Jupiter-12 35mm f2.8

isorgb

isorgb

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Yesterday I just bought Jupiter-12 35/2.8 (with Fed-5 for free). Bought for one beer. It is my second lens for one beer, first was Jupiter-3 50/1.5 😉
I put it into R-D1 and I took some pictures in artificial low light and I am very very happy. Lens for its second-hand price is really good. I like "old feel" on photos and this lens gives me it.
I recommend Jupiter-12 to all who want/need cheap(!!!) 35mm lens.

FY
 
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Never owned a Jupiter before, would like to try. They are cheap in Hong Kong as well. Can anyone tell me why they think its underrated? How do they compare to Zeiss, Leica vintage LTM, Leica more modern M, Voigtlander or Konica?
 
Dear Eric,

the most importnat - in my opinion - is that there is a wide spread quality concerning the Jupiter lenses.

As far as I know (and as far as my own experiences are with a total of a dozen of Jupiter lenses -LTM and Contax) the older , the better. Try to 50ies or 60ies lenses.

If you get a good one - you will be surprised of the quality and the bokeeh. Than they are a perfect remake of the classic sonnar lenses. If you get a bad one - take out pencil and sketch book and the image... ;-)

Concerning the prize: Buy some, normally you will be lucky and draw a good one.


Cheers, Andreas
 
Thanks andreas. Very enlightening. I think I'll buy the next one that comes along in the local forum. Any particular Jupiter lens you think is a must buy and try?
 
A beer? You've been stupid lucky twice sir, congratulations!

William
 
Just to share some research about Jupiter lenses. I asked a friend tagged shu_sum on the www.hklfc.com forum about Jupiter lenses and this was his reply. shu_sum does some fine street work. Thought I would share with everyone.

Garfink @ 2010-06-26 15:44:55
I noticed that in the past you posted some photos from Jupiters? Which lenses do you own and what are your thoughts about them?

Shu_sum answer:
Yes, I still have all of them:

- Jupiter-8 50/2 Silver (1964)
- Jupiter-8 50/2 Silver (1961)
- Jupiter-8 50/2 Black (1992)
- Jupiter-3 50/1.5 Silver (1961)
- Jupiter-12 35/2.8 Black (1974)
- Jupiter-9 85/2 Black (1987)
- Jupiter-9 85/2 Silver (1961)

You know, I am more like a user than a collector so I often focus on the price/performance aspect, and I'm a supporter of CV and ZM as well

There is a serious problem of focus shift for J-9 so you should avoid it, but if it is in focus, it is a very great lens (eg if you use it on M4/3 or Sony NEX).

I love all of my J-8, J-3 and J-12. They are all having Carl Zeiss Sonnar character to be rich in colour. The bokeh of J-8 and J-12 are excellent. For J-8, both are very 3D but I prefer 196x old version. People said that they are using real Zeiss glasses during that period but in any event, they cost just several hundred bucks and the price/performance ratio is just superb. Here is a comparison:

http://www.hklfc.com/forum/?o=topic&act=show&id=34143

Amongst all, J-8 should be best. Next is J-12. J-3 is good but you may experience some QC issues occasionally (eg a little bit of focus shift though I am lucky with my copy). A good thing for J-3 is that it is compact and light for a f/1.5 lens.

Weight (with UV filter):
J-8 (135g)
J-3 (150g)
J-12 (110g)

They are just like feather, esp when they are plugged onto R2A.

Sample pictures of J-3 and J-12:
http://www.hklfc.com/forum/?o=topic&act=show&id=44805
 
Hello
in Poland you can find Jupiter, Industar, Helios, Fed, Zorki in really low prices, but outside the internet of course!
kPICUTERS OUTk
 
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The first leaf's bokeh isn't too bad, I wouldn't call it creamy or summicron ver.4 but its quite acceptable! Very nice, looks pretty sharp in the center too, hard to tell with small jpg, can you comment on sharpness in the center and corners at full size?
 
Garfink said:
The first leaf's bokeh isn't too bad, I wouldn't call it creamy or summicron ver.4 but its quite acceptable! Very nice, looks pretty sharp in the center too, hard to tell with small jpg, can you comment on sharpness in the center and corners at full size?
Click to expand...

Corners are not as good as center. I have not sample or test, I don't need it.
Jupiter will never be Summicron 😉

Look this F8, especially wires on the left side and right door. Corners are apparently weaker than the center:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4139/4750845649_9e18a0468f_o.jpg

In conclusion, I think that Jupiter-12 is excellent lens at its price.
 
Garfink said:
Weight (with UV filter):
J-8 (135g)
J-3 (150g)
J-12 (110g)

They are just like feather, esp when they are plugged onto R2A.
Click to expand...

Are there any clearance/compatibility issues with mounting the J-12 on Bessa M mount bodies? Anyone know this from experience?
 
PMCC said:
Are there any clearance/compatibility issues with mounting the J-12 on Bessa M mount bodies? Anyone know this from experience?
Click to expand...

never owned a Bessa, but seems other posters in thread already used it on some Bessa models.

when mounting J-12 for first time to my M8, tried to be very careful to feel any tension changes if rear element touched the shutter curtain + checked both ends of focus range. tried also to exhale to rear glass element, then mounted lens and took it quickly out to see if element touched to shutter, but there was no marks of contact, so just started using it 🙂
 
Has anyone successfully used a J-12 on the NEX-7?? am contemplating and haven't found a conclusive answer. There's an old thread on dpreview, but can't tell what the outcome was.
 
Using a J-12 on the RD1 I've encountered some underexposure issues. It's strange because I was expecting to have an OVERexposure due to the rear element being too close to the metering cell.
Anyway, it's a 1 stop under.
Center is sharper than borders, of course, and at f16 I can see some circular banding appear in my raws.
I think it's a refraction issue.
Anyone experienced the same?
D.
 
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