fav. 50 in Kiev mount

santino

santino

FSU gear head
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whats your favorite 50mm lens in Kiev mount?
my recently aquired Helios 103 is razor sharp but I still prefer the J8M. It has the nicer "bokeh" and I prefer the Sonnar touch. Too bad I don't own a J3.

input pleeeze :D
 
is the j8 a sonnar?

my 50/2 czj sonnar might be for sale (cheap) pretty soon.
i'm waiting on a reconditioned 50/1.5 - it's on the way.

joe
 
My fav. is definitely the '57 J8 (no click stops) that I have. It was my go-to lens when I bought a Contax II... You can see some results in my gallery. I also own a '51 J8 with tabs on the aperture ring that look a little 'zeiss', but I need to get my back log developed to make any judgement.

Peter
 
I forgot to mention that I do own a 2/50 col. pre war Sonnar too, it's a bit softer than the J8m but still nice :)
 
physiognomy said:
... I also own a '51 J8 with tabs on the aperture ring that look a little 'zeiss', but I need to get my back log developed to make any judgement.
Click to expand...

i didnt understand what are those tabs you are talking about? can you post a picture of them? i also have different aperture ring on '51 j8. you can check out photo attached.
 

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I have a pre-war czj f1.5, a post-war CZO f1.5, a pre-war CZJ col. f2, an aluminum barrel f2, a J8M, and a Helios.

I still have to so some organized shooting/testing to check them out against each other.
 
The Zeiss lenses had two fingers as does your J8 in photo, people call them tabs, I think they were dropped '52 or so while the J8 went on to '56 or so.

The tabs were just Zeiss baroque, the Soviets threated the Kiev like it was a T34 (tank) and removed non essentials...

Noel
 
For me it is a draw between my 50/2 Sonnar and my 50/1.5 J-3. I use the J-3 more often because it mounts better than the Sonnar and because of the avail light possibilities. In fact, the Sonnar is my summer lens, and the J3 my winter lens :)
 
nzeeman said:
i didnt understand what are those tabs you are talking about? can you post a picture of them? i also have different aperture ring on '51 j8. you can check out photo attached.
Click to expand...

nzeeman, the aperture ring on my '51 J-8 is the same as yours. I had never seen another one like it... This lens has a slightly more solid feel than my other J-8's, but unfortunately it has seen better days. There is a slight dent in the filter ring & cleaning marks on the front element.

347340082_2216a37a8b.jpg


Peter
 
My favorite used to be my new-old-stock Helios-103. Then I acquired a used but great performing J-3 sample, which was nearly as sharp but with smoother OOF areas, and half a stop faster over that, so it became my main lens for recent months. But, after my camera survived a nasty fall last week the Jupiter went out of calibration :( Now it shoots with significant front focus at 1.5, not unlike the claimed C-Sonnar issue.
 
It's ok Max, I still hope to fix it over one of weekends. Fortunately there are very few things to go wrong in Kiev 50s :)
 
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