Mir & Rebuilt N26M

<p>I have not been posting any pictures for awhile. Health problems inhibited me from taking the usual walks; and, a cataract operation took away another few weeks. Now with the IOL, I can see better and possibly assess how mediocre my pictures are. :).<br>

I got a lot of old lenses in parts [all classified, by the seller, to be non-working]. The glass elements were good, generally. I rebuilt most of them successfully by interchanging different components. Here is one of an Industar 26M put together, thusly. Had to do a lot of work with shims in several places [there are some 4 joints where you may need shims to make the lens focus] by trial and error. Finally got the lens to push the RF lever correctly and read the scale values too. Collimation work without an optical bench is quite tedious.<br>

Took this out, last week, with a Mir body I had for some test shots at random. The light was dull through the Monsoon haze. So, I am not sure if the lens is on the softer side, slightly. I do like soft lenses for soft lighting conditions, though.<br>

Here are some sample pictures, with no particular theme.</p><div></div>

<p>The Mir seems to have been made along with the Zorki 4 between 1957 and 1962. About 150,000 plus copies were reported to have been made. Early versions did not have a self-timer. Basically it was a Zorki 4 or 3C without the slower clock work speeds. For this reason, Maizenberg wrote that the Mir is a more reliable camera than the Zorki 4. it has speeds B, 1/30 to 1/500 sec plus a dot mark on the dial for 1/1000sec.</p><div></div>

<p>Initially, I had loads of problems with this Mir. Some previous owner had meddled inside with the Speed selector and tried to saw extra notches in it. The entire mechanism was full of dirt and had to be cleaned with Petrol. Over some use, it is now very smooth.</p><div></div>

<p>They say that it is for a hospital! Originally, it was designated in the city plan for a park & recreation. Then they changed it to civic amenities. That is used an omnibus clause. Recall Richard Babcock, <strong>The</strong> <strong>Zoning Game, from the 1960s.</strong> Much the same here.</p>

<p>Missed one!</p><div></div>

<p>Seems like a big project. Workers are wearing hard hats! In small projects they don't.</p><div></div>

<p>Usually, these are flowers; this time it looked like some other items too. many locals love bargaining. The vendors like it too. Seems as if they have been paid some attention. In many rural places if one does not bargain the seller feels let down! So, sometimes one bargains out of courtesy to the seller.</p><div></div>

<p>Some local festival;people buy fresh fruits, veggies and flowers.</p><div></div>

<p>Last year the nation reported 116,000 deaths due to people being run over or knocked down by vehicles. Still the above people seem so relaxed.</p><div></div>

<p>All made in ORWO UN54 film and developed in my home brew. Thanks for viewing and for your comments. SP.</p>

<p>SP,<br>

I wish I had your gift for restoration. I am so heavy handed with cameras that I have simply stopped working them. I am going to have to find you a cheap Japanese LTM body, so you can tinker with it.</p>

<p>BTW thanks again for another wonderful photo essay.</p>

<p>Mike</p>

<p>Great photos! The lens rebuild seems to have been a complete success.</p>

<p>As always, I am captivated by your successful tinkering and the resulting photos. You obviously have fine tuned the development and are getting excellent results, Keep it up.</p>

<p>Very nice photo essay SP. It's amazing that your landscape is changing so much, I guess funding must be plentiful in your neck of the woods.</p>

<p>I understand what you mean by the tedious work on the lenses, I have a industar 22 that is off on infinity and I do not even bother to mess with it because of the crazy tolerances built in.</p>

<p>"mediocre"? Never!</p>

<p>Congratulations on being on the mend, and on the successful rebuild of your eyes and the camera.<br /><br /><br>

I had the cataract operation a couple of years ago. It's amazing to actually see, isn't it?</p>

<p>I had been missing both your walks and your fixes of the old Soviet gems and appreciate this very much. I hadn't seen the Mir version camera before. Interesting.</p>

<p>Good to see you back in the traces, <strong>SP</strong>, and congratulations on another successful restoration. You live in exciting times in your country, and you've presented us with another fine documentation. Many thanks.</p>

<p>I am very sorry to hear of your ill health. I have missed your walks as I am sure all members of this particular have as well. So pleased to see more pictures of you. Very best wishes.</p>

<p>Have not seen any mediocre photos from you yet. Just very interesting ones.</p>

<p>Thanks for sharing the photos from your walk. Sorry to hear that you've had some health issues. I have missed your "walks". Congratulations on the rebuilt job. Top notch results as always. Thanks again. Hope your health will continued to improve.</p>

<p>Good to see your work again <strong>SP</strong>.I also have an Industar 26 which is soft, unlike my other FSU rangefinder lenses.Re bargaining, I wonder if there are garage sales/car boot sales in your locality.Regards.</p>

<p>Welcome back SP, and like your cameras, it's good to see that you have had a CLA! India is no different to here, public places are quickly sacrificed for "the public good"<br>

Keep bringing those Soviet gems back to life.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone. I am glad to be back. I have obtained some very old Soviet Feds. Have restored them to good functionality. Shall post soon. sp.</p>

<p>SP, I got a laugh out of the fact that you had the Industar(s) open, mucking about exchanging lens elements, just after the doctors had you open, mucking about exchanging lens elements! We ought to name you the 'Industar 99' or similar. I hope it's allowable to find humo(u)r in the situation as long as the IOL procedure went well and you're on the mend as appears to be the case. Best wishes for continued recovery, many more walks, and many more lens rebuilds. (<em>By </em>you, not on you!)<br>

<em>--Dave</em></p>

<p>Thanks <strong>Dave</strong>, my surgeon was a highly qualified lady. And she had a great sense of humour. So it was a very pleasant experience. I got to learn something about organic lenses, cylindrical defects and corrective elastic surgery too. By the way, they also use the yellow filter [or tint] on the IOL to increase contrast perception. I believe they learned that from the photo industry! sp.</p>

<p>Good to see your work again, SP, and very glad you got over your health problems. Nothing wrong with that I-26, it seems.<br>

<br />Nice documentary of your changing cityscape. </p>