graybeard

I really want to buy an Industar-69 28mm 2.8 Russian lens. I love the way they look, and they would fit a niche I have for a relatively fast and very cheap lens. BUT I cannot get definitive, certain (no I know a guy who said, I once heard, I think I read etc) info of the possibility of mounting this lens on a Canon EOS. The lens has 39mm threads, of which I am told there is more than one type of 39mm, but it is not the adapters that are driving me nuts. It is this infinity focus thing that may, or may not, be possible. If it can be done TELL ME HOW !! I am not going to grind glass or shave metal. It seems it can be done on an Industar 50-2, so it seems it should also be possible for a Industar 69. Please, pass on any info you can. Thank you.

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

I believe you need the M39x1.0 mount.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flange_focal_distance
Edit: Unless the Industar is a rangefinder lens, in which case you need an adapter for the M39x26tpi thread, but it won’t focus at infinity without a correcting lens in the adapter, which could compromise image quality.

dat2ra Loc: Sacramento

Why do you want that lens?

JPringle Loc: Australia

Hi graybeard - I've done a Helios M44-4 58mm f2 to Canon EOS. I just got an adapter from China, M42 to Canon EF, and took the back off the Helios and replaced it with the Chinese adapter. It was like a dollar or two. And worked OK out of the box. And I think for a dollar or two more you can now get them with a bit of electronics?? Fully manual but it has infinity focus. When I did it I didn't have a camera with any lens compensation adjustment so never bothered. Its sharp enough, a weird bokeh, and tidy enough for portraits.

Cannot remember who I bought from but there are quite a few suppliers of M39 to EOS out there as well.

Phil

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

The 39mm refers to the diameter and has nothing to do with the threads. EG, 1/4” has 1/4-20 referred to as 1/4 UNC and 1/4-28 referred to as 1/4 UNF. The “c” stands for “coarse” and “f” for “fine”. The number following the fraction is the number of threads per inch. I believe there are three different pitches for 39mm: 1.5, 2.0, and 3.0.

Math78 Loc: Scottsdale, AZ

The Industar-69 uses a mount similar to the M39 Leica screw mount. So you will need an adapter normally used for Leica M39 lenses. The adapters I have seen are labeled "L39 to something." I paid $8 on Amazon for a Fotasy L39-NEX adapter made in China which has a Sony e-mount on the camera side. Good fit, works fine.

It works fine because the lens had been modified by the Ukranian seller for infinity focus. The Industar-69 mount is not an exact a copy of the Leica M39. The Industar mount is 1 mm thicker than the Leica M39. So when you use the unmodified lens in the Leica adapter, it will sit 1 mm farther from the sensor than it should and you may not be able to focus at infinity. There is a simple modification which reduces the thickness enough to give you infinity focus. I think there is a youtube video. In theory, you could do it yourself if you bought an unmodified lens.

But can you use this lens with a Canon DSLR? Because mirrorless cameras (like A6000) are thinner than DSLR's, there is enough room between the lens and the sensor to put a 10 mm thick adapter and still get the proper distance from the lens to the sensor. You can mount almost any lens on a mirrorless camera with a simple piece of metal which attaches to the lens and the camera. That is the original reason I got the A6000. I'm a Nikon guy and I know you can't easily adapt non-Nikon lenses to a Nikon DSLR. Instead, you always need an adapter which includes an additional lens to change the focus. I suspect Canon EOS cameras are the same. That means you may have to spend a lot more than $8 for an L39-EOS adapter.

I bought my modified Industar-69 on eBay last year from this Ukranian seller (polarislinknetua ):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/INDUSTAR-69-2-8-28-m39-f-2-8-28mm-Wide-Aangle-M39-mirrorless-infinity-point-2/253183308131?hash=item3af2e6b163:g:FfgAAOSwnF9Y6Qwp

Industar-69 adapted to Sony mirrorless

graybeard

Why do I like steak but not liver? Why do I drink tea but not coffee? Life is a mystery.......

graybeard

I have several lenses with M42 mounts so I am familiar with the basic M42 to EOS adapters. I either need an M39 to EOS or and M39 to M42 plus M42 to Canon. Not sure. But how does all of this affect the infinity focus problem? I saw a youtube video that proposes a solution, but I am not so sure.

graybeard

Apart from everything else, how do you like the performance of this lens?

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

You will not get infinity.
This is the Leica/Canon rangefinder mount and is too thin for current Canon cameras. I have not looked but I doubt there is an adapter available and if so will have optics in it. There will likely be an adapter for the EOS M system coming or already though.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

First of all... I'm going to assume by "Canon EOS" you are referring to one of the DSLRs... That you aren't using one of the Canon M-series mirrorless, which are also EOS cameras but use the much shorter register EF-M mount lenses instead.

Some Russian lenses used 39mm threads (early), while others used 42mm (late).

So long as it's an SLR lens (not a rangefinder lens), you should be able to adapt those for use on a Canon EOS/EF mount DSLR.

The 39mm Russian SLR lenses have a 45.2mm lens register... the distance between the lens flange and the film/sensor plane upon which the lens needs to focus.... allowing room for an adapter to fit it to an EOS DSLR (44mm lens register) without need for any optics.

42mm diameter threaded Russian SLR lenses use the same threading and 45.5mm lens register as Pentax screwmount (aka Praktica mount, used by Zeiss and others)... which also allows room for an adapter to fit EOS, without need for any optics. I suspect this lens mount would be easier to find adapters for, than the earlier and less common 39mm.

The place you might run into trouble is if you got hold of a Russian rangefinder lens. Those all use a much shorter lens register (around 26mm, if memory serves), which would require significant correction with optics, if even possible to adapt for use on a modern DSLR. The optics necessary would be pretty much guaranteed to ruin the image quality of the lens. I seem to recall there were two different 39mm screwmount used by the Russians... one with a finer thread pitch than the other. But that's a moot point as far as this is concerned, since you should avoid both.

Generally speaking (there were some exceptions, I think) Russian Fed and Zorki are rangefinder cameras. Essentially copies of Leica and others.

Zenit is probably the best known and most widely seen brand of Russian 35mm SLRs. They were manufactured by Krasnogorsk Mechanical Factory (KMZ), which also made Zorki rangefinders. In fact, the very first Zenit was a modified Zorki. But that camera and it's lenses are rarely seen. Zenit used the 39mm mount (the SLR version with 45.2mm register) up to about 1968, when they switched to the more ubiquitous M42 mount. I would look for lenses in the latter, if wanting to adapt them.... simply because the adapters are bound to be a lot more common.

Industar branded lenses of various focal lengths were made for both the rangefinder and the SLR cameras. I don't know about the 28mm "69"... but the 50-2 can be bound in both.

Very late Zenit models switched to a bayonet mount... this time a Minolta/Rokkor (MD) mount. This happens to use a shorter than most lens register (43mm?) and CANNOT be adapted for use on EOS without optical correction.

Incidentally, the rangefinder lenses are probably all quite adaptable for use on EOS M-series cameras, which use a super short lens register around 18mm, like many other modern "mirrorless". Lots of room for glassless adapters with them, both for vintage rangefinder lenses and SLR lenses. I know there are M39 to EOS-M available, I've been looking at them to shoot digital with some vintage Leitz lenses I've got. I am not 100% certain all Russian M39 rangefinder lenses use the same thread pitch as Leica did, though.

dat2ra Loc: Sacramento

Graybeard: Gee, I don't know why you prefer steak over liver or tea over coffee, but I'd bet you never had to ask advice on a bulletin board how to eat a steak :-)

graybeard

How clever you aren't. But I took a leap in faith and bought an Industar 50-2. After it arrives from the Ukraine sometime next year I will test it and see. At least I know it looks cool. Little tiny pancake lens. The seller insisted it will give infinity focus on a DSLR so we will see. I am honest enough, btw, to admit it if it turns out I was a chump. Stay tuned.