Industar-61L 2,8 / 50 (LZOS). Overview from Rodion Eshmakov.

Overview of the Industar-61L 2,8 / 50 (LZOS) lens specially for Radozhiva prepared Rodion Eshmakov.

The Industar-61 lens was designed by Soviet opticians V. Sokolova and G. Slyusarev. It was the first Soviet lens for the consumer segment using lanthanum optical glass. Industar-61 was intended to replace the obsolete Industar-26m 50 / 2.8 and become an intermediate between the cheap Soviet “whale” Industar-50 50 / 3.5 and the more expensive high-speed Helios-44 58/2 (or Jupiter-8 50/2, if we speak about rangefinder cameras). In fact, Industar-61 turned out to be very technological and popular, it has produced countless in various design options and body designs, at different enterprises.

В review presents a rare early version of the lens - Industar-61L, designed for use with rangefinder cameras with M39 mount threads. In this case, the letter L means the place of production - the Lytkarinsky Optical Glass Plant, although it is commonly believed that, for example, in the Industar-61L / D FED production, the same letter indicates the use of lanthanum in lenses. Indeed, the use of rare earth glasses was sometimes reflected in the name, for example - Voightlander Lanthar. This was a good marketing move, since lanthanum lenses made it possible to especially noticeably improve the quality of simple three- and four-lens lenses, which was appreciated by the consumer.

List of known modifications of Industar-61 lenses:

1. Industar 61-M 2,8 / 50 (KMZ, since 1971) - for Zenit SLR cameras, small series;
2. I-61-M 2,8 / 52 (FED, 1972) - for Zenit SLR cameras, experienced;
3. Industar-61-Z - for SLR cameras with an M39 * 45.2 mm mount (mentioned in Yakovlev’s handbook, vol. 1);
4. Industar 61-A 2,8 / 52 (KMZ) - for SLR cameras, with an A-shank, experienced;
5. Industar-61L 2,8 / 50 (LZOS, mid-1960s) - for rangefinder cameras. Described in this article.
6. INDUSTAR-61L / Z 2,8 / 50 (LZOS) - for “Zenith” SLR cameras. The name can be indicated in Cyrillic.
7. INDUSTRAR-61L / Z MS 2,8 / 50 (LZOS) - for “Zenith” SLR cameras, with multi-layer enlightenment. The name can also be indicated in Latin letters. It was produced until the 2000s.
8. I-61 2,8 / 52 (FED) - for rangefinder cameras, zebra case. Ten-blade diaphragm.
9. I-61 2,8 / 52 (FED) - for FED-Atlas / FED-11 cameras, fixed, with a central shutter.
10. I-61 2,8 / 52 (FED) - for FED-10 cameras, with a central shutter.
11. I-61L / D 2,8 / 53 (FED) - for rangefinder cameras, black body.
12. I-61L / D 2,8 / 55 (FED) - for rangefinder cameras, black body.
13. Industar-61L / D 2,8 / 55 (FED) - for rangefinder cameras, black body. Adapted for use with SLR.
14. Industar-61L / D 2,8 / 55 (FED, 1992) - experimental / small-scale for FED-6TTL cameras.

The bulk of the Industar-61 lenses for rangefinder cameras was produced at the factory. F.E. Dzerzhinsky, therefore, apparently, at LZOS they abandoned the production of Industar-61L in favor of the L / Z version for SLR cameras. As a result of the released Industar-61L, a rather small amount turned out to be, because at present the lens is of collection value.

Technical specifications (source):
Optical design - “Tessar”, 4 lenses in 3 groups (Yakovlev Handbook, vol. 1), see;
Focal length - 52,42 mm;
Relative aperture - 1: 2.8;
Frame format - 36 * 24 mm;
Aperture - 12 blades, without a preset mechanism;
Aperture limits - F / 2.8-F / 16;
The minimum focusing distance is 1 m;
Thread for filters - 33 mm;
Diameter for smooth nozzles - 36 mm;
Mount - M39 * 28.8 mm;
Mass - 130

Design features

Apparently, Industar-61L was produced in the mid-60s, as evidenced by the characteristic design of the case made of non-anodized aluminum (similarly executed Jupiter-9, Jupiter-11, Tair-11, Mir-1, etc. Soviet lenses 50-60s). The “white” lenses manufactured at LZOS are today partly “golden” because the body parts were coated with a colorless varnish that turned yellow over the years.

On the lens body are scaled distances and depth of field. The focus ring rotates 180 ° and the MDF is 1 meter, which is typical for rangefinder fifty dollars. In fact, for a 50 mm lens, the minimum shooting distance limited to 1 m is inconvenient and narrows the range of subjects available.

The lens helicoid is designed in such a way that when focusing, the lens block moves only translationally, without rotating. This allows you to work with polarizing filters, if, of course, they can be found under 33 mm thread. The stroke of the helicoid is 5 mm.

Among all Industar-61 modifications, this lens has the most circular aperture - there are as many as 12 black petals in it. The aperture preset mechanism is absent, since it was not needed when used on a rangefinder camera — the sight was independent of the lens. The aperture setting ring moves smoothly without clicks.

The Industar-61L lenses have an orange and pink hue, and the light transmission spectrum is almost undistorted. A nice feature of the design is a slight deepening of the front lens, which protects it from damage and plays the role of a lens hood.

Below are more pictures of Industar-61L.

The lens pleases the eye with its design, solid assembly. It is quite easy to use and looks good on camera. A big plus is the thoughtful design of the nose of the lens and a luxurious diaphragm. However, it will be difficult to find caps and filters on this lens due to the non-standard diameter of the thread. Another disadvantage is the large MDF (this applies to all range-finding fifty dollars).

Optical properties

Previously, I used various large-scale versions of Industar-61 lenses, and I had the impression that they rarely have an advantage in optical quality compared to the previous Industar-26m, especially when used on a crop camera. Therefore, it was interesting for me to again collide the Industar-26m in the test with the already small-series (and, probably, better-made?) Industar-61L. Below are the paired photos from both lenses, taken under equal conditions at the open aperture on a Sony A7s camera.

It is easy to notice that in the central part of the frame in the near field the sharpness of both lenses is almost the same, although it is possible that Industar-61L better conveys small image details.

The differences become more noticeable when comparing the operation of the lenses in the far field - in this case, the Industar-61L shows a really sharper and sharper image, which I did not observe for the L / D version, for example.

As for bokeh, in the central area of ​​the frame it differs slightly in lenses. It can be noted that the circles of blur of Industar-61L have a more pronounced edge, but with Industar-26m there is a greater increase in brightness in the center of the circle.

The blur at the edge of the frame at Industar-26m is very different from Industar-61L: due to strong field aberrations and significant vignetting of the I-26m, twisting of bokeh is noticeable.

Subjectively, the Industar-61L bokeh is rougher than the I-26m. But in general, the optical quality of Tessar's lanthanum was noticeably higher.

Thus. Industar-61L can be safely used on an open diaphragm. However, in the near field the influence of spherical and chromatic aberrations is significant, therefore, aperture up to F / 4-F / 5.6 will be required, which allows to achieve maximum sharpness in the center of the frame. Field aberrations become invisible to F / 5.6-F / 8 in full frame.

Single-layer enlightenment of optics sometimes does poorly with backlight: often a color-distorting veil and colored stripes appear. The sun in the frame leads to the appearance of rays of "sun rain". Under normal conditions, the contrast and color rendering of the Industar-61L are good.

This lens left me with better impressions than other Industar-61 previously held in my hands. Perhaps this is the merit of a better build, which ensured better quality in comparison with mass samples.

Below are examples of photographs on the Industar-61L and the Sony A7s camera (shooting in RAW, developing in Imaging Edge).

Conclusions

Perhaps, Industar-61L showed what this lens should really be like, being unspoiled by a poor-quality assembly. In fact, it is an example of the successful use of lanthanum glass. However, due to the rarity of Industar-61L, it can hardly be called a lens for every day, some design features like a large MDF also impede this. A lover of “modern” Tessarov can pay attention to the Soviet Industar-61L / Z MS or the more expensive and high-quality German Zeiss Tessar 45 / 2.8 C / Y.

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