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  Friday  March 17  2006    01: 51 AM

a tale of 4 50s

Actually, 4 50mm lenses that will soon be three. My tabbed 50/2 Jupiter 8 arrived attached to a Zorki 4 that I traded two camera straps for. The body is in better shape than my 3M although the 3M's internals have been massaged by Oleg. But it's the tabbed lens I'm interested in. The Zorki 4 body will eventually be a gift.

The glass looks pretty good except for the dreaded cleaning marks. The tabbed J8 has definitely been used compared to the mint later black J8 on the 3M. The tabbed J8 also needs to be relubed which I'm going to try to do myself. I need to get some better screwdrivers first. Until then I'm doing some tests to compare the two. If the tabbed J8 compares well to the black J8, it will live on the Zorki 3M.

It does look better on the Zorki 3M, doesn't it? The main reason I want a tabbed lens is that I can tell where it's focused just by feeling where the tab is and it's easy to zone focus by feel. It's also easier to focus since it only takes one finger. My 3M was made in 1955 and the tabbed J8 was made in 1958.

Since I'm playing dress-up with the Zorki, I put on the Leitz Summitar 50/2. It's in the que for a clean, lube, and adjust. It's suposed to have a wonderful vintage look opened up and as sharp as a Summicron stopped down. I'm looking forward to using it in conjuction with the J8. Each has their own look.

And for maximum portability it's hard to beat the Tessar design collapsible Industar-50. My hope is that my 50mm kit will include all three tabbed 50mm lenses. Testing has begun.