New GXR user and lens adapter question

[sprocketdog23]

I picked up a used GXR + M mount last weekend and am having fun with my new camera, and a couple of M39 lenses I already own.

My question is about using lens adapters, as I also have 28mm & 40mm lenses in Konica AR mount. They are decent enough lenses, but it is years since I shot anything on a Konica SLR, and I was going to sell them. However, I have spotted an L/M adapter for AR lenses for £26 on fleabay, and wondered is it worthwhile, or will it be unwieldy having a chunky lens adapter + bulky SLR style lens plonked on a GXR? Anyone use Konica AR lenses on a GXR? What are your thoughts on this combination..... pointless, or are they good optically with the GXRM sensor and worth keeping? I was going to sell them both and look for a Jupiter 12...

My current two lenses (Voigtlander 25mm f4 Colour Skopar & Jupiter 8 50/f2) were off my trusty Voigtlander Bessa T, which I still use, and seem to be a perfect match with the GXR

 

[ayewing]

Welcome to the forum.

I do not have any Konica lenses but if yours are Konica Hexanon they are very well regarded as high quality lenses. The adapter for Konica AR to Leica M looks quite slim so I can see no problem in using your lenses on the GXR. I presume they are fully manual lenses with a proper aperture ring. Any electrical contacts will not work of course.

If you decide to go ahead and get an adapter I hope you will post some of your images here as I am sure many forum members would be interested.

You are right about how well the Voigtlander 25mm Color Skopar works with the GXR. Much better than with the full frame Leica digital cameras which have troublesome colour shift at the edges - not a problem with the GXR's cropped sensor.

 

[sprocketdog23]

Thanks Ayewing, yes they are fully manual lenses, and came with an old Konica Autoreflex TC that I picked up at a carboot sale a few years ago for a couple of quid. I know a lot of the Sony crowd use them successfully on their NEX cameras (which has pushed up their resale value on auction sites it seems), so I think I should give them a try at least, and the adapter is not expensive....... however, I really do want a Jupiter 12, so will probably move them on at some point. I notice that there are loads of Jupiter 12's in Contax RF mount, and they are about a quarter of the cost of the rarer to find M39 variety. The Contax RF to M39 mount adapters are ridiculously priced however, so will wait till a good M39 variety pops up.

 

[Tom Caldwell]

The GXR-M is one of the few cameras that the Jupiter-12 will fit outside genuine Leica cameras. I don't think they will fit on any other mirrorless digital camera because of the size of the rear protrusion. Smilarly the Russar MR-2 but good original Russars are rare and fetch high prices - the Jupiter-12 was selling for about $120 in good condition when I last looked. I am not up with the current pricing but I suggest that it is only the limited number of available host bodies that keep the J-12 as cheap as it is. The "silly" Contax mount must make the conversion adapters complex and expensive in their own right - even sillier than the GXR modular system some might say.

Save on the lens, catch up with the adapter ...

But every GXR-M user should have a Jupiter-12 - even if it is just to fit it on the camera and admire it's looks

Tom

 

[sprocketdog23]

Thanks for the replies to my question. In the end I bought the Konica AR to L39 adapter, and now found a Jupiter 12 being sold with a Fed 5 for £45, so I have ended up feeling pretty happy. My next quest will be for a Jupiter 9.

 

[Tom Caldwell]

Lots of different Jupiter 9's, the M39 version is longer and narrower than the M42 version. But by the time the M42 adapter is on the M42 overall difference is more width than length. But I found the M42 focus action a little smoother than my M39 copy perhaps due to the extra leverage that the barrel width provides.

Also the older M42 has a knobbly grip to the focus ring which I prefer, despite it looking more "old fashioned".

I think they must have been a premium lens as they all seem to be quite good performers.

My M39 must have been an "export" version although bought from Russia as it is marked in Roman characters and "Made in Russia" in English.

"Real experts" get to difference subtle quality and style variations between the various factories where a lens was made in several locations. I am not that expert though I can identify between factory logos. My M39 has the "C" inside a triangle and circle which identifies it as the LZOS factory which was a satellite of the Zenit (KMZ) factory at Lytkarino near Moscow. It also made the Jupiter-12 and the M42 Industar-61L/Z 50/2.8 close focus and the rarer Volna-9 (also 50/2.8 close focus but a larger body) as well as cadioptric lenses. As these are all well regarded lenses I presume that LZOS was one of the premium factories. Not that I have particularly cared where the lenses I have were made.

It is interesting to note in the quite confusing numbering system used in the FSU that lens names signify types and lenses of similar type were often made by several different factories with only the factory logo to difference them. From time to time individual factories made running changes to the lens design details as well.

The Industar 61L/D in M39 is very common and shares the general lens specification to the Industar 61L/Z in M42. The latter is a very nice lens, looks completely different, and is not nearly as well known.

Tom