Were there any FSU LTM 90s?

[kvanderlaag]

Just out of curiousity. I'm looking for a 90 I can mount on the M2 so I can play with a portrait lens. I'm not too keen on paying out the ass for one (especially since the M2 was an unexpected purchase.)

Wondering is all. If there were any, I might have to pick one up.

 

[wlewisiii]

Not that I am aware of. However you can get a 90/4 uncoated Elmar for even less than dirt cheap. I know as I have one and I'm as serious a bottome feeder as you'll find (when I'm not being stupid :bang: :bang: :bang: )

It is an exquisite lens and can be found very cheap because most people today associate uncoated with bad quality. But let's be real - the uncoated 50/3.5 Elmar, the 50/2 Sonnar & the 50/1.5 Sonnar are the lenses that made the miniture format something other than a curiosity...

William

 

[doubs43]

Not to stir the pot because they don't usually go for less than $50 ~ $75 but I saw one go last weekend for $11.50!! Uncoated 9cm f/4 Elmar for $11.50. It had a small ding in the front that shouldn't have hurt anything. I had planned on bidding but had a telephone call when the auction ended.

Walker

 

[ZorkiKat]

There was an f/4,5 (or was it f/6,3?) 100mm FED- probably based on the 'mountain Elmar'.
It was a prewar lens (made postwar as well?) made for the FED- so its thread mount, as well as camming is not exactly Leica compatible, as all prewar FED offerings tend to be.

Later, when the Soviets decided to make accessory lenses for their FED and Zorki lines, they decided to base the optics on Zeiss lenses made for the Contax. And they apparently "adopted" only the faster lenses: the Jupiter-3 and -5 (from Sonnar 1,5 and 5/ 50m) Jupiter-9 (2/85) and Jupiter-12(2,8/35). They did not seem keen on making their versions of the slower lenses like the Tessar (though they had it as Industar for the FED or Zorki, but they never made one for the Kiev) or Triotar.

The soviets probably saw the Sonnars as being revolutionary and progressive, and the Tessars or Triotars too reactionary???? 😀

Jay

 

[doubs43]

There was an f/4,5 (or was it f/6,3?) 100mm FED- probably based on the 'mountain Elmar'.
It was a prewar lens (made postwar as well?) made for the FED- so its thread mount, as well as camming is not exactly Leica compatible, as all prewar FED offerings tend to be.

Later, when the Soviets decided to make accessory lenses for their FED and Zorki lines, they decided to base the optics on Zeiss lenses made for the Contax. And they apparently "adopted" only the faster lenses: the Jupiter-3 and -5 (from Sonnar 1,5 and 5/ 50m) Jupiter-9 (2/85) and Jupiter-12(2,8/35). They did not seem keen on making their versions of the slower lenses like the Tessar (though they had it as Industar for the FED or Zorki, but they never made one for the Kiev) or Triotar.

The soviets probably saw the Sonnars as being revolutionary and progressive, and the Tessars or Triotars too reactionary???? 😀

Jay

The 100mm FSU lens for the FED/Zorki can be found on ebay but they usually go for a pretty penny.

The Soviet decision to use Sonnar-formula lenses was, IMO, much less a decision based on performance or their view of the Zeiss optics as "revolutionary" as it was a practical matter. If they had captured the Leitz factory instead of the Zeiss factory I think we'd be buying FSU lenses today with Elmar, Hektor, Summar, Summitar, Summarit etc formulas.

Capturing and transporting the Zeiss factory back to the USSR gave the Soviets the Zeiss optics. In many ways the Russians are very practical people and using the best of the Zeiss optics was really a no-brainer IMO. Even so, their variety of Zeiss knock-offs was fairly limited to a relatively few designs; one in 35mm, two in 50mm, one in 85mm and one in 135mm.

Walker

 

[FrankS]

Find yourself a 90mm f4 Elmar, coated or uncoated, screwmount or m mount. The problem with longer FSU glass is the slight difference in FSU and Leica standard lens/film registration. No problem with a J12 with its larger DOF.