[Leica] Zorki and J-8 Industar 61 as "car camera"

[dlridings at gmail.com (Daniel Ridings)]

Peter, Russian cameras are not like the IIIc-IIIf and later (one
single block). That means there are deviations in lens to film-plane
distances. This was a factor that Leica had to deal with too in the
early days. So their bodies were shimmed too.

An easy test. You're lucky. It focusses _behind_ what you think it
should, that is, the distance is too little. It's easier to add shims
than to reduce them.

Set the lens on infinity and point at an object at infinity. The
rangefinder will probably be wrong (since the lens is going past
infinity).

Slowly unscrew the lens (creating more distance between the lens and
the film plane) until the rangefinder infinity images line up. Look at
the space between the body and the lens-mount. That is the size shim
you could start with.

You could just cut out a vew paper rings and put them on the back of
the lens so that it doesn't screw down as far. Dynamo tape cut in a
crescent moon shape might do too. Just to make it easy to test.

Once you are satisfied with the focus, you might want to dismantle the
lens and put the shim where it is supposed to be rather than between
the camera body and the lens-mount.

That said, the Bessa Cosina glass is not a bad option :-)

I must have gotten lucky. My Jupiter-8 worked right out of the box on
the IIIf. The Jupiter-12 (35 mm) didn't. It's off. I just noted how
much it is off and then once I've focused with the rangefinder, I
throw the focus off that amount. I haven't bothered with shims (I
think it needs reducing and that's more of a pain).

Best,
Daniel


On 9/26/05, Peter Klein <pklein@2alpha.net> wrote:
...
> I also have an Industar 61 L/D  55/2.8, which is supposed to be the Soviet
> equivalent of the Red Scale Elmar.  Basically a Tessar lens, with lanthanum
> glass.  This lens has an outstanding reputation.  Mine focuses
> significantly to the rear of where the RF says it is on the Zorki.  So I
> don't know yet how good or bad it really is.
>
> I'm thinking seriously of trying to get the Industar 61 adjusted.  But I'm
> wondering whether I should do this with a $12 lens, or simply buy a couple
> more until I get one that works.  Or try for a better Jupiter-8.  I'm also
> wondering whether I should stop playing Russian roulette, buy a used Bessa
> R and C/V 35 or 50  for a couple of hundred dollars and stop worrying.