[Leica] Russian Lenses

[Marc James Small <msmall@roanoke.infi.net>]

In response to T Lavrakas' most interesting post:

a)  The 2/50 Jupiter-8 is not a "forgery" -- rather, it is a Zeiss lens
which happens to be made in Russia, the design and lens-production
equipment having been taken there as legitimate war booty.  Even Zeiss has
never argued this point.

b)  To my relatively extensive knowledge, no Russian LTM lenses are made in
Siberia.  Most are now made at the Zagorsk plant (confusing located in a
town which is no longer Zagorsk!), though substantial production has also
been done at Kazan and KMZ and PO Rubin in Moscow.

c)  The Industar-22 is derived from an Elmar forgery but involves a lot of
independent development and further design.  It is quite a nice lens.

Marc



At 08:46 PM 3/18/98 +0300, you wrote:
>Dear Friends:
>
>One of the pleasures of living in Russia is the opportunity to taste the
>fruits of communism's disdain for the niceties of international patent
>rights.  A few weeks back, I picked up a Jupiter-8 50mm f2 in 39mm screw
>mount.  The Jupiter-8 is a copy to the Zeiss Sonnar, lovingly coated and
>mounted in a nice black aluminum mount.  The glass is perfect, although
>there appears to be oil all over the blades of the iris.  I asked the
>salesman to explain this, and he gibbered something about "this lens was
>made in Siberia, and stored in the cold, and this is a normal condition of
>no consequence...." At this point my Russian gave out, as it always does
>when the locals start lying to me.
>
>Anyway, it was only $20, so I gave it a chance, and what a sweetheart it
>turned out to be.  Anyone familiar with Zeiss lenses knows of what I speak
>- truly a great forgery.  And in spite of the garish green paint used on
>the distance scale, I think it looks pretty cool on my M6.  My friend Anne
>(who is Belgian, poor thing) thought otherwise:"Eet looks just as crappy as
>zat camera.  How much did you pay for zat sing?"  Score one for the Red Dot
>haters.  On the other hand, I had been teasing her all day re. her
>country's hopes in the Olympic games: "I hear the Belgian Army team is
>expected to win Gold in the rifle-throwing event," and so on.  So maybe she
>was just feeling beeter, as she puts it.
>
>There is much to amuse the photographer/tourist in Moscow.  By all means,
>visit the art/souvenir/junk market held at Izmailovsky Park on weekends. 
>There are always a half-dozen or so camera dealers, and it's fake Leica
>heaven, or hell, depending on your  perspective on this matter.  The
>renowned 85mm f2 goes for about $120; the 20mm f5.6 runs between $150 and
>$200.  Everything in the 35/50/135mm range goes for $25 or less (my lovely
>little Industar-22 [50mm Elmar copy]  was $13).  The dealers can be
>aggressive, so bring your poker face, be patient and act like you have
>nuclear superiority in your trousers.  Remember, you won the Cold War.  On
>the Novy Arbat, check out the Jupiter store: 40.5mm filters are practically
>free, a FED 5C (the commie M6) goes for $30,  panoramic cameras are $350,
>and the Kiev 88 with lens, magazine and prism finder goes for the same
>money.  Loads of acquisitive fun for everyone - and there's one hour E6
>processing available at the Kodak store on Tverskaya Street.  
>
>If you want to gain weight, catch a social disease, get clobbered by
>falling ice, or buy  a cheap lense, then by all means, come to Russia.
>
>
msmall@roanoke.infi.net  FAX:  +540/343-7315
Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!