J-3, Taken at F2 and Faster

[sockeyed]

J-3 on a Bessa R3M, Fuji Acros:

 

[35mmdelux]

some excellent fotos. TKS.

 

[dotur]

J3 N6208713 (1962) wide open on M8 - what else?

J3 N6208713 (1962) wide open on M8 - what else?

What else? Uncoated prewar CZ Sonnar? New ZM Zeiss/Cosina? Old Leotax Simlar? Nikon 1.5 or 1.4 from fifties? Yes, they are similar, but different etc. In my opinion Canon/Serenar 1.5 is the best (and best made) version, better than Nikon 1.4 (which is sharper wide open, but flat and poor performer for distance shots). Canon might be even better than the original CZ - though I have not tried the last Stuttgart versions...

Those 3 are J3 shots on M8, of course.

 

[Nando]

I'm going to miss my J3 that I just sold but at least I know that it will be in capable hands. 🙂

 

[capitalK]

I'm going to miss my J3 that I just sold but at least I know that it will be in capable hands. 🙂

You weren't supposed to look at this thread until after the transaction in case you got sellers remorse! 😱

 

[Nando]

Don't worry. A deal is a deal.

 

[dotur]

J8 on Kiev4, Fujicolor 100 negative, Epson perfection 4990 photo scan

J8 on Kiev4, Fujicolor 100 negative, Epson perfection 4990 photo scan

A month ago.


______________
www.ivanlozica.com

 

[xayraa33]

What else? Uncoated prewar CZ Sonnar? New ZM Zeiss/Cosina? Old Leotax Simlar? Nikon 1.5 or 1.4 from fifties? Yes, they are similar, but different etc. In my opinion Canon/Serenar 1.5 is the best (and best made) version, better than Nikon 1.4 (which is sharper wide open, but flat and poor performer for distance shots). Canon might be even better than the original CZ - though I have not tried the last Stuttgart versions...

Those 3 are J3 shots on M8, of course.

that middle shot is so 3D !

 

[dotur]

that middle shot is so 3D !

Yes, I like that dirty glass too... and I love J3 as a portrait lens on M8 in available light.




_____________
www.ivanlozica.com

 

[johannielscom]

That car with a can on it MUST be a RED Bull Energy Drink Promotion Team Vehicle (RB-ED-PTV, 😱 so to speak).

Thought we only had these in the Netherlands...

 

[QUAsit]

(proudly) In snowy autumn Moscow we got `em also! 🙂

 

[raid]

1955 J-3, wide-open at F1.5. Kodacolor 800 film.



Raid- this is not a plot to make you feel bad selling THAT J-3...

Brian: What was special about THAT J-3?
It was a good J-3, for sure.
I need to get a J-3 in LTM anyways, so maybe I should target a 1955 J-3. Is this your message to me, Brian?

 

[Ron (Netherlands)]

Has the 50-ies J3 the same optics / coating as a late 70-ies J3?

I would like to try one, I saw one in good shape on the great bay....
perhaps I put an ad in the WTB section

 

[xayraa33]

Has the 50-ies J3 the same optics / coating as a late 70-ies J3?

I would like to try one, I saw one in good shape on the great bay....
perhaps I put an ad in the WTB section

The coating on the late 70s and the 1980s black ones
is a different hue, the coating is bluish on the 1950s & early 60s J-3

on the later ones it is a yellowish coloured coating.

The late J-3s can be rather soft at f1.5 but have a nice colour rendition when colour film is used.

 

[QUAsit]

I am not quite agree that `late` J-3s are soft. My samples above are from ZOMZ 1971 sample and it focuses precisely on M3 (no adjustment - I am lucky guy). This lens is quite sharp on F/1.5

But recently I got J-3 of KMZ1954 and it has more contrast wide-open. Perhaps not pretty good sample... but:

Wideopen (or F/1.8) J-3 of 1954 on Zorki-1 (made in 1954). Strange artefact to the left is casette light leak.

 

[xayraa33]

I am not quite agree that `late` J-3s are soft. My samples above are from ZOMZ 1971 sample and it focuses precisely on M3 (no adjustment - I am lucky guy). This lens is quite sharp on F/1.5

But recently I got J-3 of KMZ1954 and it has more contrast wide-open. Perhaps not pretty good sample... but:

Wideopen (or F/1.8) J-3 of 1954 on Zorki-1 (made in 1954). Strange artefact to the left is casette light leak.

By late I mean black ones from the 1980s, the real late ones from '86/ '87 have the rear lens group cemented and cannot be adjusted even when the whole lens module is shimmed properly.

I have a silver 1975 one that is plenty sharp, & well shimmed probably that way from the factory and I am waiting for another J-3, year unknown, I just bought from RFF member Pesphoto two days ago.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

I've had good luck with the J-3's from the 60s and 70s. I've shot with several from the 80s that were soft until stopped down to F4.

The coatings changed over the years, and by the specific vendor. I've seen reference to the formula being recomputed in the mid-1950s as different glass was used. My 1953 J-3 appears to have higher contrast than the 1960s lens.

Raid- the one that you had was "really good". It was early 60s, as I recall. And it was the first one that I worked on.

Some BORING test photo's of J-3's stretching over 30 years.

1983 J-3, wide-open from a test roll:

Another 1980's J-3, wide-open from a test roll:

1969 J-3, wide-open at F1.5

1953 J-3 wide-open at F1.5, same roll of film, on tripod, within minutes of above shot:

 

[xayraa33]

I've had good luck with the J-3's from the 60s and 70s. I've shot with several from the 80s that were soft until stopped down to F4.

The coatings changed over the years, and by the specific vendor. I've seen reference to the formula being recomputed in the mid-1950s as different glass was used. My 1953 J-3 appears to have higher contrast than the 1960s lens.

Raid- the one that you had was "really good". It was early 60s, as I recall. And it was the first one that I worked on.

Yes, and the 1980s J-3 "soft" is not the good "soft", the kind of "good soft" you get from a Summar lens at f2 or the painterly " good soft" of a pre war Zeiss Sonnar at f1.5.

the 1980s J-3 soft is the "garbage soft" that is really noticeable with B&W films and really annoying with every degree of photo enlargement.
With colour film, this type of J-3 "garbage soft" seems less irritating.

 

[capitalK]

This one was inside a dark barn... about 1/15th and wide open.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

1959 J-3 with a 1986 front element. Wide-open.

The '59 front element was really bad, the the '86 was the worst J-3 I'd ever seen. The results of the "incredible J-3 front element transplant" were quite good.