graybeard

I am overwhelmed by the cheap and intriguing looking Russian lenses from Industar, Helios, Zenit and maybe others. What is the quality of them (in general) and the wisdom of buying them, usually thru ebay ??

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

I've purchased two of them over the last 8 months or so. One from another UHH member and another from an ebay seller. One is a 50mm f/2, the other a 35mm f/2.8. Both are Russian lenses and fit my Leica IIIf. Some of the point and shoot photos I took with the 35mm lens are here:

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-507843-1.html

Here's something to keep in mind. When Russia pulled out of Eastern Germany after WWII, they took a few things as a form or reparation for the destruction Germany caused the Russian homeland. They pretty much carted off the Carl Zeiss company and hauled it back to Russia. The company was then located in Krasnogorsk. So, they were essentially making Zeiss lenses with Zeiss equipment.

The lens did take a bit of time to get here, as it was shipped from Russia. I've forgotten exactly where, but kept the packaging and could look it up if need be. The notice of shipping was sent within 24 hours of making my payment. The good thing in a way was the delivery time was over estimated by about 2 weeks. So, I received the lens a bit sooner than expected.

I'm very satisfied with the performance of both lenses. I'm also pleased with the construction and build quality. In both cases, the lenses were exactly as the described by the sellers.
--Bob

graybeard

The 35mm 2.8 sounds interesting. What brand is it?

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

I used to have a Jupiter 85 f2...my issue was the Zenit Mount, and that the lens wouldn’t focus to infinity.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Thanks for the interesting history lesson. I wasn’t aware.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

I believe it is a Zorki. It's a Jupiter 12 and appears to be an export edition. Here's a photo of an identical twin to the lens I have. The manufacturer's logo is the same as I have.
--Bob

(Download)

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

You're welcome, GN.
--Bob

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

I didn't buy it on ebay, I bought it on a Zenit E in the early 70s. The camera is a replacement bought on ebay from the Eastern block. Very clean ebay transaction, very good condition.

Helios 44 58mm f/2 on a Canon Rebel T3i

(Download)

Replacement body from ebay

(Download)

Original documentation c 1971

(Download)

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

I have a M42-mount 37mm f/2.8 'Mir-1b' lens; I purchased it from a Ukrainian merchant via eBay, and it arrived without drama. Apparently this won some kind of award in 1958, but my particular one was manufactured in 1985. I tried to count aperture blades just now, but that is hard because they're curved so the aperture is an actual circle - my recollection is that there are twelve of them. It works just fine on my Pentax K-30, of course.
.

Using this is a tad confusing because focus ring is closest to mount and aperture rings are at end of lens

Math78 Loc: Scottsdale, AZ

I bought a Jupiter-8 lens (50mm, f/2.0) from Ukraine last year. Less than $50, including shipping. It took 9 days to get to Arizona, and I was able to track the package on-line from the time it shipped. This lens was the stardard normal lens on the Zorki-4 camera, a popular Soviet 35mm rangefinder. The lens is in excellent condition. I use it with a cheap adapter on a Sony A6000. At 5 oz with the adapter, it's a good match for a small mirrorless body. Good image quality, fun to play with, a bit of a novelty item however. The Jupiter lenses are full frame which means I'm only using the center of the image on the A6000 crop body. The Jupiter lenses are quite good, good enough that you might actually use them for "serious" photography.

I also have an Industar-69 (28mm, f/2.8), also from Ukraine for $25. This one had to be modified to enable infinity focus. The Industar-69 was originally used on a "half frame" camera and so it should only be used on a digital crop body such as the A6000. Image quality is good in the center, but fair to poor in the corners.

Zorki-4 with Jupiter-8 lens


Industar-69 lens

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

I heard a rumor that all Russian lenses are made with a sickle and hammer. Not sure how true this is.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

Only the egalitarian ones.

tenor57

I would stay away from Russian products, you may come under FBI investigation for collusion LOL.

chikid68 Loc: Tennesse USA

I have been toying with the idea of getting and trying out a helios on my T1i just for kicks

Acufine3200 Loc: Texarkana USA

I had a Mir, Salyut, and Vega lenses for a Kiev 6x6 about 15-years ago. Not overwhelming in appearance compared to Hasselblad glass, but worked adequately. Sharpness and detail were excellent with Plus-X and Ectachrome 100. Of course these were MF negatives and slides generally shot at f8-f11. Unfortunately the entire setup was stolen after only two years of use, so I never really got to give it a really hard workout.

That said, I recently came across the negatives from that body, and plan on having the best of lot scanned.