FED factory.

Regards, David

 

[rbiemer]

A Bessa R and J-8 have been my primary rangefinder set up for quite a long time now. And, as others have reported, any focus issues were not due to the lens.

I did look for a while until I found the '55 vintage lens I've had for a decade or so now and have been very happy with it.

One thing I look very closely at when I'm looking at a new purchase is the condition of the screw heads. If those are damaged at all, I will pass.

Before you get the screw drivers out, run a roll through it and see how your particular J-8 and your Bessa actually perform. If there's a problem it should be fairly obvious and then you might want to adjust the lens. I'll give long odds, though, that if your J-8 is working well on your FSU bodies now, it will be fine on a Bessa.

Good luck!
Rob

 

[Melman923]

I shot with the R and a Jupiter 8 all the time...very happy with the combination. The R is a wonderful camera for me.

 

[m.sids]

I just received my R and shot a quick test roll through it. The focus was close but not 100%. I believe that the RF was off a little, so I used a loupe and some scotch tape to match the RF to the focus. I'll post pics when I get the roll back.

PS If you hate that sticky feeling material on the film door it is a cinch to remove! I softened it with some rubbing alcohol and used a credit card and microfiber to scrape/polish it off. There is a beautiful matte finish underneath that I applied some 303 to and it looks SO MUCH better than before.

 

[FalseDigital]

I originally bought my Bessa-R with a Jupiter 8 attached to it.
I've only recently upgraded to a Canon LTM 50mm f/1.8 but for the longest time that was the lens I used. Never had a problem with it. Focusing seemed to be pretty accurate on my copy as well :]

 

[Steve M.]

I had several J-8 lenses on my Bessa R cameras and never had any focus issues. Never had to shim anything. Maybe some people did, I don't know, but I did several tests with the focusing wide open at nearest focus distance and other distances and all was fine. Very nice little lenses for the price. I also used them on screw mount Leica cameras w/o a problem. For what it's worth, mine were the later black lenses.