Thinking of buying a I-22

[MarkoKovacevic]

I'm considering buying a I-22 for my leica III, to somewhat replace my J-8.
I prefer the size of the I-22, the ability to collapse it, and the fact that it does not obscure the VF. I also almost never shoot my J-8 at wide open.
However, I do like the look of the J-8, and have no idea what 'look' the I-22 has.

In addition, as a student, $100 for another 50mm[buying the lens+CLA=shipping] is a decent amount of money, that i could rather spend on film.

Opinions?

 

[Ron (Netherlands)]

Concerning looks, the I-22 is comparable to the Leitz elmar, so you can't go wrong with a decent I-22. In the past I made some tests against the elmar, with hardly no differences (post war coated elmars a little better in color rendition). No differences with respect to b&w.

 

[wolves3012]

I have three of these, two of which I've used on my IIIC, they always surprise me with how well they perform. For the price, it's hard to go wrong. I don't have an Elmar to compare but I believe the I-22 is just as good (and likely better than the uncoated Elmars). I find mine quite sharp and with good contrast.

If you can get an example, the I-50 is supposedly better, though I've never been able to tell the improvement. The collapsible I-50 is not as common as the rigid one, however.

 

[MarkoKovacevic]

Do you feel they are better than the J-8 lenses?

 

[Mablo]

For me I-22 looks a bit like Tessar but flares very easily. It's hopelessly low contrast fully open and I don't like to shoot it below f/5.6. Filters and hood are hard to find. I prefer the Sonnar type Jupiter-8, especially the old -50's chrome and tabbed versions.

 

[rxmd]

I'm considering buying a I-22 for my leica III, to somewhat replace my J-8.
I prefer the size of the I-22, the ability to collapse it, and the fact that it does not obscure the VF. I also almost never shoot my J-8 at wide open.
However, I do like the look of the J-8, and have no idea what 'look' the I-22 has.

Opinions?

Can't go wrong with one, probably. The look is, well, not too contrasty wide open, just as any lens from that generation, an old Elmar is in the same ballpark; it's a Tessar and improves a lot by stopping down. At f/8 there is little to complain about. As with the Elmar you have to get used to the ergonomics, I did not like the infinity lock too much and setting the aperture is fiddly.

You might try an I-61 as well, there you're in the ballpark of a J-8 sizewise (or an I-22 with a hood), but it is a very good lens in terms of colour rendition, sharpness and flare resistance, more so for the money.

 

[wolves3012]

For me I-22 looks a bit like Tessar but flares very easily. It's hopelessly low contrast fully open and I don't like to shoot it below f/5.6. Filters and hood are hard to find. I prefer the Sonnar type Jupiter-8, especially the old -50's chrome and tabbed versions.

My experience is different, I find it quite good on contrast even wide open, probably more contrasty than a J-8 (wide open but that's not really like-for-like). Filters and hoods are, indeed, harder to come by though.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

I just shot with a Collapsible I-50 for the first time. It's quite nice.

I suspect the price difference is negligible between it and the I22. I would go for the I-50. I did find it necessary to Shim for the Leica, was way off when I got it even for a Zorki 3M.

I-50, wide-open at F3.5 and at closest focus.

Tight Crop.

Another at F3.5.

 

[rbiemer]

Hoods and filters for these are not too tough to get; a36 slip-on or clamp-on sized ones are relatively easy to find. But you will need to set aperture with out a filter on the lens and you'll need to take the filter off to change it. Some times that's a pain for me, other times I can set the aperture and not worry about it--depends on what I'm shooting.
Well worth the money, I think!
Rob

 

[Sonnar Brian]

If you can find 19mm screw-in filters, such as those for the Argus C-3, you can use filters and change the F-Stop even with them on. I use one on my Elmar 50/3.5 made by Walz, marked "for Argus C-3".

 

[rbiemer]

I know the I-22& 50 are called an "Elmar clone", Brian, but wasn't sure about the 19mm filters working on the Industars. On my example, there seems to be all of about two turns of the threads and I'm not sure what the diam. is either. Have you tried the filters in the I-50?
Rob

 

[payasam]

You might consider an I-50. It came after the I-22 and is recorded as having slightly better resolution. I've just bought one (from Fedka) for the IIIa which should reach me any day.

 

[ray*j*gun]

the 19's work on my Elmar and my Fed 3.5 collapsible which is uncoated so its pretty old.

 

[Mablo]

After reading this thread I had a sudden motivation to check the overall condition of my I-22. Well, I found a large chaulk like blemish on the inner lens which could have affected the poor performance of my I-22 example wide open. Thanks for giving me the motivation friends.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

I know the I-22& 50 are called an "Elmar clone", Brian, but wasn't sure about the 19mm filters working on the Industars. On my example, there seems to be all of about two turns of the threads and I'm not sure what the diam. is either. Have you tried the filters in the I-50?
Rob

The 19mm filter did NOT fit on the I-50. I have used it with an I-10.

I measured the diameter if the I-50 filter ring, looks like 22.5mm. I will look in the big box of filters, I have all sorts of odd ones. The Contax mount collapsible 5cm F2.8 Tessar takes 25.5mm filters. Too big.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

The lens shimmed for close-up and wide-open on the Leica did not quite reach infinity focus.

I took off the infinity lock, and now the stop screw is the infinity stop. It now goes slightly past infinity, which works out well for the Leica.