Inexpensive LTM lenses

[Petrochemist]

Funny thing, I was looking at one of these yesterday. I am not great with DIY though as my weapon of choice is more hammer than tweezer I am curious though, thanks for the link. What do you think of the image quality?

I think I'd describe it as adequate rather than stellar, but my example is badly in need of a clean... You'd have thought I'd have managed that within 5 years, but sadly not.

 

[Paul Howell]

Russars go for a lot I will probably end up with a Jupiter 12. Having said that, there is often only £40 difference between a Jupiter 12 and a Canon 35mm f2

There must a large defiance between markets, here in the US. old Soviet glass is still cheaper than Canon and Leica. Most of the lenes LMT lens were made in the Ukraine, at least as I understand it.

 

[Cerebum]

I think I'd describe it as adequate rather than stellar, but my example is badly in need of a clean... You'd have thought I'd have managed that within 5 years, but sadly not.

Lol

 

[Cerebum]

There must a large defiance between markets, here in the US. old Soviet glass is still cheaper than Canon and Leica. Most of the lenes LMT lens were made in the Ukraine, at least as I understand it.

There is a significant difference between the two, but Russian glass is getting dearer in the UK. A Jupiter 8 is often listed at $40+ and a 12 is $100+. Rarer glass like the Orion and Russo are often silly money. I think the UK market since Brexit has been very small. You use to be able to buy from across Europe but now you have to add 20% tax (on both the cost and the postage) and fees on to the price.

 

[Cerebum]

Well, I did the deed and bought a nice 1978 black Jupiter 12 for my Canon 7. It cost me £65 which I think was decent. I will still be watching eBay but am pretty excited for the J12

 

[Petrochemist]

Well, I did the deed and bought a nice 1978 black Jupiter 12 for my Canon 7. It cost me £65 which I think was decent. I will still be watching eBay but am pretty excited for the J12

Hope it arrives OK. I tend to find when I get bargains on e-bay they get 'lost in the post' with a refund after a few days.

 

[Cerebum]

Hope it arrives OK. I tend to find when I get bargains on e-bay they get 'lost in the post' with a refund after a few days.

Yeah, I have had that before, but this was an offer that he accepted, so I can allow myself to be reasonably confident it will arrive. Being as described is an entirely different question

 

[Kodachromeguy]

Be very cautious about recent Jupiter-8 and Jupiter-12 offerings from Eastern Europe. Brian Sweeney warns that a large number are hacked together from different lenses. They are intended to look good in an online listing. I'm very pleased with my 1962 Jupiter-8, which he adjusted to focus correctly on a Leica LTM camera:

https://worldofdecay.blogspot.com/2021/07/optical-treasure-1960s-jupiter-8-lens.html

 

[rulnacco]

It's not exactly *cheap*, but for quite a while I owned the LTM Voigtlander 25mm Snapshot Skopar, and used it on my M3 with an LTM-M adapter. It's not rangefinder coupled, but the way I shot it it didn't really need to be. It was small, light, reasonably well-built, and really sharp. I quite liked it, and occasionally still kick myself for trading it in toward a 35mm Summicron--I like the Summicron, but I should have kept the Voigtlander, too. It was a fun lens that produced good images.

You can read 35MMC's review of it here.

 

[chuckroast]

I own 3 LTM Color-Skopars - 21mm, 35mm, and 50mm. They are all excellent performers and none were crazy expensive. The 21mm is a particularly impressive performer.

One does have to keep an eye on what you're getting though. I had one shipped from Japan that, at first glance, looked pristine. But doing the "flashlight test" showed some kind of internal speckling. I had DAG look at it and there was nothing he could do. It seems that the glue used on the older lenses can outgas and somehow cause permanent internal damage to the glass.

But, the three I ended up with are all really terrific, bearing in mind that I only shoot monochrome film. I have no idea how they perform with color or digital.

 

[Dali]

I own 3 LTM Color-Skopars - 21mm, 35mm, and 50mm. They are all excellent performers and none were crazy expensive. The 21mm is a particularly impressive performer.

I agree with you. I own a 21mm Skopar and a 25mm Snapshot are they are great. Only drawback: They are pretty slow (f/4) but I don't mind as I use them exclusively for street photography.

 

[Kodachromeguy]

I own 3 LTM Color-Skopars - 21mm, 35mm, and 50mm. They are all excellent performers and none were crazy expensive. The 21mm is a particularly impressive performer.

One does have to keep an eye on what you're getting though. I had one shipped from Japan that, at first glance, looked pristine. But doing the "flashlight test" showed some kind of internal speckling. I had DAG look at it and there was nothing he could do. It seems that the glue used on the older lenses can outgas and somehow cause permanent internal damage to the glass.

But, the three I ended up with are all really terrific, bearing in mind that I only shoot monochrome film. I have no idea how they perform with color or digital.

Many of the Snapshot Skopars and the LTM models in general appear to suffer from haze. Is that chronic for these lenses? I'd like to get a thread mount 25.

 

[chuckroast]

Many of the Snapshot Skopars and the LTM models in general appear to suffer from haze. Is that chronic for these lenses? I'd like to get a thread mount 25.

I know that the older ones have more a tendency for this, but I was able to get three lenses that didn't have this problem.
As always, buy from reputable vendors who will take back the purchase at their expense for return shipping and be sure to flashlight test the lens upon receipt.