Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/11/27
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 08:01 PM 11/27/97 -0000, Russell Fox wrote: >Various Russian wide-angle lenses are being advertised for sale in the >U.K. I've seen a new 20mm f 5.6 for sale, priced at around 240 pounds sterling, >which includes a finder & screw to M mount converter. Has anyone experience with these >lenses? Oh, gee, sure, guys, let's jump right onto those controversial subjects! A few of us have the 5.6/20 Russar MR-2 lenses and love them. A few have tried them, and hate them. These lenses are Topogon clones -- that is, their formula is based on the famous Carl Zeiss Jena Topogon design, a rather simple rectilinear wide-angle lens first designed for aerial photogrammetric use and later adapted for use on the Contax RF, first as an uncoated 4.5/2.5cm lens and, after the war, as a coated 4/2.5cm. The Topogon is not a design which allows "fast" formulae, thus the f/5.6 aperture of the Russar. It also is a bit subject to vignetting and edge drop-off -- that is, the edges of the shot are generally darker by a stop or two than is the center 2/3. But the design is sharp and rectilinear -- that is, a line drawn through the FOV will be as straight as it is in real life. The 2.8/21 Elmarit is not one of Leitz' happier designs, which is why it is not uncommon to find Contax and Contarex 4.5/21 Biogons converted to Leica TM or BM: now, the Biogon is the lens to get for the outer limit in wide-angle performance. One caveat: the Russars do vary a bit, as Soviet and Post-Soviet quality control and quality assurance aren't what we are accustomed to and, in any event, the Topogon design is such that these lenses are certainly hand-assembled (the center element is paper-thin). I would suggest you buy with a MBG and be willing to reject one sample if you aren't satisfied -- you may have to try two or three to find one you are happy with. I love my Russar and use it quite a bit. And, yes, it DOES meter with the M6. Marc msmall@roanoke.infi.net FAX: +540/343-7315 Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!