Leica Showcase Industar-69 28mm f/2.8, on Epson R-D1

Mr_Flibble

All-Pro
Location
The Lowlands
Name
Rick
The Industar-69 requires very little modification to change the focus to match Leica standards.
These lenses are designed for the Chaika half-frame cameras. It already comes correct thread to fit your LTM camera, probably because they wanted to be able to use it as an enlarger lens too. The biggest problem is that the flange focus distance is off by about a millimeter compared to the Leica standard.

And the fact that it is for a half-frame camera means it won't cover a full 35mm film frame. But as stated elsewhere it works fine with 3/4 sensors, the Leica M8 and the Epson R-D1.

After asking around for advice on how to modify the lens (plenty of tutorials on the net for this), I went with Brian's method of grinding down the focus helical inside the mount.
I had to verify the focus with the R-D1 a few times before I had ground down enough so the lens could be screwed in far enough for infinity focus.
Then I proceeded to grind down two focus stops about a millimeter as well so the lens went back together properly. The only thing that didn't line up was f-stop indicator dot. Easily remedied with a magic marker.

What do you get? An uncoupled lens that turns your Digital RF / EVF camera into a point and shoot..that DOF is HUGE! . The parallax correction in the VF doesn't work any more either, nothing you can't fix with an external VF or a bit of guess work. ;)
You do still get a bit of vignetting on the Epson R-D1, but I found this artistically pleasing.


@ f/8 and hyperfocal distance
I6902.jpg
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@ f/8
I6907.jpg
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@ f/8 and hyperfocal distance
I6908.jpg
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At f/2.8
I6913.jpg
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RO110519.jpg
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RO110522.jpg
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Does anyone have samples of this lens on a full-frame camera?
 
It came out quite well!

I picked up an I69 in a trade, wanted to make it into Leica mount. I have a through-the-lens viewer, made it easier to see the alignment. It was a lot of work! I did shoot with it on the Canon P, full-frame, for a test roll. Then a member of "purelight" asked for t for his then-brand-new M8. It vignettes on full-frame, but covered the M8 frame quite well. Some darkening at the corners, but very usable. Think I sold it to him for $30 or so, good price for a 28/2.8.
 
Yes, Ebay is full of these, sold as LTM lenses by unscrupulous vendors. I'm sure that's created some bad feedback. I knew what I was getting when I bought mine though.

With the crop factor on the R-D1 the focal length of the lens is about 40mm of course.
 
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