What have I done. (FSU Lens Straight Flush)

clarence

clarence

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Hello,

Please excuse this post if it offends you, but I am quite unable to contain this excitement.

I just managed to acquire every FSU lens that I ever wanted. It was a very fortuitous event, and I'm still shaking from it. The forgettable, humble but stoic Jupiter 8. The maligned Jupiter 11, clad in anachronistic chrome. The stealthy Industar 22. The maverick Jupiter 9. The idiosyncratic Jupiter 12. And the mercurial Orion 15.

Each of these lens will be lovingly put to the yoke. Some will surpass all expectations, and others might not, and I may well have to let go of them.

My transition to rangefinder photographer is complete.

Clarence

PS: Thank you, Jonas, Robin and Joe for helping me out.
 
Clarence, congratulations and good for you! Now all we need is to see some pictures from these underappreciated lenses. You don't say but I suspect they are all LTM?

Walker
 
Yes. All of them are FSU Leica-Thread-Mount. I will be getting rid of the bodies and lenses that I find I won't be using as much, so if anyone's interested in any of these, stay tuned.

Clarence
 
clarence said:
Please excuse this post if it offends you, but I am quite unable to contain this excitement.
Click to expand...

Clarence, I know exactly how you feel... For me the excitement lay in knowing I had everything - an outfit worthy of the best photographers of the golden age: one somehow recaptured the original thrill of the 35mm rf camera. Think what they did and do likewise - but with faster film 😉

Ian

PS: You now deserve a copy of Vining's "My Way With A Miniature" - £1.00 on e-bay and absolutely priceless!
 
Faster film and great looking grain as well (sorry, I'm a fan of designer grain)!

Actually I just remembered that I have a 400 foot bulk roll of HP5 (not HP5 plus) dating from the 60s. What a combination!

Let's just say I won the lenses.

Ian, Wouldn't something from the likes of Aleksandr Rodchenko be more appropriate?

http://www.masters-of-photography.com/R/rodchenko/rodchenko.html

Clarence
 
clarence said:
Ian, Wouldn't something from the likes of Aleksandr Rodchenko be more appropriate?

http://www.masters-of-photography.com/R/rodchenko/rodchenko.html

Clarence
Click to expand...

ah Clarence, Indeed it would - although I fear he used a Leica, not a Fed, and I've always held that against him 😀 In all seriousness, the Vining book is a real joy, especially if you have a FED/Zorki 1. Written in 1941, it gives real insight into the spirit of the period and the challenges photographers faced. If you fancy a touch of the hard stuff, e-bay seller mcfitzen rgeularly offers Soviet era photography books and magazines (the latter usually in year-long runs). She lives a stones' throw from the FED factory in Kharkov: I've bought dozens of books from her and her service is literally impeccable

I like grain too!

Cheers, Ian
 
Everything arrived today. If any of you is looking for a J-12, I might let go of this one.

It all seems to have been originally acquired in the UK, as the kit came with an instruction booklet from the TOE, or the Technical and Optical Equipment company, which imported 'Russian Photographic Equipment, Microscopes & Transistor Radios.'

Thank you and stay tuned.

Clarence
 
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So you have a J-11, J-9, J-8, I-22, J-12 and Orion 15. That's a nice hand. Is that J8 black or silver? And if silver, does it have a focusing knob? And the J9 and J12, are they black or silver? And that I-22, is it rigid or collapsible? Don't you want a 20mm Russar? And I will keep silent about the I-50 and the prewar 28mm and 100mm Fed lenses, but I really think you need a fast J-3 (come on, if you're serious about available light photgraphy, you need an f:1,5 lens...). You have a nice hand, but you don't have the whole deck. 😉

I'm just teasing. My last shipment from the FSU dates from january, but I have serious withdrawel symptoms.
I hope you'll be able to capture lots of great light trough those fine lenses.

Wim
 
All lenses are black except for the Orion and the J-11. So the J-8 is black and has no focusing knob.

I like how the J-9 is black, but the inner tube is unpainted chrome.

I'll be travelling to Russia next year, and this kit will be coming along. Should be interesting.

Clarence
 
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