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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Russian | Soviet | USSR Lens Survival Guide

hahaah

Adis, that's actually very close to be reality: nowadays here peeps go into jail for share like repost in soicial media
 
Ilya O. said:
hahaah

Adis, that's actually very close to be reality: nowadays here peeps go into jail for share like repost in soicial media
Click to expand...

I know, at least you got rid of them freaking communists, so now everything is in God's hands again. :rofl:

:thumbsup:
 
Each of your new post is funnier than the previous ah a ha
In God's hands, - ahahah
 
Some test images from Helios 44-2 58mm, all shot at f2.8 - f4. First two have some grain added. Thanks Ilya for this great thread!


1.jpg



2.jpg



3.jpg



4.jpg
 
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I have had quite a few Russian lenses and love the look they can give, but some of them (mostly Lomo’s) have had a problem with lens shift (or what it is called when the optical block moves a bit from side to side inside the lens when focus direction is changed...)
Do you know if there is an easy fix for this? New grease maybe? Or is a full rehouse the best way to go? :)
 
Mathias, you need to check the play and replace the worn out parts of the focusing mechanics to overcome this issue
 
Hey Ilya, what are your thoughts on the multicoated lenses like the MIR-24 and MIR-47. Do they match at all with the single coated ones?

Stuff like the position of the MIR-1's focus ring and the lack of a filter thread on the MIR-20 is pretty painful!
 
Hi, Alex.

Well, generally, the look, color and flares are pretty different with MC.

Believe it or not, MC gives much more vivid and saturated flares, too much for my taste. Good example is Mir-20, flares of MC version are crazy.

Still, you can try to find non-MC lens' editions, I mean there's MIR-24M 2/35 with single coating, as well as MIR-20M 3.5/20.

MIR-47 2.5/20, at least those I faced, has that nastry green flares of MC. On the other hand, if the shiny parts under the front lens' groups are blackened well (special modification; by default its all shiny internals) there's almost no flares and the color and look is really something special, really.

If u need the threads in Mir-20, try the Nikon version MIR-20N, it has 95mm threads. Only MC, though.
 
Interesting - sounds like they're not a good fit, then. Nikon stuff won't work due to the reversed focus direction (that's hell for a 1st AC's muscle memory), and I've heard about the single coated 24Ms, but have been completely unable to find any.

Might try just epoxying a step down ring to the front of a 20M. Hopefully it won't vignette on S35.

Спасибо товарищ!

EDIT. Actually, what about the earlier MIR-20 Automat? That has a filter thread, and I've seen a few converted for M42 with aperture rings modded into them. Are the optics similar?
 
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Hello Ilya,
What do you think about мс Мир-24м?
I'm really considering this one over the Мир-1
 
To Alex:
Yes, the optics of Mir-20 Automat is the same despite being made at Kiev Arsenal Factory
 
Hi Florian:-)

I never tried that Mir-24 2/35. Just saw s couple of reviews on the net, and found it has that nasty zeissian purple CA around high contrast and white objects. That I hate so I decided not to use it:
crop1.jpg


Here is nice vintage review, taken from USSR Photo Magazine, 1987.

Optically, it's quite advanced optical design for late 1960s:
mir24n-opt.jpg
 
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Of potential interest to this group, here is an informal look at the bokeh and breathing characteristics of the following lenses modified by IronGlassAdapters:

20 mm / F3.5 – MIR 20
28 mm / F3.5 – Mir 10A
37 mm / F2.8 – Mir 1B
58 mm / F2 – Helios 44-2
85 mm / F2 – Jupiter 9
135 mm / F2.8 – Tair 11A

 
Thanks for sharing this thorough test, Owen!

All of them (except of Jupiter-9 as classical Sonnar, and Tair) have the pleasing bokeh swirl effect.

Wides are simply beautiful at macro distances, what an imagery and depth feel!
 
Yes, I like the Helios best for overall look and bokeh. But the Tair has its own virtues.

Ilya O. said:
Thanks for sharing this thorough test, Owen!

All of them (except of Jupiter-9 as classical Sonnar, and Tair) have the pleasing bokeh swirl effect.

Wides are simply beautiful at macro distances, what an imagery and depth feel!
Click to expand...
 
Hey lens lurkers. Here I share a treasure with you.

Behold!

All USSR and East Germany spherical projection lenses of mid 1970-s for all image formats 16-35-70mm, given with all the optical data like layout and aberration plots.

Choose and buy before prices skyrocket and use them as a basic spherical lens for your ana setup or just for experiments.

Note that many USSR projection lenses have the same optical layout as famous OKS LOMO cine lenses. One example is ОКП4-50-1 1,8/50mm which scales up a layout of the coolest OKS11-35-1 2/35mm. Second. is that ОКП4-80-1 1,8/80mm is just like LOMO OKS6-75-1 2/75mm.

All "П" lenses are cool Petzval ones.

Visionars of ROW are also here.

Download link, high quality .pdf file with text layer which u can select anf google translate:



NIKFI projection lenses 16,35, 70mm formats review - Обзор проекционников 16, 35, 70 НИКФИ 1972.pdf

http://drive.google.com/open?id=1RCkQbWdDC0bh1vYaGQQsLJWEqMMRYnuT

When sharing, a link to Moscow Optical Workshop is a must, plz.

Plz donate me a cup of coffee if u feel like to moscow.optical.workshop@gmail.com via PayPal
 
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Hi :)
For the third time now, I’m building a set of standard speed Lomo sphericals... I really love how they look, but have never been able to really work with them because of the mechanics, so this time I will rehouse them to try to fix the mechanical part :)

In my humble experience I’ve noticed that the wide Lomos are not necessarily the best Lomos, and I’ve had some issues with the 22mm and 28mm. So I’m wondering if anyone could help me out:
I’m considering swapping out both the 22mm and 28mm Lomos for a Cooke Speed Panchro 25mm series.III (!)
I’ve read about the similarities in the design and look of Lomo and Cooke Speeds before and was wondering if any of you happen to have an opinion about whether the Cooke Speed 25mm T2.2 can/will match the Lomos (from 1987-1990) or not?
And - do you think a swap like this will ruin the potential resale value of the lenses (as a set), even if the match is good?

Thank you :)
 
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