[Andrew_Oid]

I don't think the softness is noticeable with your subject matter and composition. The kinds of subject matter where consistent flat-field corner-to-corner high resolution is necessary is rather limited. If one specialized in pictures in one of those realms, however, then of course that lens would be insufficient. If one takes a wide variety of pictures, it would only now and then be a liability.

Yes, you're right. The lens is another indication of Soviet engineering and technical ability. It's certainly more than an adequate performer, and considering they can be had for $15-20 (!) it's hard to find a serious fault with them. Of course, for not much more one could get a Helios 44, a slightly narrower field of view but f2, a 52mm filter thread, a closer focusing distance, and better quality of construction and optics. And then there are so many other 50s, 55s and 58s. And that's why the Industar-50-2 will probably always be pretty much a curiosity. I'm glad to have it but more to take a picture of than with. My 50 of choice is another Tessar, a CZJ 50mm f2.8 made between 1955 and 1958 with 12 blades and smoother aperture and focusing action than a Takumar, and it produces IQ in spades.

---------- Post added 06-27-17 at 07:46 AM ----------

That is one impressive looking lens - great looking kit

It is a cute lil sucker.

[goatsNdonkey]

Yes, you're right. The lens is another indication of Soviet engineering and technical ability. It's certainly more than an adequate performer, and considering they can be had for $15-20 (!) it's hard to find a serious fault with them. Of course, for not much more one could get a Helios 44, a slightly narrower field of view but f2, a 52mm filter thread, a closer focusing distance, and better quality of construction and optics. And then there are so many other 50s, 55s and 58s. And that's why the Industar-50-2 will probably always be pretty much a curiosity. I'm glad to have it but more to take a picture of than with. My 50 of choice is another Tessar, a CZJ 50mm f2.8 made between 1955 and 1958 with 12 blades and smoother aperture and focusing action than a Takumar, and it produces IQ in spades.

---------- Post added 06-27-17 at 07:46 AM ----------


It is a cute lil sucker.

Right now my Russian lens stable only houses a Helios 44-2 and a MIR 1-B, so next I would probably look for something in another focal length area from either of those, but I am sometimes tempted by a low price on an Industar 50-2. I have bid a (or come close to bidding) on a Zenitar 16mm about four times, only to see it zoom out of my price range, sometimes in the last seconds. I have been watching a Jupiter-9 85mm, and watched it just do that a day and a half before the bidding was to end. I got my Helios cheaper than most because it was on a Zenit body, apparently keeping it from being noticed by shoppers scanning the lenses only category of the auction site.

I really think of my Russian lenses as a subset of my little m42 stable of primes, which I am gradually filling out with lenses of differing focal length and somewhat unique character: a Sun 28mm, the MIR 37mm, my long-loved Super-Takumar 55mm, the Helios 58mm, a Sears 135mm, a Mamiya 200mm, a Sears 300mm, so far. The Helios is perhaps the most surprising, because it's sharp center with progressively OOF vignetting wide open is remarkable all by itself, but then if I stop it down to f/11, it's suddenly sharp all over -- it's like two different lenses in one! The Sun takes a bit of a learning curve, since it is very hard to have it consistently focus where I think I've focused it when wide open at f/2.5, but if I stop it down to f/4 suddenly all that that trouble goes away and it becomes a rather remarkable lens: good color, contrast, sharpness, bokeh, and quite amazing with 10mm of extenstion added. If I do get a 50mm (which right now seems so close to the 55mm and 58mm I already have when I have a big gap between 58 and 135mm, for example), I keep thinking of it being a Takumar f/1.4, but maybe....., just maybe....., it could end up being an Industar.

[timw4mail]

Yes, you're right. The lens is another indication of Soviet engineering and technical ability. It's certainly more than an adequate performer, and considering they can be had for $15-20 (!) it's hard to find a serious fault with them. Of course, for not much more one could get a Helios 44, a slightly narrower field of view but f2, a 52mm filter thread, a closer focusing distance, and better quality of construction and optics. And then there are so many other 50s, 55s and 58s. And that's why the Industar-50-2 will probably always be pretty much a curiosity. I'm glad to have it but more to take a picture of than with. My 50 of choice is another Tessar, a CZJ 50mm f2.8 made between 1955 and 1958 with 12 blades and smoother aperture and focusing action than a Takumar, and it produces IQ in spades.

---------- Post added 06-27-17 at 07:46 AM ----------


It is a cute lil sucker.

Hmm... my Helios-44-2s have 49mm filter threads.

Not much can match the Tair-11, with its 20 aperture blades.

[Andrew_Oid]

Hmm... my Helios-44-2s have 49mm filter threads.

Not much can match the Tair-11, with its 20 aperture blades.

Sorry, I don't have the 44-2, but I see online that they do have a 49mm filter size. Later models (like my m-4 and m-6) have 52mm threads. Either way, it's a more convenient size than that of the Industar-50-2.

---------- Post added 06-27-17 at 07:00 PM ----------

Right now my Russian lens stable only houses a Helios 44-2 and a MIR 1-B, so next I would probably look for something in another focal length area from either of those, but I am sometimes tempted by a low price on an Industar 50-2. I have bid a (or come close to bidding) on a Zenitar 16mm about four times, only to see it zoom out of my price range, sometimes in the last seconds. I have been watching a Jupiter-9 85mm, and watched it just do that a day and a half before the bidding was to end. I got my Helios cheaper than most because it was on a Zenit body, apparently keeping it from being noticed by shoppers scanning the lenses only category of the auction site.

I really think of my Russian lenses as a subset of my little m42 stable of primes, which I am gradually filling out with lenses of differing focal length and somewhat unique character: a Sun 28mm, the MIR 37mm, my long-loved Super-Takumar 55mm, the Helios 58mm, a Sears 135mm, a Mamiya 200mm, a Sears 300mm, so far. The Helios is perhaps the most surprising, because it's sharp center with progressively OOF vignetting wide open is remarkable all by itself, but then if I stop it down to f/11, it's suddenly sharp all over -- it's like two different lenses in one! The Sun takes a bit of a learning curve, since it is very hard to have it consistently focus where I think I've focused it when wide open at f/2.5, but if I stop it down to f/4 suddenly all that that trouble goes away and it becomes a rather remarkable lens: good color, contrast, sharpness, bokeh, and quite amazing with 10mm of extenstion added. If I do get a 50mm (which right now seems so close to the 55mm and 58mm I already have when I have a big gap between 58 and 135mm, for example), I keep thinking of it being a Takumar f/1.4, but maybe....., just maybe....., it could end up being an Industar.

Bidding on eBay is too frustrating for me. My experience is the same as yours. At the last minute, someone will come out of nowhere and bid the lens too high or just win it, Now I only consider BIN items. And I don't mind paying a little more for a lens in better condition. They're still bargains IMO. (That said, there are m42 lenses out of my budget. The MOG Trioplan 100mm f2.8 is first to come to mind, but I can live without it.) Getting a like-new Industar-50-2 for $15 with reasonable shipping costs (say $10) seems like a good deal at any rate if just for its curiosity value.

[goatsNdonkey]

Bidding on eBay is too frustrating for me. My experience is the same as yours. At the last minute, someone will come out of nowhere and bid the lens too high or just win it, Now I only consider BIN items. And I don't mind paying a little more for a lens in better condition. They're still bargains IMO. (That said, there are m42 lenses out of my budget. The MOG Trioplan 100mm f2.8 is first to come to mind, but I can live without it.) Getting a like-new Industar-50-2 for $15 with reasonable shipping costs (say $10) seems like a good deal at any rate if just for its curiosity value.

Sometimes I am the guy who sneaks in with that last second winning bid, but that's hard to do with a lens in such high demand as a Zenitar 16mm. Sometimes I watch those Meyer-Optik lenses, too, but it's just an exercise in window shopping. Buy-It-Now ads are easier to deal with though, less frustrating and psychologically jarring.

I left out a lens in my m42 lens list, sort of, my Tamron SP 90mm with an m42 adaptall-2 ring on it! But the adapter is for the Fujica-ST version of the m42 mount, which means I couldn't use it on a dslr without modifying it. But that mount fits on my Honeywell Pentax ESII body just fine.

[timw4mail]

Sometimes I am the guy who sneaks in with that last second winning bid, but that's hard to do with a lens in such high demand as a Zenitar 16mm. Sometimes I watch those Meyer-Optik lenses, too, but it's just an exercise in window shopping. Buy-It-Now ads are easier to deal with though, less frustrating and psychologically jarring.

I usually go for auctions only if they are significantly below the going price. I managed to snatch (an ugly) A 50/1.2 for $256 that way.

My biggest problem with Soviet lenses is how long they take to arrive. They do tend to be inexpensive for their usefulness, though

[goatsNdonkey]

I usually go for auctions only if they are significantly below the going price. I managed to snatch (an ugly) A 50/1.2 for $256 that way.

My biggest problem with Soviet lenses is how long they take to arrive. They do tend to be inexpensive for their usefulness, though

I tried to avoid the long shipment time in getting my Russian lenses, but with only partial success. I got my Helios 44-2 from a guy in Texas, so it got here to Illinois, in mere days. I thought I was buying my MIR-1B from a guy in Chicago, but it turned out it was actually going to be sent to me by his associate in Ukraine! It seemed fishy at first, but the lens arrived within the 10-15 days window the seller told me (after purchase) to expect, well-packed and in good condition, so there was no real problem beyond a bit of patience on my part.

[IgorZ]

I usually go for auctions only if they are significantly below the going price. I managed to snatch (an ugly) A 50/1.2 for $256 that way.

My biggest problem with Soviet lenses is how long they take to arrive. They do tend to be inexpensive for their usefulness, though

my experience has been that bids that start very low end up lower than BIN price on similar lenses. I guess it's hard for people who started with $5 bid on a lens to bid significantly more even if the lens ends up being cheaper in the end. I remember I let a Primoplan go. The final sale price was around $110 USD, which is cheap, but the starting bid was around $0.1...

[butangmucat]

An experimental locomotive is conducting road tests near my town, but only recently the sun shines long enough for it to arrive (if on time). It was around 7:20 PM (the sun sets at 7:30 PM) and the light was pretty dim so instead of my usual K-S2, I got out my quasi-full-frame "K-mount" Sony NEX-6 + Mitakon Lens Turbo II combo.

Road Test by Sijie Bu, 於 Flickr

Lomo Volna 50mm f1.8

Road Test by Sijie Bu, 於 Flickr

LZOS Industar-61 50mm F2.8 L/Z

[victormeldrew]

The thing with auctions is to completely forget about the price you would like to get the item for and instead decide on the price you absolutely would not go beyond - then put that in and forget about it until the auction ends. Automatic bidding will take care of the rest. If you 'win' the auction (I hate that eBay term that really means 'buy' but hey...) you will have paid less than or equal to your maximum, so no problem. If not, someone else was willing to pay more than your absolute maximum, so never mind, there will be others. If you're really lucky, it might be considerably less.

If you bid the price you would like to pay early on (a low one), then you're undervaluing it and someone else will come up with more. Then you'll get mad and bid a bit higher, then a bidding war will happen and you'll force the price up and either pay over the odds, or end up frustrated. Either way you will have spent hours tapping away on eBay when you could have got on with life.

As a side note - if you are in the EU, the Distance Selling Regulations apply to a 'Buy It Now' item and so you have a 7 day period to return the item for a full refund for any reason (among other statutory protections). This doesn't apply to auctions, so this is an additional value to consider.

[Topsy]

The thing with auctions is to completely forget about the price you would like to get the item for and instead decide on the price you absolutely would not go beyond - then put that in and forget about it until the auction ends. Automatic bidding will take care of the rest. If you 'win' the auction (I hate that eBay term that really means 'buy' but hey...) you will have paid less than or equal to your maximum, so no problem. If not, someone else was willing to pay more than your absolute maximum, so never mind, there will be others. If you're really lucky, it might be considerably less.

If you bid the price you would like to pay early on (a low one), then you're undervaluing it and someone else will come up with more. Then you'll get mad and bid a bit higher, then a bidding war will happen and you'll force the price up and either pay over the odds, or end up frustrated. Either way you will have spent hours tapping away on eBay when you could have got on with life.

As a side note - if you are in the EU, the Distance Selling Regulations apply to a 'Buy It Now' item and so you have a 7 day period to return the item for a full refund for any reason (among other statutory protections). This doesn't apply to auctions, so this is an additional value to consider.

Or you just last "minute" snipe (and make other people mad). The thing is that if you enter your highest when you first set eyes on a lens another person that might be willing to pay more can simply do that as he'll soon find out when he's the highest bidder.
However if you snipe no one will have time to test how high your highest bid is, either they snipe too with a higher bid or it's someone that has bid something higher beforehand already (in which case you won't have time to bid higher, which is sometimes quite good ).

That said, I don't always feel like "buy it now" prices are that much higher. Back when I was looking for my Jupiter 9 there were lots that started at $10 that ended up at the same price as my "buy it now". Though it was one of the cheaper buy it now J9s out there. I was looking a long time though!

[Andrew_Oid]

I usually go for auctions only if they are significantly below the going price. I managed to snatch (an ugly) A 50/1.2 for $256 that way.

My biggest problem with Soviet lenses is how long they take to arrive. They do tend to be inexpensive for their usefulness, though

My Helios-44-M-3 started on its way on 6/20, was "exported from the departure country" on the 21st, and dropped out of sight for six days. On the 27th, tracking resumes with "in transit-departed waypoint" followed by "in transit-arrived at the waypoint". It would be nice to know what these waypoints are. Apparently, because Belarus has no air route to Bangkok, it's been working its way to another country, and from what seems to be a hint on the BelPost tracking site, that country very well could be Ukraine, which is where the current global malware attack originated and where most of the infections are, including at Kiev airport. Hmmm. At least, it seems to be still in play . . .

[Crooski]

Two pictures made with the Industar 61 L/Z MC 50mm f/2.8

[OftheManor]

Shot a few things around the yard. I like the rendering of this lens very much

[timw4mail]