all those old Zenit lenses

My Dad gave me an old zenit SLR with a mass of lenses and a tele-converter.

I have just brought a M42 adapter and they all fit

Ok they are all manual, but there is a light meter in the bag that works.

Have fun with them all and I hope you have a trolley to carry them... my memory of zeniths is "heavy"

Look forward to seeing some images.

Best wishes, Kris.

Well, this is one of the reasons I've chosen K20D - as heavy as Zenith

But if that's true, I have to buy an adapter - I still have my Zenith 12XP somewhere on a shelf and possibly some lenses as well. At least the original one

If they are screw mount they should be the same as mine and I got the Pentax M42 to K adapter from ebay for about £2+ p&p

Zenith lenses are great, not as good as Takumars, but hey, they were a Russian copy of the Zeiss models.

I have several and have used them on my digital bodies with good results.

Play and enjoy

My 12Xp is sat in a bag, it will come out again sometime.

The Zenit "kit" lens (Helios 44 - various incarnations) is a capable performer and a good portrait length on a DSLR - it's a Zeiss Biotar copy and is very, very sharp with lovely bokeh. If you get one from the KMZ factory then the chances are it was built with original (pre war) Zeiss machinery too.

The Jupiter-9 (85/f2) and Helios 40 (85/1.5) are also very highly regarded if you have them.

The other thing worth pointing out is that it's best to use a *genuine* Pentax M42-K adaptor (about £18 from SRS etc) as some of the cheap eBay ones either don't fit flush (so you lose infinity focus) or they get stuck on the camera meaning a trip down to Pentax and a repair bill larger than just buying the genuine one in the first place. YMMV.

That's right Hefty, I have a cheap Chinese adaptor that refuses to focus to infinity, the lip stops it!

Get a proper Pentax one and you'll have no problems.

Good I have one of them in the bag.

and these also;

paragon 35mm
sirus 28-105 with macro function
soligor 135mm
and a helios 2x tele converter

all with clean optics

I love putting 'wrong' lenses on the camera. Currently adapting an old brass Rapid Rectilinear to fit the bellows to have a play. I tried a Helios 44 several years ago on the ME Super and it was incredible sharpness. Currently searching for an Industar 50/3.5 which I know I have here somewhere. It was a tiny little lens, no bigger than an enlarger lens, and performed as if it were a Tessar (I'm convinced it was a Tessar clone). I also use a Nikkor 50/2.8 enlarger lens on the bellows for slide copying. Also got a broken Lubitel here, I might just rip the lens off that and stick it on the bellows for a play. Anyone seen this site? The guy has taken fitting the 'wrong' lenses to his camera to a whole new level!

Do you have the filters for it? I have a pristine working lubitel 2 that I use, but the filters are missing. Would be nice to get some.

Just remembered this site, it seems to be unmaintained at the moment but still well worth a visit for lens details.

What a great site with really good photos. My first lens was the Industar 50/3.5 on a Zenit B, around the same time I built a pinhole camera and used postcard size paper for negatives, I wish I still had both of them.

Mine is a 166U which has a standard filter thread on the taking lens. I know the ones you mean though, I seem to remember the Lubital 2 had a little receptacle in the body for a pair of filters. They're probably available vis one of the Russian or Ukranian sellers on Fleabay.

I just checked, mine is Helios 44M-4, 58mm 1:2; focus from 0.5 to infinity, aperture can be set from 2 to 16; 6 blades.

I just wonder if it will work well as macro lens with reverse ring.

It is a superb lens, IMHO. Why not just try it reversed, you've nothing to lose