Question regarding russian lenses

I have a question about some of the m39 russian lenses. Since

there are both SLR's and rangefinders with this mount, are the

lenses interchangeable between the two, or do some lenses only work

on one or the other.

I thought that the distance between the film and the lens on the

two camera's would be different, for example, a spotmatic with an

adapter ring (or a zenit 3m without) and a zorki-4. can these two

cameras actually use the same lens?

 

Thanks

 

Dave

Okay, the last time I answered this question I screwed up. Let me see if I can get it right this time. The M39 is different from the M42. These lenses will not interchange. I don't know of an M39 RF. There are RF's that are LTM or L39, which is a Leica Thread Mount and not the same as the M39 or M42. The Zorki-4 uses an LTM, while the Zenit 3M uses the M39. Some confusion can occur between the L39 and the M39. They are different. Really the best place to research Russian (Former Soviet Union) cameras is at <a href="http://www.beststuff.com/forum/list.php?f=21">Best Stuff.</a>

let's make it clear:

 

M39 lenses for SLR cameras will NOT work on L39 or LTM (leica thread screw mount)

rangefinder cameras. They will mount but not focus, because of the different

distances between film and lens. Adapted to pentax spotmatic or any other camera

they will work, but without any auto aperture function (well, these lenses are not auto

aperture even on the Zenit 3M!) In other words, M39 lenses are useful ONLY for the

cameras they were made for. They are cheap, not worth adapting to other cameras

(the adapter might cost as much or more than the lens). A very limited lens line.

 

L39 or LTM lenses work on dozens and dozens of different rangefinder cameras

(Leica, Canon, Tower/Nicca, Fed, Zorki, Cosina/Voigtlander, etc.) and will mount on a

Zenit 3M where, because the Zenit is a SLR, you can use a L39 lens for extreme close-

ups (a few inches), but not for general use. L39 lenses also convert and rangefinder

couple to Leica M mount. Thus, L39 lenses remain extremely popular and useful.

 

M42 is the praktica/pentax screw mount that was probably the most prolific of 1960s

cameras and lenses. (Pentax, Praktika, Zenit, Mamiya, Yashica, Chinon, Ricoh, Fujica,

even a brand-new Cosina/Voigtlander Bessamatic!) Classic M42 lenses have a

"single-pin" allowing auto aperture.

Sorry to make you guys run around like that but I really should have been more specific in my first question. What I'd like to know is what cameras the jupiter lenses are compatible with. Such as the jupiter-9, this lens comes in both m39 and m42 mounts, but is often advertised on ebay as being for zorki/fed cameras. Same thing goes for most of the jupiter (3, 11, 12, etc) lenses. Are sellers mis-representing their product, or are there different m39 and ltm versions of these lenses?

 

Thanks

 

Dave

That Jupiter 9 is an LTM lens and will fit and work on Zorki, Cosina Voigtlander, Leica (M with an adapter) and various others.

To be more specific... If the lens fits Zorki, it's LTM. I can't really speak of lenses that fit the Kiev (Contax mount?). All the lenses made for the Zorki will fit other LTM cameras, but they may not work on them due to some of the Jupiter's extended rear element on the wide-angle lenses.

One more thing; I thought the M39 mount was the LTM mount.

OK let see if I can shed some light on the matter

 

There exist 2 kind of 39mm mount for Soviet lens, the LTM ( Leica Thread mount ) & the one for Zenit SLR. They have the same screw spec ( pitch & dia ) but of course the lens is incompatible. The SLR lens can only work normally on the SLR and the RF lens can work only on LTM bodies.

 

The M42 is of course the definite thread mount for the SLR, now here's a question always asked - can I use those SLR M39 lens on a M42 body, and the answer is yes, you can via a screw on sdeptor but you will not get the lens to infinity as the M39 Body register is actully not the same as M42 bodies ( but within a very small distance ). Most user start to complain that they have a bad lens or the focus mechnism on their M39 lens is off when testing on a M42 body, and failing to realize its simply because the lens will not be focusing to infinity for that simple fact.

 

So in essense, LTM39mm lens for all the RF scrwew mount bodies, the Zenit 39mm slr mount lens for Zenits & with some reservation for the M42 bodies, and M42 lens for M42 bodies

OK ... let's see if we can simplify (or confuse) this issue even further ;-)

 

39mm screw-thread lenses as manufactured for the Zenit 3m SLR (let's call them Z39 lenses) will function completely, within their limitations of non-auto aperture, on a Pentax-Practika type 42-screw body WITH THE CORRECT ADAPTOR, which comprises simply a ring with a 39mm thread on the inside and a 42mm thread on the outside. The Z39 lenses have the same lens-flange to film-plane distance as a "conventional" M42 lens ... therefore they can be easily further adapted to many other cameras, once fitted with the 39-42 ring, by using an appropriate M42 to whatever adaptor. I've got the lenses, I've got the camera, I've got the adaptors, and yes, I can use my Industar 50 from my original Zenit 3m (c1969, and my first slr), on my Pentax *ist or my Fujica AX5 and it does focus to infinity!!

 

39mm screw-thread lenses as manufactured for the Fed-Zorki rangefinder cameras (L39 lenses) have the same thread as the Z39 lenses, but a rather shorter lens-flange to film-plane distance, so a Z39 lens could be used on an L39 camera, with an appropriate length extension-tube, with no r/f coupling, but not vice versa, it'll never focus.

 

By the same token, an M42 SLR lens can be used on an L39 r/f camera with an appropriate length extension tube type adaptor, having an M42 female thread for the lens and a 39mm male thread for the camera. Provision has to be made within the adaptor tube to operate the aperture stop-down pin, if required, and there will be no r/f coupling.

 

Again, I've got the M42 lenses, I've got the Zorkis and I've got the adaptor, and it all does work, but it's an awfully bulky solution ... "proper" r/f lenses are almost invariably much smaller than their slr counterparts, due to not having to account for the mirror. My Fed 28mm is less than 1cm proud of the camera body, looks just like a collapsed Industar 22, but doesn't extend ... makes for a very compact (albeit still fairly heavy) camera :-)