Jupiter-9 in LTM ... so..smmmooothhhh

[Krosya]

Just like many of us here, I like to have many different lenses in the same FL. While 50mm are the most popular with me, followed by the 35mm ones, i also have a couple of longer lenses ( as some may recall). Those are Hexanon 90/2.8 - which is a very good lens and a russian black J-9.
J-9 is all worn looking, yet works smooth. And the pics it delivers are even smoother yet. (that is if I manage to focus it accurately at f2). For some reason I have more trouble focusing this lens wide open consistently than my Canon 50/1.2 or CV 35/1.2. But when I do get it right - it blows me away every time! Well, how about I will let photos do the talking:
J-9 wide open:

this one is a bit cropped for a more pleasant framing:

 

[ferider]

Nice, Krosya.

BTW, as a rule of thumb, an 85/2 is as difficult to focus as a 50/1.

Best,

Roland.

 

[lubitel]

J-9 is the only tele RF lens that I have, and I wonder if I ever need another one. It is tack sharp and produces beautiful images (if I don't screw up).

 

[Bill58]

I'll second Roland's comment. You better have a good RF patch to focus with...or forget it!

Nice, Krosya.

BTW, as a rule of thumb, an 85/2 is as difficult to focus as a 50/1.

Best,

Roland.

 

[jan normandale]

I'm always impressed by what a decent copy of one of these FSU lens can do. Nice shots.

 

[AzzA]

hmm, after seeing these shots i've convinced myself to get a J-9 again.
Did you just get yours from eBay? Or another source?
I particularly like your first shot.
Cheers

 

[kevin m]

Getting a copy that mates correctly with the Leica M rangefinder cam seems to be the hard part. The optics are fine, the mechanics seem to have a lot of sample-to-sample variation.

 

[NickTrop]

Beautiful portrait.

I have the J9 in M42. It is a wonderful underrated optic. Gets a bad rap because (many?) (some?) of the LTMs had problems due to incorrect reassembly, allegedly. I think SLRs are better cameras for interchangeable lenses, and especially portrait and above focal lengths, so I have no desire to slap one on a RF. One downside, though, I doubt I could get a low-light portrait like yours shooting at 1/125 on an SLR. But, c'mon, what lens has a 15 blade aperture that's this fast, is this compact, this well-made, and this good - no make that "great", for the price of a J9? I also "love" the delimiter ring set-up. Yep - wanna shoot at "x" f-stop? Set the delimiter to that stop, open wide to f2 to focus, then close the aperture until it stops at the f-stop you selected. I think it's a perfect set-up I wish more lenses had.

I mutilated mine a bit by permanently fixing an M42😛entax-K adapter and filing a small notch on the rear part of the barrel so it now works just exactly like a K-mount lens, "clicks" right in. J9 - major bargain optic courtesy of the FSU. A "must-have" if you have an M42 SLR.

 

[Krosya]

hmm, after seeing these shots i've convinced myself to get a J-9 again.
Did you just get yours from eBay? Or another source?
I particularly like your first shot.
Cheers

Yep - mine came from Ebay. I suppose I was lucky to get a good copy.
Thank you for the comments, everyone.

 

[Spider67]

Beautiful portrait.

I have the J9 in M42. It is a wonderful underrated optic. Gets a bad rap because (many?) (some?) of the LTMs had problems due to incorrect reassembly, allegedly. I think SLRs are better cameras for interchangeable lenses, and especially portrait and above focal lengths, so I have no desire to slap one on a RF. One downside, though, I doubt I could get a low-light portrait like yours shooting at 1/125 on an SLR. But, c'mon, what lens has a 15 blade aperture that's this fast, is this compact, this well-made, and this good - no make that "great", for the price of a J9? I also "love" the delimiter ring set-up. Yep - wanna shoot at "x" f-stop? Set the delimiter to that stop, open wide to f2 to focus, then close the aperture until it stops at the f-stop you selected. I think it's a perfect set-up I wish more lenses had.

I mutilated mine a bit by permanently fixing an M42😛entax-K adapter and filing a small notch on the rear part of the barrel so it now works just exactly like a K-mount lens, "clicks" right in. J9 - major bargain optic courtesy of the FSU. A "must-have" if you have an M42 SLR.

Hi Nick - Lucky you. I wanted to use it on a Nikon. It seems extremely dependant on the quality of the adapter, as both J 9´s produced spots of light in the center. the older specimen had a lighter center area, whereas the newer one had a center that was literally eaten out by light .
I learned my lesson and continued using them on M42 Cameras without a problem

 

[Krosya]

A couple more shots one at f2 and the other at f2.8 - these were even harder - focusing j-9 at the moving by the wind banches was fun. 😉 But I managed to get a couple fairly sharp:
at f2

and at 2.8

Edit - re-posted smaller sizes due to comments below.

 

[tripod]

Nice shots BUT I wish there was a limit to the size of the image you can imbed in the text to prevent the need to scroll horizontally to see the text in all subsequent posts for thoses of us without 19 inch monitors. Pain. :bang:

 

[Florian1234]

Here's a quick scan of a test photo of my J-9 version. Also veeery smooth wide open. 😀

 

[Krosya]

Nice shots BUT I wish there was a limit to the size of the image you can imbed in the text to prevent the need to scroll horizontally to see the text in all subsequent posts for thoses of us without 19 inch monitors. Pain. :bang:

Sorry - I reposted last two shows in a smaller size. I usually post a larger so detail could be seen. Appologies for your scrolling inconvinience. :angel:

 

[Florian1234]

Where did my posted photo go?

 

[ampguy]

I'd also like to find a good user J9 again to fit on my Zorki 4K for wildlife photography.

 

[tripod]

Sorry Krosya, I should have just sent this complaint to SG instead of infecting your thread.
You can attach a thumbnail link to a huge picture and not effect the thread.

 

[spiderfrank]

Aaaaahhhhh fantastic photos!!!
I want a j-9 for my Kiev, and I want it NOW !!

GAS GAS GAS GAS GAS GAS GAS GAS GAS GAS GAS GAS !!!!! :bang:

 

[Santafecino]

This is just an idea, but I do think that some of the truly skilled expert amateurs on this Forum who gather similar lenses and publish comparative tests would do us all a great favor by comparing 85mm-90mm lenses. I've been comparing results with my J-9 and my 90mm Elmar-C and wish I had a broader range of lenses to compare in similar situations. Just wanted to put the idea out there.
--Lindsay

 

[Teus]

hah. earlier today I was looking at a nice J9, and mailed the seller about the condition of the optics. Now I'll buy it for sure 🙂