SARABER Finon 1:2.8/45 Macro How To Make A Custom Mount
This is a very special lens that comes from a Sarabčr Finetta 99 camera,
presented at the Photokina in April 1954. The Finetta had a bayonet
mount, not compatible with other cameras, with a FFD of a bit more than
31mm, which is not so far from the 28.8mm FFD of M39. I have presented
the camera here
(link opens in a new window). I had my camera restored, but after not
using it for some time, the shutter failed again. As the demand for
these cameras has dropped a lot and my camera and lens were not in
pristine collector's condition, I decided to keep the lens and make a
custom lens out of it.
Disclaimer: You should know what you do here. Both possibilities are
not reversible. The lens can no longer be used on a Finetta. And if you
spill some glue, you would ruin the lens. So please proceed with care.
Some pictures:
A7 and the lens.
Lens fully extended to 20cm (!) macro distance which takes 3 full turns. .
The lens sits quite deep, so it doesn't need a shade.
The interesting feature is the macro capability of its helical, from infinity...
...to about 60cm after a 1st full turn...
...to about 30cm after a 2nd full turn...
...to about 20 cm after a 3rd full turn (the last indicatin of 22cm is
just visible to the right. I have not seen this yet on any other lens.
I took off the extra tripod mount.
Rear of the lens.
The lens fits loosely into a M39 mount and its FFD of a bit more than 31mm is not far from the 28.8mm of M39 FFD.
There are 2 possibilities to proceed: Either you add about 2.5 mm to
the M39 mount or you glue an 2.5mm extension. I chose the easy way,
extended the adaptable M39 mount to its limits, glued it in this
position with 2-component glue and then glued the lens into the adaper.
It worked, I have a working lens.
The adapter in normal position and in raised position which makes about 2.4mm.
The glued lens. I put some plastic bits between the lens' rear shaft
and the adapter to keep it centered before gluing. So this lens can
only be used with a Sony E-mount camera.
I would be more elegant to have a M39 mount on the lens. You would need
an extension of 2.5mm which I haven't found. This is a Russian M39
extension set.
The smallest of the rings is 4.8mm on my set.
It fits nicely, but you would have to sand it down for more than 2mm
and then glue it after checking infinity at 100m distance minimum. Then
you would have an interchangeable lens.
