Lens recommendation for Russian Rangefinders (Zorki, FED) other than 50mm please? (the wider the better)

cayenne · Jun 30, 2022

Hello all!!

Ok, I scored 3x Russian cameras. The FED 2 (a bit more worn than in ad)....and a Zorki 4 and a Zorki C, that both appear to be in VERY good condition.

I was thinking, for the Zorki C, I'll keep the collapsible 50mm 3.5 lens, just looks cool on it.

But for the Zorki 4, I was of the mind I'd like something different than 50mm. It came with Industar-61 52mm f/2.8 lens.

I think I'd really like to go WIDER for the Zorki 4. So far, my searches for Russian lenses for Zorki 4 have mostly only turned up the Jupiter 12 M39 35mm f/2.8 lens.

I've seen mixed reviews of this on YouTube...but mostly seem positive.

But what about a 28mm lens? Did they make this or wider for the Zorki 4?

I know it is "similar" to the Leica Thread Mount lenses, but I've read that there is something different about the Russian ones, that the thread pitch is different, so I was guessing I needed to stay with the Russian lenses?

I guess I just don't know how to make sure what all thread mount lenses will fit on my new cameras....advice or suggestions GREATLY appreciated!!!

I've also found what appears to be a "turret" style view finder that would fit in the cold shoe for lenses other than 50mm. Does anyone have experience with these?

I may likely get a 35mm or a 28mm if I can and just keep that on the camera....so, maybe a single 35 or 28 mm viewfinder might work? Would ANY 35mm or 28mm viewfinder work, or would I need to find a Russian one too for the camera?

Please pardon what likely are stupid questions, but this is my first go around with these cameras. My only range finders to date are my Leica M10M and a Medium format fixed lens Fuji GSW690iii....so, I've not dealt with optical viewfinders yet.

Anyway.....

Oh as an aside, the FED2 might need some CLA....can anyone recommend anyone in the US that does good CLA on these old Russian rangefinders?

Thank you in advance,

cayenne

cramej · Jun 30, 2022

I've used the Jupiter 12 on a Kiev - it's quite nice. Haven't pulled the trigger on on for my Zorki but probably will later this year. Everyone else seems to be very proud of their 35mm lenses.

On another note, if you want to sell your Industar 61, I'd be interested.

flavio81 · Jun 30, 2022

cayenne said:
But what about a 28mm lens? Did they make this or wider for the Zorki 4?

Of course, the 28mm Orion-15, and the 20mm Russar MR-2

The only problem is that they're now being sold at silly high, nonsense prices.

__Brian · Jun 30, 2022

The Jupiter-12 can be bought at a reasonable price. The turret finders accommodate 35mm FOV, and there are low-cost 35mm dedicated finders around.

The thread pitch for lenses made for the Leica 39mm mount are the same as the cameras that you have. Some of the very original cameras, could be an issue. No problem using them on my 1952 Fed 1. The problem is the rangefinder is calibrated for a slightly different focal length. For a wide-angle lens on film, not a problem.

cramej · Jun 30, 2022

__Brian said:
The Jupiter-12 can be bought at a reasonable price. The turret finders accommodate 35mm FOV, and there are low-cost 35mm dedicated finders around.

The thread pitch for lenses made for the Leica 39mm mount are the same as the cameras that you have. Some of the very original cameras, could be an issue. No problem using them on my 1952 Fed 1. The problem is the rangefinder is calibrated for a slightly different focal length. For a wide-angle lens on film, not a problem.

The Kodak 35/80 finders are excellent and *still* low cost.

__Brian · Jun 30, 2022

I have that finder, it is nice and still low cost- mine was $10 in an antique store.

j-dogg · Jul 1, 2022

Privyet dorogoy tovarich, the J12 i going to be pretty much the most cost-effective 35mm for that camera, they don't always play well on the FED models because they are made in different factories to different tolerances. Good cameras all around.

You have a Zorki-S which is basically a Barnack Leica clone. Keep the collapsible on it, that's also a good lens. Zorki 4 is a fairly common camera and has a super bright VF. Get that Jupiter 8 50/2 for it.

As for wider, the Orion-15 is a Leica Elmarit clone dating back to the 1930s. It is a very good lens I have one. All of the Jupiter lenses are Carl Zeiss clones and a red "n" is actually the Russian equivalent of "color coated" That "n" is actually a Russian "P" in Cyrillic

The turret finders will work fine just make sure its made for FED/Zorki and not Kiev/Contax as they are turned differently for the Kiev/Contax

What does the FED-2 need?

cayenne · Jul 1, 2022

j-dogg said:
Privyet dorogoy tovarich, the J12 i going to be pretty much the most cost-effective 35mm for that camera, they don't always play well on the FED models because they are made in different factories to different tolerances. Good cameras all around.

You have a Zorki-S which is basically a Barnack Leica clone. Keep the collapsible on it, that's also a good lens. Zorki 4 is a fairly common camera and has a super bright VF. Get that Jupiter 8 50/2 for it.

As for wider, the Orion-15 is a Leica Elmarit clone dating back to the 1930s. It is a very good lens I have one. All of the Jupiter lenses are Carl Zeiss clones and a red "n" is actually the Russian equivalent of "color coated" That "n" is actually a Russian "P" in Cyrillic

The turret finders will work fine just make sure its made for FED/Zorki and not Kiev/Contax as they are turned differently for the Kiev/Contax

What does the FED-2 need?

Hello!
First...thank you EVERYONE for all the great feedback so far.

The FED-2....it has a Industar 26M, the 50mm f/2,8

When looking through viewfinder to focus on rangefinder patch...the images don't align, the faint on in yellow sits a big "higher" than the other I guess I"d describe it? Like if I'm focusing on a ball....as I focus the faint image moves left/right to align with the main image, but when they are aligned horizontally, the patch image sits slightly higher than the true image...so, it isn't aligned vertically it appears.

Also, that lens..even when snugly screwed into the FED2...you can fell some play it seems in the lens...holding the focus and you move it up/down, left / right you can feel the internals or layers of the lens move? I hope I"m describing the correctly.

I think it just needs a good full CLA. The shutters fire ok, but I have no idea if they're close to accurate on speeds or not....

Is there a good source for Russian camera service in the US?

The earned Zorki 4, after I opened it up, didn't come with a take up reel. I've ordered another one off eBay for about $20...so, out of the 3x cameras, the Zorki-C is the only one I can try to run film through right now. I loaded some Cinestill 800T into it....so, over the weekend I'll try it out for color shots and use my M10M for B&W.....

I'm also trying out a Noblex 175U camera for some 6x17 panos with the family too, but that's a different forum.

But anyway, sounds like for different lenses for the Zork(s)....

--Jupiter 12 35mm

--I'll start looking at the Orion-15, I'd not heard of that one before. (Quick look on eBay looks to be about $350 US)?
--Hmm..only f/6, a bit slow...

--I've also been hearing there is a Jupiter 135 lens that is supposed to be quite fun too....but I'm interested primarily in the 35mm.

I figure I could carry the Zorki 4 with 35mm, and the Zorki-S with a 50mm....both at same time for different framing, and maybe load one with color the other with B&W to give me choices when out and about town on shoots.

Thanks for all the input so far!!

Much appreciated!!

C

j-dogg · Jul 1, 2022

cayenne said:
Hello!
First...thank you EVERYONE for all the great feedback so far.

The FED-2....it has a Industar 26M, the 50mm f/2,8

When looking through viewfinder to focus on rangefinder patch...the images don't align, the faint on in yellow sits a big "higher" than the other I guess I"d describe it? Like if I'm focusing on a ball....as I focus the faint image moves left/right to align with the main image, but when they are aligned horizontally, the patch image sits slightly higher than the true image...so, it isn't aligned vertically it appears.

Also, that lens..even when snugly screwed into the FED2...you can fell some play it seems in the lens...holding the focus and you move it up/down, left / right you can feel the internals or layers of the lens move? I hope I"m describing the correctly.

I think it just needs a good full CLA. The shutters fire ok, but I have no idea if they're close to accurate on speeds or not....

Is there a good source for Russian camera service in the US?

The earned Zorki 4, after I opened it up, didn't come with a take up reel. I've ordered another one off eBay for about $20...so, out of the 3x cameras, the Zorki-C is the only one I can try to run film through right now. I loaded some Cinestill 800T into it....so, over the weekend I'll try it out for color shots and use my M10M for B&W.....

I'm also trying out a Noblex 175U camera for some 6x17 panos with the family too, but that's a different forum.

But anyway, sounds like for different lenses for the Zork(s)....

--Jupiter 12 35mm

--I'll start looking at the Orion-15, I'd not heard of that one before. (Quick look on eBay looks to be about $350 US)?
--Hmm..only f/6, a bit slow...

--I've also been hearing there is a Jupiter 135 lens that is supposed to be quite fun too....but I'm interested primarily in the 35mm.

I figure I could carry the Zorki 4 with 35mm, and the Zorki-S with a 50mm....both at same time for different framing, and maybe load one with color the other with B&W to give me choices when out and about town on shoots.

Thanks for all the input so far!!

Much appreciated!!

C

In the future get your stuff from Fedka he's usually a little cheaper than that auction site and has curated good stuff. He gave me a Helios 103 free once with a "rough aperture" that I fixed in 5 minutes. Yuri Boguslavsky is good people.

Your FED, if all it needs is a rangefinder alignment and maybe a look at the lens, hell I could probably do that. What causes the vertical alignment to go out of alignment is the circular window on the front. It has a set of lenses in it that you turn to align it vertically. I had to do this with my Zorki 2S. The Industars will have a very small amount of play in them naturally. Send me some pictures, worst I can say is no. I don't usually do repairs for other people but FED-2s are easy to work on. Show me the shutter too. They don't always need replacement.

cayenne · Jul 7, 2022

j-dogg said:
In the future get your stuff from Fedka he's usually a little cheaper than that auction site and has curated good stuff. He gave me a Helios 103 free once with a "rough aperture" that I fixed in 5 minutes. Yuri Boguslavsky is good people.

Your FED, if all it needs is a rangefinder alignment and maybe a look at the lens, hell I could probably do that. What causes the vertical alignment to go out of alignment is the circular window on the front. It has a set of lenses in it that you turn to align it vertically. I had to do this with my Zorki 2S. The Industars will have a very small amount of play in them naturally. Send me some pictures, worst I can say is no. I don't usually do repairs for other people but FED-2s are easy to work on. Show me the shutter too. They don't always need replacement.

Well, thank you for that wonderful offer.
Sorry so long in reply...been a long and busy 4th of July week so far.

I'll try to get some pics up.

A quick question: What/who is Fedka? I searched for a website of that name, nothing working. I looked on eBay and did find one seller there, but only a couple cameras on the one I found, and other stuff that looked kinda like flea mkt. stuff.

Could you give me a link or a bit more info on how to find Fedka?

Thank you in advance!!

cayenne

j-dogg · Jul 8, 2022

cayenne said:
Well, thank you for that wonderful offer.
Sorry so long in reply...been a long and busy 4th of July week so far.

I'll try to get some pics up.

A quick question: What/who is Fedka? I searched for a website of that name, nothing working. I looked on eBay and did find one seller there, but only a couple cameras on the one I found, and other stuff that looked kinda like flea mkt. stuff.

Could you give me a link or a bit more info on how to find Fedka?

Thank you in advance!!

cayenne

www.fedka.com send him an email his ebay store isn't always accurate. We've been good friends for a while and I will ask him to find me stuff without going to ebay. He found me this Leningrad with a complete CLA, Jupiter 3 50/1.5, 35/2.8, CLA'd an 85/2 for me, 28/6 Orion and he also found me that Helios 103 for my Kiev. Probably half of my Soviet collection he has had his hands on at some point. If you're really into Soviet era stuff those are the guys to talk to. The store is ran by Yuri Boguslavsky and his repair guy is Oleg Varvarin, both good people, not to be confused with Oleg Khalyavin from Kosmofoto. All three very good people.

They spent 4 months getting this Leningrad absolutely perfect and I'm glad I waited. They work on the other rare stuff, Drug (which I own one of those too) Mir, NKVD FED, early Zenit, Yuri helped me track down the correct versions of lenses for my Zenit-S and showed me which Helios-44 to get. They are good people

I don't know if they are doing repairs with the conflict in Ukraine right now.

Lens recommendation for Russian Rangefinders (Zorki, FED) other than 50mm please? (the wider the better)

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