UKC

I am looking for help to identify the mounts on 3 Russian lenses which have come from my late father. There is a Jupiter-11 135mm f4 (and a Jupiter-12 35mm f2.8), also a Helios-103 53mm f1.8. He had the identical Jupiter lenses with a M39 screw mount to fit his 1935 Leica III (and a FED Russian copy), but these lenses look like some old bayonet mount and certainly don't attach to a M39 body (unless I'm missing something obvious here). The Helios mount is different to the Jupiters. I have drawn a blank looking at images on the internet!

I want to sell these lenses (and the Leica) but it's tricky if I don't know the mount.

Many thanks for any help.

Kiev? I had one which was an old Contax copy and the names  sound a bit familiar even though I never went beyond the standard 50 mm lens, Definitely a bayonet mount and possibly matches an older Contax mount before it became Contax Yashica.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll look more into that.

Is it possible that there used to be some kind of adapter for M39 bodies (eg Leica) which allowed this bayonet mount to be used - giving a faster way of swapping lenses? I am mystified as to why my father had some lenses with this unknown bayonet mount which wouldn't have fitted his Leica or FED bodies (or any other kit that I have come across), but also the same lenses with a M39 thread.

Lovely looking lenses BTW.

Looking it up it seems my Kiev was a 4a with built in exposure meter. Contax rangefinder copy so I think the mount is called a Contax RF mount. At the time the other lenses available were a 35 mm and a 135  and to use them you needed the rotating viewfinder which fitted into the flash shoe. The standard lens was all I had and I used Kodachrome 25 mostly. The results were good and the only thing I didn't like was the wind on mechanism which was horrible with a grating sound and feel to it.

Thanks for the information. Yes, I also have the rotating "hotshoe" viewfinder, which covers 28, 35, 50, 85 and 135mm lenses. I believe its correct name is KMZ revolving turret viewfinder.

Before I sell it, I might put a film through the 1935 Leica IIIa, out of interest. Hopefully my Olympus OM-D will point me towards correct exposure settings.

I had a Yashica for a short while once - can’t remember where it came from - and I recall the bayonet mount being very like that. A quick Google just now suggests that the Yashica and Contax mounts were identical.

I'm trying to ID the mount for an adapter I have and came across this site: https://www.robertallenkautzphoto.com/lens-mount-identification

Apols if you've already seen it!

That is a great resource.

Thanks for the excellent link. My Jupiter mounts look to be identical to the Contax Rangefinder - so I guess Contax is it!

Not sure about the Helios though (possibly Kiev).

Thanks for the help everyone.

I thought this was meant to be welcome to Straggler country . . .

Kiev and Contax RF should be the same fit, and also Nikon S apparently, though the last mentioned cameras will only work properly with Contax/ Kiev lenses wider than 50 mm (or so I have just read) even though the bayonet mechanism is a match.

Both are the Kiev bayonet, copy of the Contax RF one.

Wide and standard lenses use the inner bayonet with a focusing helical built in the camera mount, teles use the outer bayonet and come with their own helical.

A bit niche for me. I only know the common M42, Minolta, Nikon, Canon and Pentax PK manual mounts and even at that, not really by sight!

Ah, I mistook you for a lens nerd. Apologies!

Nah, never heard BS talk about "glass", for one thing