accidental purchase of an SLR m39 jupiter 9

[grapejohnson]

i did some research before buying this lens, but not enough apparently. i bought the unusable un-coupled SLR version (in near mint condition) for $140 for use on my bessa r3a. i really don't feel like blowing more money and waiting another month for the latvian post. may sell it to a friend who has a pentax k5. anyone know of another similar lens (canon, nikon?) or is it really worth the hassle for the money? anyone interested in one of these? the seller absolutely refused to let me return it.

 

[farlymac]

Now you need an early Zenit to go with it.

PF

 

[rxmd]

i did some research before buying this lens, but not enough apparently. i bought the unusable un-coupled SLR version (in near mint condition) for $140 for use on my bessa r3a. i really don't feel like blowing more money and waiting another month for the latvian post. may sell it to a friend who has a pentax k5. anyone know of another similar lens (canon, nikon?) or is it really worth the hassle for the money? anyone interested in one of these? the seller absolutely refused to let me return it.

Don't worry too much, it's a decent SLR portrait lens with the "Sonnar look". I use one on a 5D and it's quite nice.

The rangefinder Jupiter-9 is also a good lens, but it can get tricky with closeup focusing, presumably because of minimal differences in the normal lens length standard between FSU and Leica/Canon/Bessa cameras. That can be fixed (Kim Coxon used to do that and has posted a guide) but with a Canon or Nikon 85 you won't have those issues. You'd pay more, though, and the image quality probably wouldn't be better than from a good J-9, with them all being Sonnar knockoffs.

 

[rxmd]

Now you need an early Zenit to go with it.

Hee, or that way round. 🙂

With a Zenit-C or a Kristall the whole package would be just as small as a rangefinder setup if not smaller, image quality would be the same, and focusing would be easier and more accurate 🙂

 

[Thomas78]

i did some research before buying this lens, but not enough apparently. i bought the unusable un-coupled SLR version (in near mint condition) for $140 for use on my bessa r3a. i really don't feel like blowing more money and waiting another month for the latvian post. may sell it to a friend who has a pentax k5. anyone know of another similar lens (canon, nikon?) or is it really worth the hassle for the money? anyone interested in one of these? the seller absolutely refused to let me return it.

The same thing happend to me about two years ago, beside the fact that the lens wasn't in a mint condition.

I was able to send it back and get a refund (except shipping, customs and sales tax).

 

[oceanpriest]

i did some research before buying this lens, but not enough apparently. i bought the unusable un-coupled SLR version (in near mint condition) for $140 for use on my bessa r3a. i really don't feel like blowing more money and waiting another month for the latvian post. may sell it to a friend who has a pentax k5. anyone know of another similar lens (canon, nikon?) or is it really worth the hassle for the money? anyone interested in one of these? the seller absolutely refused to let me return it.

I use jupiter 9 m42 on pentax k-x, and it's currently my favorite portrait lens 🙂

$140 is good price for mint condition lens, i'm sure your pentax k5 friend will be happy 😉

 

[grapejohnson]

I use jupiter 9 m42 on pentax k-x, and it's currently my favorite portrait lens 🙂

$140 is good price for mint condition lens, i'm sure your pentax k5 friend will be happy 😉

i think i'm going to keep it after all. i bought it as a portrait lens, and i suppose i could use it on my canon a-1. after seeing some of those examples i remember why i bought it, it looks great. my other reason was to overcome the minimal focal length of the bessa r3a. i have a jupiter 8 and have to be about 3 ft from my subjects before i can have em in focus. i figured with the 85, i'd still be far but i could have more face in the frame. that's the only downside to RFs as opposed to SLRs IMHO. that and DOF preview. but i digress. i have a 50 1.4 for my canon, and i can get close enough that it kind of defeats the purpose of having the other lens, but i guess it's always good to have a variety, and the jupiter seems sharper

 

[Shutterspark]

It's a nice lens, I would keep it too.

 

[I Love Film]

You can't use it on a Canon A-1.

You could use it on a Canon EOS with an adapter.

i think i'm going to keep it after all. i bought it as a portrait lens, and i suppose i could use it on my canon a-1. after seeing some of those examples i remember why i bought it, it looks great. my other reason was to overcome the minimal focal length of the bessa r3a. i have a jupiter 8 and have to be about 3 ft from my subjects before i can have em in focus. i figured with the 85, i'd still be far but i could have more face in the frame. that's the only downside to RFs as opposed to SLRs IMHO. that and DOF preview. but i digress. i have a 50 1.4 for my canon, and i can get close enough that it kind of defeats the purpose of having the other lens, but i guess it's always good to have a variety, and the jupiter seems sharper

 

[Shutterspark]

You can't use it on a Canon A-1.

You could use it on a Canon EOS with an adapter.

Canon made adapters for M39 to FD and vice versa. In this case you would need the "Lens Mount Converter A".
The problem is you lose infinity focus with the A type, but that might not be an issue since the OP wants to get closer to the subject.

I've seen a few of these adapter go for $5 since no one wants them. I've also seen some listed for $100 for some reason.

 

[I Love Film]

This is true but loss of infinity focus would be a big problem for me. I consider it unusable on FD cameras.

Canon made adapters for M39 to FD and vice versa. In this case you would need the "Lens Mount Converter A".
The problem is you lose infinity focus with the A type, but that might not be an issue since the OP wants to get closer to the subject.

I've seen a few of these adapter go for $5 since no one wants them. I've also seen some listed for $100 for some reason.

 

[rxmd]

You can't use it on a Canon A-1.

You could use it on a Canon EOS with an adapter.

This is true but loss of infinity focus would be a big problem for me. I consider it unusable on FD cameras.

Of course you can use it on a Canon A-1. The FD lens register is short enough.

What certainly does work is the Canon "P" adapter, which is for M42 lenses and gives infinity focus, plus a generic M39-M42 step-up ring.

You probably consider it unusable only because you never tried using it 😛

 

[grapejohnson]

Of course you can use it on a Canon A-1. The FD lens register is short enough.

What certainly does work is the Canon "P" adapter, which is for M42 lenses and gives infinity focus, plus a generic M39-M42 step-up ring.

You probably consider it unusable only because you never tried using it 😛

http://www.ebay.com/itm/M42-Lens-to...ens_Adapters_Mounts_Tubes&hash=item4aaed768c1

according to this it can focus to infinity, seems good enough! i could also use my j8 and industars on the A-1 since it has stop down metering. Should be interesting. thanks for all the help!

 

[NeeZee]

I think you can be glad you got the SLR version. I've tried 2 or 3 Jupiter-9 lenses on my Leica IIIf and it was impossible to get anything in focus below f5.6 and 3 metres (using them on a Zorki worked a bit better).

 

[NeeZee]

By the way, have you considered the Elmar 90/4 in LTM? They go for about a 100$ and will focus correctly on the bessa.

 

[grapejohnson]

By the way, have you considered the Elmar 90/4 in LTM? They go for about a 100$ and will focus correctly on the bessa.

i have looked into it. they all have haze, fungus, or some other similar issue. how hard are they to CLA?

 

[rxmd]

according to this it can focus to infinity, seems good enough! i could also use my j8 and industars on the A-1 since it has stop down metering. Should be interesting. thanks for all the help!

It will work only with SLR M39 lenses (that were built for a longer lens register with a mirror box). With rangefinder lenses it won't work because those were built for thinner cameras. So the J-8 is unfortunately out, and the Industars too unless you have SLR versions (there are pancake versions of the I-22, 26 and 50 and a great, close-focusing I-61 L/Z, for example). Your J-9 will work, though, being an SLR lens.

 

[hipsterdufus]

Good choice on keeping this lens. It is one of my favorite lenses of all time. Wish I had more opportunity to use it.

 

[grapejohnson]

really glad i kept this! works wonderfully on the a-1 with a very cheap FD to M42 mount coupled with an m42 to m39 mount. here's a portrait i did with it on some xp2.

wouldn't have realized i could use this without the help of this forum!
it's perfectly sharp with impressive DOF. weird using russian glass on an SLR!