Jupiter 12 from Ebay, yes or no?

[mikule]

I realise now (after having read these forums and other sites) that if I want to get any additional lenses for my FED-5B, I'll need to pickup a view finder for it as well.

The wide angle on the J-12 is quite appealing, so I been looking around for one, but the general consensus seems to be that one in good condition is very hard to come by.

I've managed to find one on ebay complete with view finder for $87 US. Which isn't much more expensive than fedka.com. Should I be very weary of ebay J-12's given that they seem to be scratched or damaged more often than not compared to other FSU lenses?

cheers
mike

 

[Roman]

I think you are confusing the J-12 with some other lens - I haven't heard any reports that the J-12 is more trouble prone than others - it are the J-3 (scratched front element) and the J-9 (stiff focussing, wrong calibration) where you have to be careful. The front lens of the J-12 is very deeply recessed so there is little danger of scratches, only the back element is very exposed - did the auction have any photos of that?
I haven't checked Ebay prices in a while, but when I got my J-12 (about 3 or 4 years ago), prices were more like around 40 to 50 USD; on the other hand, this one comes with the finder, and that finder is very nice and goes for at least 20 USD, so the package might still be a good deal. Hope it is a reliable seller!

Roman

 

[pshinkaw]

Occassionally you can find one of these with a rear lens cap. That can be an indication that the rear element was protected. Both of mine, LTM and Kiev came from the Ukraine in bubble wrap w/o caps, but both were fine.

-Paul

 

[kiev4a]

J-12s are among the most consistant FSU lenses. Like they said, however, the back element sticks out where it can be damaged easily when off the camera. I would go for one that has a back cap. I have found the black J-12s to be a little better than the earlier silver ones but some may argu that point. The best way to use a J-12 is to dedicate it to a camera body and never take it off. My Zorki 1 with the J-12 and finder is not a lot bigger to carry than a lot of digital cameras.

 

[mikule]

Thanks for the feedback. I think I was confusing this with some of the other lenses, in terms of typical condition when they're purchased. But most I read said the back element was often damaged.

So after all of that I have decieded to order it, especially since it came with a viewfinder. Once it arrives and I've tried it out I'll resurrect this post to let you know how it went.

On another note, the Jupiter 9, have any of you had much luck picking those up off of ebay? They seem to be one of the more expensive lenses, around the $90 US mark. Although I may just wait until my Jupiter 12 arrives before I start buying anything else.

I also have a macro extention lens in the mail..... I forgot how unlike an SLR you can't focus through the lens, so I'm not sure how I'll be able to use it.

Thanks again
michael

 

[nwcanonman]

The J-9 is a much rarer lens to find, even on Ebay. At least with Fedka you're getting a 10 day trial period to get your money back, unlike with Ebay. I love my LTM J-9.
Best of luck.

 

[pangkievrange]

I realise now (after having read these forums and other sites) that if I want to get any additional lenses for my FED-5B, I'll need to pickup a view finder for it as well.

The wide angle on the J-12 is quite appealing, so I been looking around for one, but the general consensus seems to be that one in good condition is very hard to come by.

I've managed to find one on ebay complete with view finder for $87 US. Which isn't much more expensive than fedka.com. Should I be very weary of ebay J-12's given that they seem to be scratched or damaged more often than not compared to other FSU lenses?

cheers
mike

If you go with an old body (50's), you should buy a silver. I have 5 jupiter 12 (three silvers, 2 blacks). Two of the silvers were way of focus. The third one only collimates to the old bodys (50's). I had to take some shims out and ground the spacer. One of the black works fine with kiev 4m (80's) while the other works well with kiev made in 60-70's. All the silvers have scratches on the rear element while the blacks are perfect.


pangkievrange

 

[kiev4a]

Getting a J-12 with a finder for that price isn't a bad deal if the lens is in good shape. As far as back caps I lucked out a couple of years ago. I had a silver lens with no back cap. There was a FSU dealer who "owed" me and she send me a J-12 back cap and standard LTM cap -- both beautifully custom machined from aluminum.

 

[mikule]

Well the J-12 with viewfinder arrived last night in the mail! Although I'm yet to shoot any rolls of film with it yet, it has very clean glass, focuses relatively smoothly and fits quite snugly on my Fed 5V

Just a question though. Will I need to recalibrate the rangefinder on my Fed to be able to use this lens properly, or just use the hyper-focal method? For some reason I was expecting the view finder to have some kind of rangefinder attached to it (I'm sure I've seen them).

Once I've given the lens a test run, I'll revive this thread with some photos

 

[FrankS]

Congrats, mikule!

The J12 is cammed to the camera's rangefinder, so focus using the camera's 50mm viewfinder, and then compose using the lens' external 35mm viewfinder.