Leica Why a Russian Lens needs to be adjusted for a Leica- the focal length is built to the Zeiss Standard

[Brian]

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Hard to believe that some sellers of Russian lenses in Fed/Zorki Mount continue to give bad information that they can be used on a Leica standard camera, that the Russian lenses were made to the Leica 51.6mm standard.

THEY ARE NOT, How do I know? Because I have the Data Sheets that came with some of my lenses. That simple. 52.4mm +/- 1% tolerance. If you get lucky, and the lens is on the lowest end of the tolerance- it's close on a Leica. Gaussian Curve for tolerance- you need to adjust the shim. Far end of the tolerance, you need to adjust focal length and the shim.

That's the laws of Physics.

Sellers that claim the Russian lenses were built to the Leica 51.6mm spec are liars. I have serviced a number of lenses sold by these same sellers.

Leica - Tales from the Greasy Side: Miscellaneous Notes on the Jupiter-3

For Jupiter-3: ever notice a slight play in the focus, where it moves some small fraction of a millimeter before the dampening kicks in? OR -worse- it jams up after a CLA? I learned to keep the guide screws in order, put them back in the same slot that they came out of. 90% of the time, will...

cameraderie.org

The one in the thread above went from a Seller in the US that sells Russian lenses at a premium, went to Australia, to me, back to Australia. The shipping alone makes it one expensive Jupiter-3. The original sale price makes it one of the most expensive I've ever handled.

I'm tired of the lies and accusations that all the problems are caused by people like me that service them to actually work on a camera. This lens had never been opened before I got it:

Leica - Valdai 1984 Black Jupiter-3 "adaptation" and test.

This is the 9th Valdai Jupiter-3 that I've shot with, and I've bought even more "new-old'stock" optical cells. I bought this one off of Ebay, the seller used it on a mirrorless camera. Lens as described, positive feedback left for the seller. No surprises to me, this is somewhere around 200...

cameraderie.org

ANYWAY! Keywords: "Jupiter-3", "Jupiter-8" "JUPITER CLA", "Adjust Jupiter for Leica", "Russian lenses made to Zeiss Standard".

I hope poeple researching this lens get a hit on this thread.

Almost forgot- "Valdai Jupiters are the worst".

 

[albertk]

Hi, agree,
- I bought a Orion-15 28mm "new old stock" and now 'finely adjusted for Leica-M, from a Ukraine seller. Indeed, it follows the rangefinder very, very good, with precise focussing at even 1 m and fully opened; only infinity goes beyond the infinity stop, (a mm) but that is of no importance. So the seller did adjust very precisely.

HOWEVER - the lens is misaligned, decentered. One side of the picture waves into infinity on a brick wall. In some pictures clearly to be seen, and at the edges of the frame (long side on the bottom at infinity) He adjusted it on an M8 . . . there you might not see it.
Still I like the lens for its small footprint, I coded it as Summaron and that is not perfect but OK. I like a lens that gives sharpness on the bottom close-by; on the top there is only sky in general, who cares up there in heaven about a wavering focal plane. By the way, pictures are 'fun' and sharp, colours sometimes go far into non-saturated with backlight, and details have a certain 'clumpiness' like a grain to them that is pleasing. Apart from the lopsided mounting of the lens elements (and I expect they were glued so could not be recovered into the production line) it is a nice lens . . by far of course not as good as the ZM 28 I have. But it is unobtrusive, small, light.
So now I understand 'new old stock', these were factory rejects.

Many Russian Elmar 3.5.50mm copies (Industar-50, -22) are sold now even with new nameplates on them to pass off as Leitz Elmar. I do like it they can be spotted easily, with their fancy LOMO-style colours. Red, gold. I am sure these fakes will never focus correctly.

By the way, some 'modern' refurbishers who on demand place a lenshead inside another barrel, glue too. They use quick fixing dental two-component guck.I hold my breath.

 

[Brian]

I need to find an Orion at a reasonable price- one of the few Russian lenses that I do not have.

I have a 1952 3.5cm F2.8 Jupiter-12 that has Zeiss optics in it, has Zeiss Serial Numbers. $60, Ebay.
It required the shim to be increased ~0.1mm. I had another J-12 that required 0.3mm, which is huge for a wide-angle lens.

Leica Showcase - KMZ 3.5cm F2.8 Jupiter-12 in LTM

The Jupiter-12 is a copy of the wartime Carl Zeiss Jena Biogon. Early one, before 1956 or so- have German Glass. This 1952 has a Serial number stamped into the rear module that identifies it as a 1943 Zeiss Biogon. When received, the focus was off on the Leica. This is common with Russian...

cameraderie.org

I've done some real Hack jobs "just for fun" using JB Cement. Mostly lenses made into Contax/Nikon mount using left over mounts from converting 5cm F1.5 Sonnars to Leica mount. An Argus Cintagon into Nikon S-Mount, post-war 5cm F3.5 Tessars into Contax and S-Mount, none over $35 for the optics. Attaching RF couplings onto SLR lenses for use on adapters to M-Mount. Konica 50/1.7, Minolta 50/1.4, Canon 50/1.4 FL, and Pentax 50/1.4 Super-Tak. All under $30. RF-coupled Meniscus lens using I-61 focus mounts, went to a photography teacher in the UK. Charged for the parts, no charge for having fun.

If you want a conversion done professionally, contact Chris at Skyllaney.com.

 

[Peter Klein]

"Ivan the Incompatible," as Dante Stella once wrote.

 

[Brian]

Dante sent his Jupiter-3 to me to calibrate for his M240.

Test images from his lens after I worked on it.

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[Peter Klein]

My Jupiter-8 has been great since you (Brian) adjusted it.