Kiev and J12 focus misalignment

[std]

Hi Guys,
I've got myself almost mint Kiev RF with Jupiter 8M.
Later on i got Jupiter-12 for it.

The first film from the J12 looks very much out of focus. I have only one picture which looks OK and it is because the lens was stopped down. For me it looks like the lens focuses closer than expected, for example instead of 1m if focuses at 30 cm.



#1 - Here for example the focus should be on the river not on the leaves



#2 And this is from close distance should be on the face instead on the bottle.




The internal rangefinder of the Kiev looks correct as it measures the distance properly ( at distance 2m it shows 2m on lens scale).
I guess that the J8 also focuses fine.


So I'm thinking the problem is in J12. I don't have experience with it and I'm wondering is there any special way of mounting it to the body?
Or is it possible that the lens is not properly aligned to the scale markings?

[Sevo]

It is almost impossible to attach a Contax mount lens so drastically wrong that it has such a considerable focus error. But it could be either a misaligned lens or a misaligned outer mount/camera front - you'll have to send in both, or try with another lens or body to figure out which one is wrong.

[Mos6502]

Is the lens focusing at all? The point of intended focus in those pictures is dramatically different, but the actual focus seems about the same.

[Attila]

You have bad luck really, I bought many of them all are works trouble free

[Orio]

You should not need to use lens scale, once mounted the lens should be coupled with the rangefinder.
I would have said that the rangefinder needs regulation, but if you say that it focuses fine with the J8, then
it must be a problem with the J12

[std]

Looks like the J12 focuses .. at lest it moves his back element for 3-4 mm when i turn the focus ring.

I will check it with the technician here, maybe the lens is not aligned.
Very common for soviet manufacturing, especially if it was a friday build

[Attila]

[std]

It's like new in a box and with paper

[kansalliskala]

Does the distance scale of the helicoid show good figures against some known distance. It is very accurate usually between 1 and 2 meters. (note that the distance is from film plane, not helicoid)

[Attila]

[Nesster]

I do know the mounting of the J12 is fiddly, it took me a while to figure it out and to get it seated properly. I'm thinking if you haven't managed to seat the lens in all the way the mismatch may be with the focus coupling cam in the camera.

After some work here's how mine looks mounted (and I'm not about to un-mount it any time soon! ) Note where the lens clip is relative to the rest - it should be approximately where I have it, give or take a bit.


Canon Universal Finder, Kiev 4, Jupiter-12 by Nesster, on Flickr


ps. just a thought that occurred to me - make sure both lens and camera are set to infinity before mounting the lens

[Attila]

Handsome combo!

[Joosep]

Put the camera down. Focus on something with the rf system. Then measure it in real-life and compare to the numbers on the lens.
This will tell you if the lens is off, or the rf system. (Most likely the rf, which can be modified at home).

[Orio]

[Sevo]