Best of Russian Lenses??????????????????????

[roadmouse]

I have used the Industar-22, Industar-61 and the Jupiter-8.
So far, I like the Jupiter-8 best.

[JS MD]

try Russar

[georg16nik]

I second the Russar MR-2 for wide angle use!

You can check my apug.org gallery for some shots.
The Russar ask for slim filters - otherwise it might vignette in the corners.
In the 50mm department the NKVD lenses have nostalgic charm

As far as the rest of the russian lenses.. - as long as they are properly collimated and optic elements in good health etc etc - they are excellent.

[JS MD]

properly collimated lenses - is a main issue of russian lenses .Regards

[georg16nik]

Well, years ago I had my 1940 Leitz Elmar f/3,5 50 serviced in UK to clean some dust from inside etc.
The Elmar came back with its front element not properly set to lay and even worse - tightened in that position - the end results was a vortex in side of the frame and the entire image looked not as You would expect from Leitz..., so You can end up with collimation issues with every lens, not just russian ones.

[Athiril]

What about best M42 russian lens? And most useable M39 Russian Rangefinder?

[wotalegend]

What about best M42 russian lens? And most useable M39 Russian Rangefinder?

Yes, people tend to forget that there is a whole range of FSU (not necessarily Russian) lenses which were made primarily for Zenit SLRs, which comply to the Praktica/Pentax standard 45.46mm register and M42x1 screw thread, so they can be used on any 35mm (or digital) SLR which has, or can be adapted to, the M42 thread. Early Zenits actually had an M39x1 thread but still the same register, and it is not difficult to get an M39 to M42 adapter. And of course they don't have the same focus issues as their rangefinder brothers. There is the common Helios-44 58/2, the Industar-61L/Z macro lens which is falsely claimed by some to be radio-active, the Mir-1 37/2.8, the Jupiter-9 85/2, the almost legendary Helios-40 85/1.5 which is said to be based on a Zeiss Biotar design and weighs 950 grams on its own, the Jupiter-11 135/4, and many other lesser known lenses.

They are all good if you can get a good example, just like all FSU gear.

To my mind, the most useful FSU M39 rangefinder is the Zorki 6 with its wide-base rangefinder (about 68mm), a conventional opening back door instead of bottom loading, and lever advance. Its immediate ancestor, the Zorki 5, is nearly as good but it has bottom loading.