Russar MP2 20mm Lens

[Ron (Netherlands)]

Anyone any experience with the Russar MP2 20mm Lens?
If yes, could you show some pictures.
thanks

 

[Roger Hicks]

I had one, maybe 20 years ago, and it was so staggeringly awful that I don't think I've kept a single print made from it. This is apparently normal, though I have heard people say they had a good one. All I can suspect is that either they were lucky (FSU stuff had unbelievably variable quality control) or they weren't very critical.

 

[wlewisiii]

OT: Great to see you post again Roger. Welcome back!

William

 

[skhan]

I have one and my copy is (mostly) a piece of crap: close up its ok, not so at infinity. I use it as my `underwater' lens, i.e. I take it when I go commando style in the rain 🙂.

Here are some shots (all but the 1st are significantly USM-ed in PS).

 

[varjag]

Shakil, those are freezing to look at 🙂

Roger, welcome back here!

 

[sleepyhead]

I ownd one for about a year before the CV 21mm f/4 was released. My example was okay - quite sharp in the centre, but not so sharp in the corners. Very little distortion, and I don't remember vignetting issues. I found it not really usable at f/5.6, I always stopped down to f/8 or f/11.

Now that lenses like the CV 21mm exist, I can't see why anyone would have this lens, unless you got it for free or something. Sorry, I don't have any scans here at work.

 

[skhan]

Yeah Eugene, I quitted before my camera did 🙂.

 

[John Robertson]

I have one and echo all that has been said, nothing like as sharp as my Orion, and a slot in the mount catches on the r/f cam of some of my fsu cameras. The CV21 is much better and thanks to collectors sometimes cheaper. I bought mine new in 1995, but have not used it much.
Its best feature is the parallax corrected finder I use it with the CV21.

 

[ZorkiKat]

I was able to play with one. It vignettes badly.

A cheaper alternative to 20mm on RF is to get an M42 to LTM adapter and use an M42 20mm instead. The Russar 20 is scale-focused anyway. An adapted M42 focuses by scale as well. Extreme wide angles aren't too critical with focus anyway.

One more advantage is that M42 wide angles (I use a Mir-20) are faster, and don't vignette as badly as the Russar 20.

The only disadvantage here is the size. The Mir-20 + adapter can be quite hefty.

 

[peterm1]

Most reviews of this lens that I have read are good - sorta. In other words if Ivan did not over do the vodka last night and the lens did not come off the line on a Monday or a Friday that is. I have seen example images from the lens and they all looked very nice indeed.

 

[Fotokor]

Oh, it sounds wonderfull, low sharpness and vignetting... I'd like to have one, but although I'm living in Russia I've never met one - unfortunately🙁

First question - what kind of viewfinder you're using for this lens? Is there one included?

Second question - where can I find an M42 to LTM adapter ? To use an M42 lens instead really could be a great thing.

Thank you!

 

[Roger Hicks]

There is an excellent FSU 2cm finder, Ukrainian I believe, with a unique arcuate base tilt for parallax compnsation.

Getting an adapter made isn't expensive. My Nikon F to Leica thread adapter was made by SRB of Luton.

 

[ZorkiKat]

Oh, it sounds wonderfull, low sharpness and vignetting... I'd like to have one, but although I'm living in Russia I've never met one - unfortunately🙁

First question - what kind of viewfinder you're using for this lens? Is there one included?

Second question - where can I find an M42 to LTM adapter ? To use an M42 lens instead really could be a great thing.

Thank you!

Gene

Here is an example of one such adapter. It's Russian made 🙂

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-ADAPTER-M42-TO-LEICA-L39-SCREW-MOUNT_W0QQitemZ150152126201QQihZ005QQcategoryZ30059QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

As for the finder, one was made for the Russar. It's Russian, not Ukrainian, being made by KMZ. These finders are rather expensive. Many are sold alone, and often sell as much as the lens itself. They're sought by non-Russar users too, since these can be used on any 20mm lens on any RF. One advantage it has over the other 20mm finders is that it has parallax adjustments.

Some friends have made DIY finders for 20mm or wider lenses using door spyholes.

Jay

 

[Fotokor]

Thank you - Roger and Zorki-Cat - I will ask about it in my shop on the Nevsky - maybe they know something about this viewfinder - if not, maybe I'll realy try a spyhole🙂)