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Don Congdon
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 07:06 am: | 
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Not exactly a repair topic, but I think the people in this forum are best qualified to answer.
Are the early Zenit Helios 58mm lenses actually copies of the Zeiss Biotar 58mm? I have a biotar on my Exakta VX and it seems similar both in lens parameters and general mechanics.
I think the Zenit Industar was a Zeiss Tessar copy.
Thanks! |
rick
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 10:39 am: |
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after WWII the soviets obtained considerable cooperation from the east german photo industry as war reparations. this included the construction of a complete factory to build contax II and III cameras (as Kiev II and III) under german technical guidance and the designs and manufacturing techniques for a full range of optics from carl zeiss jena. so they are perhaps a bit more than just copies. i'm not positive exactly how the biotar/helios relationship fits into this but they certainly appear to be identical. known siblings are the 50/2 sonnar and the jupiter-8; the 50/1.5 sonnar and the jupiter-3 (is that the right number?); the 35/2.8 biogon and the jupiter-12; the 85/2.0 sonnar and the jupiter-9; and the 135/4 sonnar and the jupiter-11. once in soviet possession these formulas were not limited to the zeiss ikon derived cameras but applied wherever they would fit. |
Dave
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 09:14 pm: |
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And they are all excellent lenses! |
Haig Hovaness
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 18, 2006 - 02:49 pm: |
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The Russians were not the only beneficiaries of German lens technology. The German optical patent portfolio was given to the Japanese camera industry in the postwar era to aid their reconstruction. The Japanese hit a home run in dominating the camera business, but they started on second base. |
Mike Kovacs
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - 12:35 pm: |
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I am certain the Nikkor 50/2 HC I have for Nikon rangefinder mount is a 6/3 Sonnar, just like the 50/2 Zeiss for Contax mount.
Same probably goes for the 50/1.4 Nikkor S, a 7/3 Sonnar like the 50/1.5 Zeiss. |
Mark Pearce
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - 02:38 pm: |
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Most of the earlier Nikon RF lenses have roots in Zeiss designs. |
Zygmunt Roslon
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 22, 2006 - 03:46 am: |
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...Interestingly,for example,tests in America proved better resolution of Russian Industar 50 and 62 than German Leica glass...To those looking sensation; Russia produced their OWN glass for their cameras though in a early stage of production used German glass. |
Mark Pearce
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 22, 2006 - 04:32 am: |
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A good Russian (read ex-Soviet) can be opiticaly as good or better than it's German forebearer. The barrels and mounts are not as good, and non-exixtant quality control makes finding a good one a game of, well, 'Russian Roulette'.
I've used Jupiter 8, 9, 11, and 12 lenses and their Sonnar and Biogon parents and haven't found a dimes worth of difference, aside that the Russian lenses are lighter. In fact, the J9 I had was sharper than the 8.5cm Sonnar that replaced it, and that was after overhaul by Henry Scheer
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W. A. Bresee
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 17, 2006 - 02:23 pm: |
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My 58mm helios for my start slr is defintely softer than my 58mm biotar on my Exaktas. the russian lens is not a bad lens. It is great for portraits. I have also got some good macro nature photos using extention tubes with the start. |
Michael Linn
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 17, 2006 - 06:49 pm: |
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The Helios (more like 'Gelios' in Russian since no 'H' in Cyrillic) is definitely a Zeiss Planar-Biotar type design.
Any differences between German production and Soviet really comes down to the way an individual lens was manufactured- could be good or bad but German QC whether east or west was probably better than Soviet after the death of Stalin. Early stuff from Kiev etc. was exceptionally good. Later stuff can be just as good if it was made on a good day! |
