FED-36 100/6.3 on Zenit Automat

The FED-36 was converted to m39 (initiativ of former owner, not mine), so it is good opportunity to use it on zenit automat via M39-M42 ring and M42-pK adapter.
Here is how it looks




Focusing is a bit hard @6.3 (dark).

Film is Rollei RPX 400
Scanned with Epson V500
Develloped by professional labo.

I posted this on photogalery, but it's on collectors forum now, I don't know why .

There was such a Fed 6,3/100 converted to M39 SLR for sale on eBay some months ago. Perhaps this one...
Excellent photos. The transparencies are astonishing on the first one, I specially love it. Thanks, Pierre.

As for the jump in the general section, you have probably edited your post. It's often the case...

Amitiйs. Jacques.

Bonsoir Pierre

Because this lens is not a tilt/shift one, could you please explain how you made the second picture? It's digitally modified or made with an enlarger with film and photo paper? If a digital modification is used why not removing the dust (white particles) off the negative? Only curious ...

By the way the pictures are interesting by there content and I love the second picture very much. Maybe I would have took some steps to the left for bringing the person in a better angle of view and maybe I had tried to give the foreground a little more brightness. Digitally edited of cause.

Sorry to say but I don't *use* russian cameras, I'm only collect them. There is only one camera with silver film I was using since 2002 or so, my beloved gray Rolleiflex T from 1963 I own since the 1990th. Everything else was only digital since then.

Best wishes - Guido

Thanks for your comments!

Jacques, I bought this one on Aukro (which is closed now, btw) some months ago. Usualy it's opposite, seen first localy, and then on ebay . So I believe it's different one.

Guido, to my eyes, there is nothing special about perspectives on the 3rd one. This day, I also used a Mir-47K 20/2.5, I don't think it was done with wide angle. All I can say is that it's straight from the scan, exepted crop (explaination at the end of the message ). I should remove dust, but I'm sometime a bit lazy.
I'm a bit opposite, I'm not a camera collector, I initialy collecting soviet lenses only, and used them on digital Sony A7. But last months, I decided to use film camera. I bought some cameras in order to use the most of my lenses. I always try to find the most practical (automat or at least TTL) or with the best viewfinder, no collecting wish here.
I have actualy :
Zorki-4 for LTM (Leningrad has great viewfinder, but it's pretty to hard or pricy to find a working one)
Zenit-19 for M42
Kiev-5 for external kiev mount, Jupiter-8NB and Helios-94
Zenit Automat for K mount lenses
Kiev-6C for MF lenses and aerialphoto lenses
Incoming :
Kiev-15 TEE for my Automat lenses
Kiev-19 for my arsenal Nikon mount lenses
Start for Z39 (via adapter)


Btw, this Zenit automat is not working good, a problem with pentaprisme. If I take a photo, what I see in viewfinder is not what will be on final photo, it will be upper (so in many photo, I have too much sky). Quite frustrating, and need to crop to find a better composition. I'm working on it with master from ukraine and a french friend. Soon or later, I will solve it. The mirror is OK (45°).

Topic of using russian Zenits appiered so I can add something here.
From late 70's to beginning of 90's I used Zenits and Prakticas. Than I used almost all manual systems and camers were mainly made in Japan.
Zenits E from Krasnogorsk were quite good made (I mean about quality). Zenits TTL and 12XP had better construction (TTL metering and so on) but quality was not as good as in older brothers. Zenits 12XP had problems with film transport and lightmeter. Zenits Automat were even worse.
Why you use Zenit Automat instead of using e.g. Canon A-1 or something similar but without split-image rangefinder on focusing screen ?

I don't understand.
On a Canon A1, you just can put FD lenses on it, no?

Here, we post photos made with Russian cameras, or Russian lenses. Or even both with a film, which is much better, for me. Just to try and find what we could get before the numerics, and before we could apply any corrections. But it's only my opinion...

Jacques.

Let me expalin my point of view.

Of course, you can put FD lenses on Canon A-1. Canon cameras with FD mount very good "accept" other lenses because of stopped down metering constructed for FL lenses.

Here, as Moxies wrote, there was good opportunity to use FED 100 on zenit automat via M39-M42 ring and M42-pK adapter.
One can use FED 100 on Canon A-1 via M39-M42 ring and M42-FD adapter. So number of adapters is the same in both cases.

FED 100 converted to be used on SLR - this is fantastic in my opinion. One can mount it on almost every SLR (I don't mean DSLR) and check how it was in the past. This is the goal of the "experiment" because here we can see on photo an image produced by the old lens made for FED.
Now Zenit Automat - absolutely nothing special. What interesing can be seen on photos when you use Zenit Automat instead of e.g Pentax ME Super ? Absolutely nothing, photos whould be absolutely the same if the same lens is used. Unless Zenit snag a film or make under/overexposure.

Moxies, thank you for this thread. Your photos are really very interesting.
But one more thing. I'd like to see bokeh of the lens. Mayby you have such photo and could place it here ?

For me a camera is only a tool here to see what FED 100 can show us.

I understand perfectly what you mean, Alfa
And of course a photo is made by the lens, not by the body (which must work normally, anyway!).

That said, the "smell" of a photo depends largely on the body, the precision (or the problems) of the viewfinder, the noise of the shutters... A question of pleasure too. In fact, I cannot separe the couple body/lens which were made one for the other. A romantic point of view? No! Just an historical one.

And even when I take photos with my Fed S and Zeiss lenses, I don't forget that these lenses, with an M, were made for Fed cameras.

But you were talking about the results of lenses only. OK.

Amitiйs. Jacques.
PS: I didn't know you can put on a Canon A1 other lenses than FD...

I understand your point of view, jacques, and I still use analog cameras, but it's a great pleasure to use old lenses on a digital camera as well. in my opinion the sony A7 is the best to do so. it has a full frame sensor 24x36 and a short lens flange. so it is easy to adapt even M39 lenses, you can buy an adapter for under 10Ђ. there are adapters for contax mount as well. on my A7camera site you can look at the results. russian lenses do well and often are very cheap.

if you live in a small town in france, film buying, developping and getting pictures on paper is very difficult and expensive. whereas you can send your digital files via internet and get your paper pictures at low cost.

www.a7camera.com www.120folder.com www.instantphoto.eu

Alfa, I know there are much better camera than Zenit Automat. I always liked ONLY soviet lenses. When I thought about using film camera, I decided to stick to soviet, not because they are better, but because I like it (and also because I can have them quite cheap from ukraine)

You asked for bokeh with FED-36, I only have from my A7. Here are some :





Not a bokeh photo, but just to show how a pre-war soviet lens can be good even on moderne sensor

Moxies, thank you for all these photos. I like the bokeh. It is much better than I expected.
On the last photo at the bottom I can see very sharp grass. The lens is much sharper than I thought before. I have checked few I-10 and results were very poor on film and on matrix too.
I have to check my FED 5.9/100 but I don't have A7 but only NEX 6.

Jacques, I understand this pleasure of using certain cameras. This is the reason why I still sometime use LTM Leicas. This is because of this gentle sound of shutter, smooth winding a film/shutter and so on. I have complitely other experiences with russian cameras than You guys in France . I was forced to use russian cameras because in communism I could not buy almost anything else. So it is pleasure for me to use finaly camera which was my dream those days - LTM Leica.

Small reminiscence:
I remember when communism ended in Poland and finally I was able to use all modern SLRs mainly made in Japan. I expected everything will be much better in Japanese equipment than in products made in communism.
Indeed Japanese cameras were much better than those from USSR or DDR. But lenses made in communism were quite good and sometimes even better than those made in Japan.

I have Leicas too, of course. And "modern" Japanese, but nothing later than a T90 with which I often shoot (FD 1,2/55 aspherical lens).

You talk about a 5,9/100mm Fed lens? The prototype?

Jacques.

Yes, I remember your Leicas from the photo you showed during last summer.

As I remember 200 pcs of FED 5.9/100 were done so it is hard to say prototype. I'd call it pre-series.
I mean this one:
http://sovietcams.com/index.php?1385669425

A comparison between the two 100mm Fed lenses, wide open, would be interesting.
If I remember, Fed purposely "degraded" their f5,9 towards f6,3 because of problems of quality...

Jacques.

Yes, I remember the same that the "degradation" was done because of quality of image.
Now weather is awful and there is almost dark when I go back from work.
But when it is better I will do the test.