Review of the lens INDUSTAR-22 1: 3.5 F = 50mm Moscow (KMZ) specially for Radozhiva prepared Rodion Eshmakov (instagram).
Industar-22 is one of the first photographic lenses produced at the Krasnogorsk plant. The lens uses the "Tessar" optical design (4 lenses in 3 groups) and was calculated in 1945. It was produced in series since 1948 as a standard for Zorky cameras.
List of major modifications:
- Industar-22 1: 3.5 F = 50mm. Moscow (KMZ, 1948) - this article.
- Industar-22 1: 3,5 F = 50mm P (KMZ, 1952)
- Industar-22 1: 3,5 F = 50mm P (KMZ, 1953), converted for SLR cameras
- Industar-22 1: 3,5 F = 5cm P (KMZ, 1954), version for Zenit cameras, with a leash
- Industar-22 1: 3,5 F = 5cm P (KMZ), version for Zenit cameras, no leash.
- Industar-22 1: 3,5 F = 5cm P (KMZ), rangefinder in a rigid case, with a leash.
- I-22U 1: 3,5 F = 50mm P (KOMZ, 1960), photographic
- Industar 22U-1 1: 3,5 F = 50mm P, photographic
Technical specifications
Optical design - 4 lenses in 3 groups, "Tessar";
Focal length - 51,39 mm;
Relative aperture - 1: 3.5;
Field of view - 46 °;
Light transmission coefficient - 0.8;
Aperture - 10 blades;
Fastening - M39 thread with a flange of 28.8 mm.
Design features
Industar-22 inherited the main parameters and body design from the German Leitz Elmar 50 / 3.5, the main difference being the position of the aperture: in the German lens, it is installed between the first and second lenses, and not between the second and third. Quite often Elmarov fakes, made on the basis of Soviet folding lenses, surface at auctions.
The modification of the lens presented in the article is apparently the oldest of the serial ones: by the look of the factory logo ("coffin"), it can be established that the lens was produced earlier than 1949. Therefore, since serial production began in 1948, this is the first year of production.
There is no serial number on the lens, but there is an inscription: "Moscow". Externally similar lenses (Industar-10, aka FED 50 / 3.5) were also produced in Kharkov at the FED plant - perhaps the city of production at Industar-22 was indicated to distinguish the lens among Kharkov ones. It is also interesting that the Industar-22 optics are covered with a faint coating, but there is no “P” letter on the lens.
Like all folding Soviet fifty rubles, Industar-22 is made of nickel-plated brass - the body is weighty and beautiful. On such a small lens, the distance scale and depth of field were fitted, which are not very convenient to use. Industar-22 has an infinity focus lock, which is almost worn out from many years of use, but still works. Focusing is performed by rotating the entire lens unit. Usually after that it is customary to write that it is difficult to use polarizing filters, but Industar-22 does not have a thread for them at all.
Initially, the lens has a minimum focusing distance of 1 m, however, if you unscrew one of the helicoid stoppers and install a longer screw instead of the other, the lens unit will be able to make a whole revolution and the MDF will decrease to ~ 0.5 m. The operation does not harm the lens at all, changes can be canceled in less than a minute. Other folding lenses can be modified in the same way.
Among all the modifications of Industar-22, this one has the largest number of aperture blades - there are as many as 10 of them. The hole, however, sometimes still has a shape that is far from round, due to the poor quality of the diaphragm mechanism. It is extremely inconvenient to control the diaphragm - a thin, thin ring for this requires prying and leading with a fingernail. Well, if the mechanism is not stiff from time to time - in my case, cleaning was required.
It is interesting that under the name "Industar-22" there are actually two lenses hiding: the original Industar-22 and Industar-22m. The modernized version began to be produced from ~ 1950 (source), it was distinguished by the best manufacturability and optical characteristics. The lenses of these two lenses are not interchangeable. Thus, the lenses described earlier on the site are Industar-22m, and the ones presented in this article are the original Industar-22.
Optical properties of Industar-22
The lens played the role of an inexpensive lens and does not even pretend to be stars from the sky. However, it is known that, for example, the later Industar 50-2 works well even with a 50 megapixel Canon 5Dsr camera - maybe the “twenty-second” is no worse?
I did not have Industar-50 at hand to make a comparison, but there is a not much less famous and, moreover, more "advanced" Industar-26m... Both lenses were designed at about the same time - in 1945 (I-22) and 1946 (I-26).
Below are the photographs taken in equal conditions on Industar-22 and Industar-26m with equal apertures. For Industar-26m, an open diaphragm was also used.
As you can see, Industar-22 has poor overall image contrast and faded colors. Apparently, the enlightenment of the late 40s is not doing its job. Poor-quality (or deteriorated over time?) Blackening, characteristic of Soviet optics, can also contribute. In addition, Industar-22 has less field aberrations than I-26m: in the latter, the image quality across the field was sacrificed to aperture ratio.
In the center of the frame, even on an open I-26m, it is better than Industar-22. This becomes especially noticeable when examining photographs taken in the near field.
When the aperture is closed to F / 8, the image quality formed by the I-22 is much inferior to the I-26m - both in sharpness and in contrast. Industar-22 absolutely does not tolerate backlighting: the presence of the sun in the hemisphere practically guarantees the appearance of "solar rain" and a dense veil.
Perhaps, this lens shows itself in the best way in macro. I used the lens in conjunction with the M39 / M42 + M42 / EF + EF / NEX adapters, while folded it was possible to focus to infinity, and when unfolded, a focusing distance of about 25-30 cm was achieved. But even with this, the image suffers greatly from distortions: pronounced chromatism (red and blue borders indicate a rather poor correction), spherical aberrations.
In general, it seemed to me that this Industar-22 is a very weak optically lens, even in comparison with its later versions (Industar-22m), which did not cause any particular complaints from me. Image quality is difficult to improve even by aperture.
Below are photos taken with a full-frame Sony A7s camera (shooting in RAW, processing in Imaging Edge).
Conclusions
Industar-22 of the first year of production - a small-format debut of the Krasnogorsk plant - was, probably, quite good in its time. Today the lens is of more interest to collectors because of its mediocre performance. The later folding Industar-22 and Industar-50 look no worse, sometimes cost less, but give a much better image.
You will find more reviews from readers of Radozhiva here.
What a fucking glass
the lens of my youth :-)))) My father bought Zorky with an I-22 back in 1954, the photos were good, though my father was a master of photography ... in 1963 he switched to Start, and I got Zorky with an I-22 ... in 1982 I have already switched to Zenith with Helios 44M ... Sharp-eyed is still in good order, only the shutter speed of 1/30 does not work well ... The start is also lively and completely functional .. they knew how to make photographic equipment ... and Zenith and Helios 44M have been around for a long time, 15 years like a living corpse :-)))….
It seems that the lenses are gripped by fingers. Thanks for the review, and especially for the paired photos. I looked closely at the I-22 on the topic of adapting it to a mirrorless camera for all sorts of photo-gems, now I will know that you need to look closely
Rather, the glass itself is eaten by time - this happens with very old optics (see the review of FED 50/2).
Industar-22m (recalculation by Maltsev) is much more successful.
The designer managed to significantly reduce the requirements for the strict lens tolerances of the original, and to introduce a special glass (OF-1) - a special flint - into the gluing.
Which in terms of dispersion did not reach the modern requirements for ED glasses, but reduced chromatism.
http://www.zenitcamera.com/archive/lenses/industar-22.html
Yes, this is really noticeable - the late I-22s are very, very much better than this one.
Among the modifications, I did not find my lens. It is enlightened (purple tint), but without a helicoid. Brass body. I put it on a device for demonstration, but it looks like it was intended for a photographic enlarger.
I'll try to add a photo.
All modifications to find and list is a significant work. The best option is when the site manages to collect reviews of all major modifications. Perhaps, I will have a desire to delve into these industries, although recently the prices for them are somehow not encouraging - the collectors got down to business.
More photos.
One more photo. The previous one did not pass - it seems too big.
I tried to reduce it.
Attempt number three.
The fact that he is Kazan I see. But I never met him in the description, even in the topic you proposed.
Thanks for the information.
A cool photo with a bumblebee ... as for a NUB-macro lens is suitable.
Rodion, there is a question about the mechanical bond: what is the length of the recessed part? Fuji has a working distance of 17,7; Presumably, the adapter should be 11,1 ... In theory, since the lens did not touch the shutters, it won’t touch the matrix either. Did I understand correctly?
I can't measure it anymore - I don't have this lens anymore. When folded, it did not scare me at all, but, perhaps, on the crop, it will rest against the matrix shaft. The shutter worked when the lens was folded.
Much of the best I've seen is concentrated on this place.