Post by belgiumreporter on Jun 6, 2021 11:46:59 GMT -5
Along with some other stuff this "MIR-1" 2.8 37mm came my way. it is rather easy to date as on the front ring of the lens it says "Grand prix Brusseles 1958"
It is a very well made Russian rather weird focal lenght 37mm wide-angle.It has 39mm thread (not leica) and i would like to test it on digital. But here's the problem: lately (and they blame it on the covid) small items such as adapters seem to get "lost" in the mail i'm still waiting for over three months now for my silicon lens opener, over a month for the 42 to 39 step down ring and i am wondering how long it will take to get the Leica R to nikon Z adapter???.
All in all these are not such expensive items but in the end i would have liked to get them in the mail some day, as i am putting of projects because i haven't got the last few items i need to finish them.
Back on the Mir-1 there's a bit of a story to the "grand prix" . In 1958 the world fair was held in Brussels, as a lot of you probably know at such fairs prices are given to exeptional products in any class.
Now in '58 a trade agreement was signed between Belgium and the USSR and i don't know if the "grand price"was an act of good will towards our new trade partners or if the lens really was that good .
The Russians needed western valuta and were willing to trade whatever they've made in Russia. I remember a shop opening in Antwerp selling all kind of Russian stuff from matrouchka dolls to the infamous Kiev 66 Hasselblad copy. Now rumours spread the shop was a spy's nest but i don't know if that was true or just an old wives tale to make us scared of the Ruskies..Back then it was one of those small cracks in the iron curtain opening up to the west..
My Uncle got an offer to take in Zenit cameras in his shop and if he took 80 or more they would have been ridicously cheap. But other big inporters allready made deals and it wouldn't have been wise to try to compete with them.
Another silly thing i remember and i must have the catalogue around here somewhere in wich they stated "BE IN" "Photgraph Russian" in order to convince the public you were "hip" if you walked around with a Zenit. Not to much succes though as the only reason people bought Russian cameras was because they were cheap and couldn't afford anything better. Still to a lot of people the Zenit was their first camera and it was a strong filter to see if they had it in them to master the art and become a photographer or not.
These days i notice young people who don't know this story finding it hip indeed to use Russian gear because they think it is built like a tank (little do they know
)...
Anyway whenever my adapters arrive i'll test out this lens, it is said it has the same "swirly" bokeh as the 58 Helios because it has the same optical formula (Zeiss copy) we'll see....
Here's the Mir-1:
Just found the "Be in" ad, it's in Dutch groovy !
It is a very well made Russian rather weird focal lenght 37mm wide-angle.It has 39mm thread (not leica) and i would like to test it on digital. But here's the problem: lately (and they blame it on the covid) small items such as adapters seem to get "lost" in the mail i'm still waiting for over three months now for my silicon lens opener, over a month for the 42 to 39 step down ring and i am wondering how long it will take to get the Leica R to nikon Z adapter???.
All in all these are not such expensive items but in the end i would have liked to get them in the mail some day, as i am putting of projects because i haven't got the last few items i need to finish them.
Back on the Mir-1 there's a bit of a story to the "grand prix" . In 1958 the world fair was held in Brussels, as a lot of you probably know at such fairs prices are given to exeptional products in any class.
Now in '58 a trade agreement was signed between Belgium and the USSR and i don't know if the "grand price"was an act of good will towards our new trade partners or if the lens really was that good .
The Russians needed western valuta and were willing to trade whatever they've made in Russia. I remember a shop opening in Antwerp selling all kind of Russian stuff from matrouchka dolls to the infamous Kiev 66 Hasselblad copy. Now rumours spread the shop was a spy's nest but i don't know if that was true or just an old wives tale to make us scared of the Ruskies..Back then it was one of those small cracks in the iron curtain opening up to the west..
My Uncle got an offer to take in Zenit cameras in his shop and if he took 80 or more they would have been ridicously cheap. But other big inporters allready made deals and it wouldn't have been wise to try to compete with them.
Another silly thing i remember and i must have the catalogue around here somewhere in wich they stated "BE IN" "Photgraph Russian" in order to convince the public you were "hip" if you walked around with a Zenit. Not to much succes though as the only reason people bought Russian cameras was because they were cheap and couldn't afford anything better. Still to a lot of people the Zenit was their first camera and it was a strong filter to see if they had it in them to master the art and become a photographer or not.
These days i notice young people who don't know this story finding it hip indeed to use Russian gear because they think it is built like a tank (little do they know
)... Anyway whenever my adapters arrive i'll test out this lens, it is said it has the same "swirly" bokeh as the 58 Helios because it has the same optical formula (Zeiss copy) we'll see....
Here's the Mir-1:
Just found the "Be in" ad, it's in Dutch groovy !
