Which manual Russian lenses are good and which to avoid?

[travellingcello]

Hi all,

I'm going to Estonia again soon and plan to visit a flea market to see whether i might find anything good .... I'm guessing most if not all the lenses I will find will be Soviet/Russian lenses and not knowing much about them I'm wondering whether any of you can give me any pointers on what lenses I am likely to see and which could be interesting.

Also I have not much of a clue on identifying lens mounts, how will I know what is what? The only ones I can identify are Canon EF, FD and OM at the moment.

Thanks

 

[s162216]

Most that you'll find will likely be either M42 (42mm screw mount quite easily adaptable to most other mounts but more expensive/difficult for Nikon F and Olympus OM mount if I remember due to them having a longer flange depth), Pentax K or Lecia M39 (39mm screw mount).

Look out for a Helios 44-M (the later 44-M4 is better as its multicoated but it lacks a manual stopdown switch so you can't us it on digital unless the adapter pushes the pin in or you push it in. Don't glue it in as it makes the lens unusable on M42 cameras), its a 58mm f2 M42 lens (there are later 44-K, Pentax K mount versions as well) which is well known for being extremely sharp (it is based on a Zeiss Biotar type lens) and having lovely 'swirling' bokeh wide open. They do sell fairly cheaply on ebay as well because they were the standard lens for the renowned/infamous Soviet KMZ produced Zenit series.

Also the various Jupiter lenses originally designed for rangefinder type cameras in M39 mount are usually quite good according to others but I have yet to own one. Some were also produced in M42 mount as well.

 

[joxby]

Tair 11a in m42 mount, its a 135 f/2.8, they are always well priced here, profit if you get it cheap...there.

 

[Andy77]

i have a m42 fit jupiter 11a 135mm f4, its super sharp on my 5d mk2, keep your eyes peeled for one.

Andy