Industar-69 28mm 1:2.8, First Impression

Vintage Lens Test: Image making with an Industar 69 28mm 1:2.8, the Russian Chaika 35mm Half-Frame lens, on a 2x crop sensor mirrorless ILC.

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Wow, what a combo, a re-aligned Industar 69 28mm 1:2.8, a lens made for the Russian Chaika 35mm Half-Frame cameras, mounted on a 2x crop sensor mirrorless digital, an Olympus E-P5. Working on a crop factor of 1.4, which I believe is the correct lens-to-camera crop ratio, the lens will be equivalent to a perfectly normal 40mm prime lens on a full-frame camera.

The lens, a copy of the Zeiss Tessar, was produced from the mid-1960s through the mid-1970s. Though initially built as fixed and non-removable, the lens was later constructed with a М39x1 thread mount, but, unlike other LTM lenses, the flange distance on the Industar 69 is shorter than the usual distance of 27.5mm. So, no infinity focus for you here.

Olympus E-P5, Industar 69 28mm 1:2.8

Adjusting the lens to the correct flange distance to achieve infinity focus, in most cases, is an easy fix. I did it by following the instructions found in a YouTube video. The two-minute non-destructive routine seems to work right for me, and I was off grabbing these first impression shots in no time. Not much to expect from the images either, nothing Wunderbar, unless otherwise, it is just a fun lens to trot around with.

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