Industar 50-2 - lens review

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 The Industar 50-2 it's a very, very small lens made for SLRs and rangefinder cameras starting from 1959. Is has a screw mount, either M39 or, as mine, M42 and a stepless aperture, which is kind of interesting.

 Although the name is 50-2 it's not a 50 millimeters f/2, it's actually at its widest an f3.5, which means it's not the brightest lens.

Industar 50-2


 The construction is quite simple, I took it apart to clean it and, well, I had no problems doing so. I actually had to clean because it needed to be lubricated a little bit, but since I have put some oil in it, it works just fine.

 The metal body houses three optical elements, it weights only around 80 grams, it is 19mm long when focused to infinity and 25mm when extended with a 34mm front thread. Aperture, as said, is stepless, with seven blades and goes from f3.5 to f16. The focusing ring rotates more or less 310 degrees, which usually means that it is easy and precise to focus, but this lens is not sharp so it is quite tricky to focus at times; the f3.5 maximum aperture leaves some space for error, let's put it that way. Minimum focusing distance isn’t impressive either at 65cm.

 This is not, and should not be an expensive lens. 15 euros is a fair price for one perfect working conditions.

 The Industar 50-2 it's not really sharp and colors are good, quite neutral, if lacking a bit in contrast and vibrancy. Even if it doesn't have many specific quirks or peculiarities to distinct it from the masses of other lenses, I have noticed a couple instances where this lens produces some interesting effects.

 First of all, the flares are very strong, probably because of the design of the lens or the really small piece of glass that produces the image, and may not be to everyone’s liking. The other thing I've noticed is that a few times this lens produced a rainbow in the image that wasn't there in the real world, which can be used in some really creative ways and it's the first time I see something like that in the lens.

 At the end of the day, I don’t think the Industar is much more than a novelty, even if it has many praising its qualities. Sure, if you have some expendable cash, it can be a fun and cheap toy to play around and experiment a little, but, at the same time, there are so many other great lenses that can still be found for 50 euros or less that I really can’t recommend going specifically after the Industar.

 As always, let me know your take on this lens in the comments and check the full video for all the samples.



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