m39 to fuji x mount
m39 to fuji x mount
13 Oct 2015 2:41PM Views : 997 Unique : 533It is crazy to think that in all those years of owning a DSLR, i never once bought any decent glass for it, not once! All i had was the basic kit lens and the 100.230 or whatever zoom lens, hey, i only have myself to blame!
Since owning this Fuji, the only X series without the x-trans sensor, the X-A2 of course, i have been blown away by the details and image qualities of this little camera. Compact camera systems took a while to really get a hold on me, but when fuji released the x-pro1 as well as the x100 compacts, i began to re-evaluate my mirrorless stance, and while i simply adored fuji film in my 35mm days, i didnt much like the camera's they made, specially those bridge camera's, i just found them a nightmare, my dad has one still and it is the most complicated piece of cr*p in camera history, probably!
But digital cameras are now 20 years old, the technology has caught up with expectation now, and the gap between dslr's and CSC's is closing up fast.
All this technology is great, but even better than that, the tech still works AMAZING with old gear!
Back to lenses then.
Almost 10 years of owning a canon 350d, i never once bought the nifty fifty! Why? They are cheap as chips, and they were cheap even 5 years or so ago. I even borrowed a 50mm 1.8 lens during a studio shoot once from another tog, though under bright studio lights i am pretty sure i never even got near f1.8, probably more like f11, so i didnt really get much in the way of bokeh, and i wa sa bit clueless in the studio if i am honest.
Since owning this Fuji, one of the things on my list to go with the camera was to be a superfast 50mm lens. Somehow i rediscovered the helios 44-2 lens, a 58mm f2 soviet lens made in 1981, and i saw the images it produced and i was kinda smitten there and then. The lens on my fuji reminded me of my old Halina 35x super rangefinder camera, which i have used a few times since owning it 5 or 6 years ago, specially the imperfections i got with it, ghosting, flare, lack of contrast in bright direct light. The Helios has been my go to lens for fungtography (fungi photography lol) every time, because the bokeh wide open at f2 is simply stunning, mesmerising, and just so swirly.
But there was one thing i dont like about the helios on my camera and that is the way it looks! The lens itself is fine, but with the m42 to fuji x adapter, it is double the size and almost double the weight! And it is a pain in the arse for self portraits, unreasonably so! But it is an amazing lens and rightfully deserves a place in my billingham.
So now i kinda have the bug for older lenses, and after much deliberation i went and bought 2 more 50mm lenses from the bygone age but this time in the m39 mount and not the m42 as the previous Helios lens was, the lesnes are a Jupiter 8 f2 and a Jupiter 3, f1.5...
F1.5?
Add to basket, yes please!
I didnt really know if they would work on my fuji, i have read a few things about back focus issues on legacy lenses, i dont seem to have that issue with the helios, and so far the jupiter 3 seems fine and dandy as far as focusing goes.
Oh, the Jupiter 3 arrived this morning, and mounted on the Fuji with appropriate adapter, it looks a belter, even more like the old 35mm rangefinder Halina, and it is so light now, i knew when i had the helios attached to my camera, it gave it some weight, but this Jupiter 3 weighs almost nothing.
So far in my test shots the results have been lovely, and the lens behaves better than the helios in fact, i could probably do some good self portraits with this lens unlike the helios, with the helios, subjects are quite close to the camera, but with this jupiter 3 plus adapter, it behaves more like a traditional 50mm would behave, with a better perspective than the m42 mount helios, though the 58mm helios on a fuji with a 1.5 crop factor makes the helios 85mm, whereas the jupiter 3 being a 50mm, goes to 75mm when on the fuji, i am not really sure how much differnce the varying mounts in relation to these lenses would be, would the helios 58mm in m39 mount give me the same field of view than the m42 mount? Without having an m39 mount helios to hand i cannot say, and i cannot find any comparisons anywhere online.
The Jupiter 3 however, perfect portrait lens, it doesn't have the flaws of the old 44-2, it is optically much better, far superior than the helios, but i cannot focus as close as i can on the helios, so its not great for mushrooms, but so what, thats what my helios is for. The helios is terrible for self portraits, but this lens feels perfect for the job!
All this and the jupiter 8 has not even arrived yet, so i have that to look forward to, but in the meantime i am going to head outdoors with dog and camera and go for a lovely walk in one of my favourite places =)
