Another RF Newbie: Have anyone tried a Russian MIR 37mm f2.8 on Bessa R?

[Max 2.8]

Hi RF guys,

My name is Max, I am new here. I have been using SLR/DSLR for pass 2 years, although I have 2 rangefinders that I bought because they look good , I have never used them for shoots before. Recently, I decided to play with one of them(Fed 5C), that's how the interest started.

My Fed5C is broken, the rangefinder is misaligned vertically, my canon canonet QL17 has fungus, so I decided to get a rangefinder system and Bessa R seems to be a good and economical entry level choice. While still looking for a cheap 2nd-hand Bessa R, I have already order 2 Russian lenses(J3 & J9), after I did some reading here, seems highly recommended.

Now for wide angle, the J12 doesn't fit a Bessa R according to some forumer here, I found another Russian lens on Ebay, MIR 37mm/f2.8 which seems to be alright for Bessa R but the discriptions didn't say it fits Leica or Fed or Bessa or any other rangefinder, but it does have a M39(Leica)mount. The description also says it fits most SLR with M42-mount with an adaptor.

Just wondering have anyone tried this lens before, will it work with Bessa R?

Cheers
Max 2.8

[Roman]

No, it won't - unfortunately, the Mir won't work well with any M39-mount (=LTM) rangefinder camera, since this one is intended for early Russian SLRs that came with the same thread but of course a different body thickness (to make room for the mirror); there are quite a few Russian lenses that also came in that M39-SLR mount; they work correctly on M42-SLRs with an adapter, and they are able to focus to infinity, if used with the correct extension tubes (there are Russian ones for that purpose), but it will not be rangefinder-coupled, so you will have to guesstimate focus... BTW, I have an M42-mount Mir 37mm, and it is not that great (though useable - see these pics taken with that lens

Roman

[Roman]

I always forget that you can't add pics with 'quick reply'...

[Max 2.8]

Thanks Roman. Any recommendation for a budget-tight wide angle lens for Bessa R?

[Roman]

Not really (I got the 35mm ColorSkopar with my Bessa R) - there are options from Canon, Steinheil, etc. but other people her know much more about those...

Roman

[sockeyed]

There are a lot of people selling CV 35/2.5 Color Skopars out there. You should be ablet o get a mint one for $170.

I put up a posting looking for one or an Ultron, and I got many replies. Let me know if you want me to pass some email addresses along to you.

[Peter]

Hello Max, good to see a fellow countryman on the forum!

[Roman]

A souped up Skoda, a Czech car from the 1970s or early '80s.

Roman

[MikeLeFevre]

You can get a m39/LTM to m42 adapter cheaply which allows you to use m42 SLR lenses on your m39/LTM rangefinder body- it's basically just a metal extension tube with different threads on each end. As it's easy to get cheap m42 35mm (or even 28mm) lenses. Your only problems are that you can't use the rangefinder to focus any more (but if you set a small aperture and scale focus you should be okay) and the lens will cover too much of the field of view too, so you'll need an accessory viewfinder as well.
M.

[John Robertson]

Encouraged by Roger Hicks excellent book Rangefinder, I bought a Pentax K to Leica M adapter and use a 35mm Arsat Shift lens on my Bessa R2, its quite easy to judge the shift, and scale focus the lens.
see
http://www.pgallery.net/jer/image-51061.html

[zuikologist]

John

I know this is a VERY old thread - do you have any information on the Pentax K/Leica M adaptor? It could be a good way to get an ultrawide lens on the Leica mount at reasonable cost, depending of course on the adaptor cost! Any information greatly appreciated.

[Tarzak]

Originally Posted by zuikologist

John

I know this is a VERY old thread - do you have any information on the Pentax K/Leica M adaptor? It could be a good way to get an ultrawide lens on the Leica mount at reasonable cost, depending of course on the adaptor cost! Any information greatly appreciated.

Try one of our sponsors on this page http://cameraquest.com/adaptnew.htm

[Kim Coxon]

Looking at the price of the CV lenses and the adapters versus the ultra wide Pentax's, I think getting an adapter would be a very false economy. Ffordes have some good deals at the moment.

Kim

[zuikologist]

Mark T, Kim - thank you. You are of course absolutely right. I was probably trying to justify another experimentation urge. I'll look at Ffordes.

[NL2377]

I know that this post is a little bit outdated, but I was wondering if anyone can provide me to a link for the ffordes adapter, or any other place that provides the m42 to ltm mount for an inexpensive price ($149 is just a little too much for me to handle)

[John Robertson]

Try this site. The whole brochure is on a PDF file, takes a while to load, but they are a good firm to deal with.
http://www.srbfilm.co.uk/

[petebown]

Originally Posted by NL2377

I know that this post is a little bit outdated, but I was wondering if anyone can provide me to a link for the ffordes adapter, or any other place that provides the m42 to ltm mount for an inexpensive price ($149 is just a little too much for me to handle)

UK company www.srbfilm.co.uk
They quote £19.75 which is about $33.50
I'm not sure if this converter will place the lens at the correct distance from the film plane. However, if you email them, I'm sure they will be able to tell you.
They are also capable of producing special order converters. They are a completely mad company that can produce almost anything imaginable for photographers!

[John Robertson]

They are a completely mad company that can produce almost anything imaginable for photographers![/QUOTE)

And praise be for that, they are a company well worth our support!!!
I got a Pentax K to Leica M adaptor from them last year, this way I can and do use my Arsat 35mm Shift lens on the Bessa R2, sounds difficult but its quite easy to judge the effect. Roger Hicks Rangefinder book explains how! They are also great for odd filter sizes.

[NL2377]

Originally Posted by John Robertson

They are a completely mad company that can produce almost anything imaginable for photographers![/QUOTE)

And praise be for that, they are a company well worth our support!!!
I got a Pentax K to Leica M adaptor from them last year, this way I can and do use my Arsat 35mm Shift lens on the Bessa R2, sounds difficult but its quite easy to judge the effect. Roger Hicks Rangefinder book explains how! They are also great for odd filter sizes.

John, did they make this custom for you, or was there a mount already made for such a thing? I'd prefer a pentax k to ltm adaptor if they had one, but I didnt see it in the pdf unless i overlooked it. anyone know how much they charge for making custom mounts if they dont already make it?

[John Robertson]

Nicholas
no it was a Novoflex one they had in stock.
Have you seen this, its not easy to find in Camera Quest site.
http://www.cameraquest.com/adaptslrRFM.htm

john.

[NL2377]

Thanks, John.

[Spider67]

As I got an Exakta 24mm an Exakta to ltm adapter would be an intersting solution. Does anybody know where I could get one?