Jupiter 8M in LTM?

Dez

Dez

Bodger Extraordinaire
Local time
4:36 AM
Joined
May 12, 2009
Messages
1,537
Location
Mississauga, Ontario
View My Gallery
I just bought an interesting lens from Oleg at Grandseller on eBay. It's a Jupiter 8M with a 1976 date code in a mount that appears to be the same as a zebra Industar 61. I am presuming this is a modification someone made, but was there by any chance such a thing made officially? It cannot be found on the Sovietcam site, so I'm pretty sure it's a mod. Has anyone encountered something like this before? Kinda nice to get a J8 with clickstops.

Cheers,
Dez
 
I am not wholly up on the history of Jupiter lenses but the only 8M I am familiar with is the one for the Contax system. I have one on order at the moment in that mount. The nice thing about them are that they are very cheap. I presume yours must be a modification to LTM

Edit: Just found this. Seems some were made in Zorki mount (L39) and could be rare............not had time to digest the info though but here it is. Could this be what you are referring to?
http://www.sovietcams.com/index.php?-483601546
 
There is a lot of mount swapping of Soviet rangefinder lenses going on in Russia and Ukraine. These days the market for LTM mount lenses is much larger than the market for Contax/Kiev/Nikon S lenses.

Industar 61s are almost a dime a dozen in Russia, and that lens body lends itself to easy modification to mount other lens blocks on. I even see people on eBay selling the I-61 bodies sans lens block for people to use in their do it yourself projects.
 
peterm1 said:
I am not wholly up on the history of Jupiter lenses but the only 8M I am familiar with is the one for the Contax system. I have one on order at the moment in that mount. The nice thing about them are that they are very cheap. I presume yours must be a modification to LTM

Edit: Just found this. Seems some were made in Zorki mount (L39) and could be rare............not had time to digest the info though but here it is. Could this be what you are referring to?
http://www.sovietcams.com/index.php?-483601546
Click to expand...

Sadly, nothing exotic like the "J8H" shown here. It seems to just be an Industar 61 mount. When I get it, I'll check it out and put the results in this thread.

Cheers,
Dez
 
Dez, curious if you have an update to this. I also stumbled across J8M in m39. It would be pretty Amazon if if it focuses with m bodies.
 
exe163 said:
Dez, curious if you have an update to this. I also stumbled across J8M in m39. It would be pretty Amazon if if it focuses with m bodies.
Click to expand...

I would think each one would be as accurate in focus on a Leica would depend on how well the lens hack was done.
 
I bought a later J8M made into LTM using a Canon 50/1.8 focus mount. The later J-8M lenses have an improved optical formula compared with earlier ones- the cutoff seems to be ~1970. The couple that I've owned in Kiev/Contax mount from the mid 1960s were very poor performers. The middle triplet was completely redesigned on the later lens. The optics of the later lens look more like a traditional J-8, but the optics have a bigger diameter. Very different from the original J8M design.
 
There is a fair bit of deviation in quality, my 1952 J-8's with German Glass are really good.

The later J-8M is really good as well. You have an adapter, look for one in Kiev mount made ~1973. I used to find these for $2 at camera shows. I paid $50 for the converted lens.

Raid... there is a Sonnar formula lens that you do not own...
 
I own one J8 though. I may have a J8M if it is in ltm!
I need to go through my closet and check out my lenses again.
 
I found these 5 J-8 lenses in my closet this morning. I may have additional ones, but this is what I have found:

J8-lenses-X2.jpg



The J-8M is in Contaxt mount.

1. black Jupiter-8 Made in USSR number is written on the side 0249104, LTM

2. Russian letters used for J8 number 5523235 LTM

3. Russian letters for J8 number 5216600 LTM

4. Contax mount number 5619649 Russian letters for J8

5. Contax mount Russian letters for J8M Number 7149817
Brian said: " my 1952 J-8's with German Glass are really good" ....
One of my J8 lenses is from 1952.
 
Is my 1952 J8 with German glass? Do I need to have the lens opened up to check this out or is maybe its weight a "proof"?
 
I like my Jupiter 8M lens, but I really don't like using the Kiev bodies (I seem to have 2 of them). I just can't do the "Contax hold".

I would like to use my J-8M on my various film and digital LTM and M cameras.

I don't want an adapter (e.g., Amadeo). I would rather prefer a conversion (I'm inspired by the great Sonnar Sweeny :angel🙂.

I have an I-61LD as a possible donor. Also happy to purchase whichever LTM FSU best accommodates my intended conversion.

***Now, the question I need answered before going any further: Can I keep the click stop configuration in the converted lens? I like the image quality of the J8M, but that alone is not enough to motivate me, I want the click stop aperture set up too. So, is it possible?
 
rfaspen said:
I like my Jupiter 8M lens, but I really don't like using the Kiev bodies (I seem to have 2 of them). I just can't do the "Contax hold".

I would like to use my J-8M on my various film and digital LTM and M cameras.

I don't want an adapter (e.g., Amadeo). I would rather prefer a conversion (I'm inspired by the great Sonnar Sweeny :angel🙂.

I have an I-61LD as a possible donor. Also happy to purchase whichever LTM FSU best accommodates my intended conversion.

***Now, the question I need answered before going any further: Can I keep the click stop configuration in the converted lens? I like the image quality of the J8M, but that alone is not enough to motivate me, I want the click stop aperture set up too. So, is it possible?
Click to expand...

Well, if using a J-8M lens on other cameras is your main primary concern then:

For a low price of $ 68 USD and free shipping and ease of use might change your mind from the complexity of a lens hack and gathering all the parts with no guarantee of success.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/FOTOFOX-RF-...60908105057&meid=de1968da0ecd4412aa38c5829079
 
I have a J-8M that was converted into LTM using a Canon 50/1.8 focus mount- I could not buy the parts for the $50 paid. It is a fine performer. The J-8M formula was changed dramatically in the early 1970s, and this lens is one of the best I've seen. Some from the 1960s- worst I've seen.

The converted lenses coming out of FSU- inexpensive, but all over the place with respect to using with a Rangefinder. I had one sent to me from the UK that would not focus correctly, and the glass was "scorched". I replaced all the glass in it.

The J-8M barrel will not fit into the I-61 or I-26 mount without cutting metal, like boring out the fixture.
 
My J-8M is a 1971 vintage. It does seem to make different images than my LTM J8 lenses. Its subtle, but enough to combine with click apertures for a consideration to covert.

I'm very reluctant to use a Contax-Leica adapter. Not vehemently against it, but enough to seriously prefer attempting a conversion.

Brian, which version of Canon lens did you use? New black/chrome or old all-chrome?

I do happen to have a Canon 50/2.8 with an unfortunate large "chink" in the middle of the front element. Bad enough to make it a donor candidate.....

In general Brian, I'm quite curious about your conversion..... any pics of the thing convenient to share? Any tips or gotchas to pass on?
 
I bought the converted lens off Ebay for $50- all work done, and perfectly shimmed.

The person used a Chrome focus mount. So many Canon 50mm lenses get etched glass- he had a couple of mounts bought cheap several years ago.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Carterofmars
Article: UK Gov nationalises orphans and bans non-consensual photography in public
Replies
3
Views
1K
colyn
colyn
Back
Top Bottom