M39 - the 2013 Easter Lecture...

M39 - the famous screw-Leica, and all those Russian clones, early Zenits and other cameras. Interchangable lenses, wòw!

"Well, that's not entirely accurate,mr. president..." (Independence Day)

Looking for some WA for my фед, I bought that "widely available" индустар-69 and discovered that it's half-frame, ànd (I had a hell of a time finding a naked чайка) the film-plane distance is also different: the Elmar's don't fit the чайка either.

Then I bought the мир-1 "Grand Prix Brussels 1958", only to discover that this lens is nòt for CRF's. Sigh! So I ordered a 39/42 ring in Scotland and almost wrecked my Praktica. Ordered one in China but that hasn't arrived yet and then I could not wait any longer, I hàd to test it so wrapped that plumber-stuff around it (for concentricity) and glued it to the poor old LTL 3! Looks very posh!

"Are you serious...?"
Yes, I'm a daredevil. No respect for cameras whatsoever. But because even glue has some "thickness", infinite still came a lot nearer, so it is not the sharpest 37mm ever (and AgfaOrtho never gives that suggestion of sharpness).

Legendary M39 - too small, slow, nòt universal. But when I'm using my wartime Elmar on the Frankenstein it feels very, very right.