Best FSU 50mm lens?

Peter:

What I meant to say was that I don't know if there are any good or bad years in Jupiter-8 production. I have a fairly broad range of years in my set and they are all good lenses. However, I have read that there may be certain years in the Kiev production series (bodies, not lenses) that were remarkable bad. I have no indication that those problemns also existed in lenses.

Despite the assertion that the Soviets had no ascertainable QA/QC programs, lenses generally seem to be quite good across the board. Perhaps there is something in the nature of lens design and assembly that lends itself to consistent production?

-Paul
 
I was using a Jupiter 8 yesterday on my Bessa R2 and discovered that no Jupiter, black or silver,
will allow a good meter reading when you leave the lens cap on ... :rolleyes:

Gene
 
Yes you may be right Paul. The differences over the years may be slight but I have read in several places that late 50's to early 60's had higher quality production than other years.

Of course this could mean that 8 out of 10 were good whereas in other years 7 out of 10 were good - I don't know. What is interesting is that many people, including yourself, report good lenses from a wide range of years so who knows?

The thing is that the lenses are inexpensive so it is worth taking the risk IMO. If you get a dog chalk it up to experience and get another one. :)
 
Gene said:
I was using a Jupiter 8 yesterday on my Bessa R2 and discovered that no Jupiter, black or silver,
will allow a good meter reading when you leave the lens cap on ... :rolleyes:

Gene
Click to expand...

Tsk Tsk... those poor quality controls...

:p
 
"I was using a Jupiter 8 yesterday on my Bessa R2 and discovered that no Jupiter, black or silver, will allow a good meter reading when you leave the lens cap on ..."

The lens cap has never stopped me from getting a good reading with my hand-held meter.

The picture, OTOH......... :D

Walker
 
I wonder if an unexposed frame from a capped Summicron is sharper than one from a J8? Probably a crisper shade of black is captured.
 
The boke would clearly be superior! And it would have that "Leica glow", and a certain depth, richness, and 3 dimensionality to it.
 
Last edited:
Assuming the weather holds, I'm going to do some tests on my FSU lenses this weekend. I've got 4 Jupiter-8s (2 silver, 2 black), 1 I-26, 1 I-61 ('panda'), and 2 I-61L/D's. I'll make sure to post results somewhere.

No-one's mentioned the plain ol' I-61. Any thoughts?
 
Good grief! :eek: You sure you have enough lenses there? ;) As I recall the Industar-61 is considered ugly but sharp on this forum...
 
I think "ugly" is the term used to describe the Industar-50 fixed mount silver. The Industar-61 is generally ho-hum while the Industar 61L/D is very sharp and contrasty, but roughly assembled.

-Paul
 
www.fedka.com
He _will_ cost more but he stands behind what he sells and his customer service is second to none. I always go to him first.

William
 
Sockeyed, how are you thinking of doing your comparo-test? I would like to do the same with a bunch of 50mm lenses I have. (I was hoping to do this over Christmas, but then "life" got in the way.) An appropriate subject should allow the qualities of sharpness, contrast, and boke to be assessed. (Colour rendition, warm/cool, does not apply to my B+W photography.) What other qualities in a lens's performance should be compared/assessed? And what would the best test subject be? Perhaps that Foster's girl?
 
Hello Sockeyed, I'm a fan of the plain I61 myself, I once did a shootoff versus the I61 L/D and couldn't see any appreciable difference in results (no 40x loupes involved), so ended up selling my L/D version.
M.
 
I have a black J-8, sliver J-3, and the collapsible I-50 and enjoy using them all. The I-50 is kept on a Leica IIIc and produces nice photos from f8 on. The J-3 produces nice black and whites because it has yellowed just a bit. The J-8 is a great lens, sharp from f8 and nice OOF at f2. I like them all and use them regularly.
 
Wonderfully crisp, not a whole lot of contrast, but beautiful OOF rendition. Other for some indoor work, I haven't really used this lens very much. My puny little collapsible I-50 is so much more pocketible.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom