M42 Zoom Lenses

[themoleman342]

Lately I've been getting into many situations that a zoom lens would be really convenient. I've stayed away in the past simply because primes are supposed to be much better for their specific length. Though when traveling in a group most of the normal 'point-and-shoot' digital crowd don't understand that it takes a little time to set up a shot and god-forbid if you want to change a lens over. So in an attempt to resolve this, I thought a zoom might allow a bit more composition time. Anyways I was just wondering if anyone had experience with a lower-range m42 lens - maybe something from a semi-wide to a portrait.

Also I'm in St. Petersburg currently. I'm at a loss to find any older screw mount optics. I was under the impression that they were somewhat prevalent so I must not be looking in the right places. Does anyone know of any shops or markets that may have them?

Thanks in advance
~Marc

[padiej]

Hallo!

What do you need?

Fix focal lens?

Zoom-Lens?

Which Cam do you use, DSLR with Crop or Fullformat ?

The russian Mir-Lenses are very good and cheap.

50mm Lenses are perfect allrounder, but on DSLR with crop, the are like a 75mm and this is good for portrait, not so good for street and architecture.

You can take every jena or zeiss, the are one of the best.

regards Peter

[LucisPictor]

Peter, Marc was asking for a zoom lens.
I can really recommend a Sigma Zoom-0 II 3.5-4.5/28-85 MC (M42). It's a very decent lens. The only problem is that you don't find it that often.

[Orio]

I don't think that Soviet zoom lenses exist - can anyone correct me?

Also I can not recall any Zeiss Jena zoom lenses.

As for zoom in M42, I'd guess that either Takumars ot Tamrons with adaptall-2 M42 ring are your best choices.

As for finding shops of old lenses in St.Petersburg - what about asking in a Russian forum?
Alternatively, try asking the owner of a photo shop - you might find one wanting to cooperate.

[Helios]

Orio , i can give an answer : I'm the owner of 2 russian zoom lenses : Granit-11 4,5/ 80-200mm preset (M42) and the Mc Variozenitar 2,8 25-45 mm (K mount , almaz project) . The last is near excellent , it was my all-purpose lens on pentax MX and ME .
The granit-11 is a curiosity , my copy is more than so-so , and it is a preset lens !
Both lenses are apparently available at rugift's .


Variozenitar :

[themoleman342]

yes, I've been aware of the granit (also branded as the arsat) for quite some time. Anything I have heard has arrived at the same "nothing spectacular" conclusion. It also is of the upper-range of zooms which I'm not really interested in.

I know zeiss made the vario-pancolar. It is rare, and quite expensive.

The Zenitar pictures are great! I'm not to sure about the k mount though. I'd much rather stick with the m42 mount.

[F16SUNSHINE]

Hi Marc
I hope you are enjoying your visit to Russia. Just another thought on your topic. Why not just carry a second camera? I usually have a rangefinder with either a 35mm or 40mm lens on it. The Yashica electro CC or Canon QL 17 are great. The Yashi has a 35mm f1.8 and canon 40 1.7. Like you, I prefer primes. The one zoom that I actually use is a Kiron 28-90. It is very good but I don't know if they ever made it in M42. Tamron may be another option if you can find an adapt-all II mount for m42. The wider end zooms did not become very popular until after M42 mount had it's time. It may be tough to find what you want.

[patrickh]

Marc
You can also find decent zooms under the Vivitar Series 1 label or the Kiron zooms can come in M42 mounts I believe (Russ?)


patrickh

[peterqd]

What a lovely rural picture Helios. I like the portrait format better because of the tall tree, but they'd both make fantastic oil paintings.

For Marc I'd give my recommendation for the Tamron SP35-80 or SP28-80 with M42 Adaptall-2 mount. The 35 is slightly more my favourite picture-wise, but the 28mm is obviously more useful. They seem to be prone to flare sometimes (the hoods don't help a lot) and some barrel distortion at the wide end, but I think this affects virtually all zooms to some extent. The picture quality (resolution, contrast and richness of colour) is first class.

EDIT: Rob's pictures in Gallery reminded me I hadn't mentioned the macro ability of the SP35-80

[Orio]

Helios, what gorgeous photos!!!!!!!!

You make me wishing the Variozenitar.

[LucisPictor]

[Helios]

The variozenitar is really a top performer in this range of focal lengths ! Rural landscapes are not very rare , here ... On full frame , there is no distorsion , no vignetting even at full aperture and 25mm . I'm collecting the whole range of russian lenses in M42 , and therefore in native K-mount . I'll post soon some pics made with the Volna (No number) 1,8/50 , standard lens mounted on the almaz-101 (I have the body) .

Here 2 pics with variozenitar at 25mm , f/8 , full frame (film) , body pentax MX

[Rob Leslie]

IMO some of the best zoom lenses ever made are the Tamron SP's
Check out all the details on Adaptall-2.com
Worth considering are the SP 28-80, SP 35-80, SP 70-210 model 19AH, SP 60-300
Many of these lenses WILL outperform many primes. The performance details are on the site.
Over the years I have tried many different zooms but nothing comes near the consistant performance of Tamrons

[Orio]

Helios, the colours in the last two pics are "funny" - they remind me of the old books, the first ones with colour photos printed in.

[maddog10]

Sky seems to be tinted green.

[luisalegria]

Hi Helios -

What do you scan with ?

Because its miles better than what I've got !

Nice shots, pretty town.

[kansalliskala]

[Helios]

Scanner is a Polaroïd sprinstcan 35 +...used at 2700 dpi (max) to obtain a slightly cropped pic of 2400x3600 pix (This scanner was one of the bests in 1995) ... "Funny colors" : these pics were not corrected after scan , I didn't upload the corrected version (green sky) .However, I didn't use any polarizing filter , and the film was Konica 200 iso, if I remember . The scanner is not yet retired , I have only about 20000 negatives and 12000 dias to scan

[martinsmith99]

Vivitar Series 1 zooms. I have the 35-85mm which is not really a zoom, but as sharp as my primes.

[kansalliskala]

[calvin83]

[ManualFocus-G]

I'm pretty sure Marc has either picked up the lens he needs or given up completely by now

But for anyone else looking for a decent zoom, I can only echo what has been said about the Tamron SP lenses. The 28-80 can be picked up very cheaply (if you look in the right places!) and even the standard Adaptall 2 35-70 is a nice performer. Check out the 103A 80-210 and the 46A 70-210 zoom as well

[kansalliskala]

[beachboy2]

I agree with above comments re Tamron SP 35-80mm. Very impressive especially with the adaptor with electronic contacts.

[kansalliskala]