I will say that Jupiter and Helios are actually Soviet industrial designations for the lenses. There weren't companies and brands in the Soviet Union as I understand, so much as factories and individual product designations, although you do see a marked difference in the style between the outputs of, say, the FED (Felix E Dzherzhinsky) factory commune and the KMZ (Kraznogorsk Mechanical Factory), so it's almost like having different companies, even though it was all state-owned.Other than Zeiss, Jupiter, and Helios were there any other manufacturers who made lenses in the original Contax RF Mount? I left out Nikon because as I understand it the RF base is slightly different and they need to be calibrated to work on Contax and Kiev cameras. I'm just curious what might be out there.
I will say that Jupiter and Helios are actually Soviet industrial designations for the lenses.
Design types. All Jupiters are sonnar types. All Helios are 6/4 double Gauss types. All Industars are tessar types. But and however Russar is a trade name that contains many design types, not all wide angles.
I will mention as an enthusiastic camera-wiki editor that camerapedia is out of date and no longer maintained by the community. It has all been migrated to camera-wiki, which has much more text and images. I just thought I'd let you know.Camerapedia says there were actually quite a few manufacturers: https://camerapedia.fandom.com/wiki/Contax_rangefinder_lenses
Most of the third-party examples seem to be pretty rare though.
-NT
I ended up with the Nikon “C” 85mm, very happy with it- the original Zeiss is just way more than I want to spend.
It’s not a myth. There is a slight difference. No problem with wide angle, but standard and tele can only be used closed down.I recall reading that Nikon RF lenses longer than (or other than?) 50 mm won't work correctly on a Contax/Kiev body, something about the outside bayonet or focus coupling being calibrated just a hair different. Was that a myth?
True from what I've heard. Also the first Nikons had a non-standard frame, though I believe they had standard number of frames per length of film. This was changed at the insistence of Western distributors.I recall reading that Nikon RF lenses longer than (or other than?) 50 mm won't work correctly on a Contax/Kiev body, something about the outside bayonet or focus coupling being calibrated just a hair different. Was that a myth?
Not a myth, note post #3 from guangong. Nikon made lenses with a C on the barrel to distinguish it as made for Contax- they are calibrated differently. I also have a Nikon rangefinder with another copy of the 85mm lens, but without the “C”. I just realized I have a third copy in LTM. I guess I like them!I recall reading that Nikon RF lenses longer than (or other than?) 50 mm won't work correctly on a Contax/Kiev body, something about the outside bayonet or focus coupling being calibrated just a hair different. Was that a myth?
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