Jupiter Lenses

[Peter G1G2]

Hi all,

Yesterday I bought a Jupiter 50 and an 85 for my MP and M8.

Any experience with Jupiter lenses?

Peter

 

[RML]

Yup. The J-8 50/2 was my main lens for years and it's still a favourite of mine. Beautiful bokeh and I love the way it renders colours. The J-9 85/2 is equal to the J-8 with the same characteristics.

 

[Uwe_Nds]

Hello Peter,
Unfortunately not on the M8, but both the Jupiter-3, Jupiter-8 and Jupiter-12 work fine on my Hexar RF.
There are some pictures in my gallery taken with above lenses.

Best regards,
Uwe

 

[RML]

The J-12 35mm has a huge arse and I'm not sure whether it will work on the M8. it doesn't on the R-D1 though it works perfectly well on my M2.

 

[rich815]

Jup-8 and Jup-12 are awesome and I use them on my MP.

Assuming you have good examples. I hear they can vary.

Here are an example using my Jup-8:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rich8155/146701570/

 

[Uwe_Nds]

The J-12 35mm has a huge arse and I'm not sure whether it will work on the M8. it doesn't on the R-D1 though it works perfectly well on my M2.

According to this, it works on both the R-D1 and the M8. 😕

Best regards,
Uwe

 

[dnemoc]

The Jupiter 12 is a delightful lens, though the rear element protrudes deep into the camera (be careful during handling); here's an example of J-12 + Fed3 + Fomapan 400 in Diafine (8x10 print scan on a dirty scanner bed).

 

[Peter G1G2]

Thanks for the quick replies guys! 🙂

What, in your opinion, is characteristic for these lenses?

- Contrast
- Colour redition
- Sharpness
- Suitable for black & white?

Peter

 

[Santafecino]

Peter--
Is yours a Jupiter 3 (50mm f:1.5) or a Jupiter 8 (50mm f:2.0)?

The Jupiter 3, 8, and 9 are all direct copies of Zeiss Sonnar prewar designs, but coated. So they share the Sonnar characteristics. You might look at some of the threads where 50mm and 85mm lenses (also 35mm for the Jupiter 12) are compared. The Russian lenses perform quite well.

Bottom line about these lenses is that they are tremendous value for the money. BUT you should assume--don't even imagine otherwise--that any Russian lens in Leica mount MUST be adjusted to work on your Leica. This can cost maybe $25 to $75, depending on the amount of cleaning and lubing and shimming. It is well spent. There is some debate whether Russian Leica copies actually used a different rangefinder standard or, on the other hand, were simply assembled to wide tolerances. After some careful work, they seem to take great pictures.

 

[Peter G1G2]

It's the Jupiter-8 1:2/50mm lens.

Do you mean these lenses have to be adjusted to the Leica Rangefinder? Or just cleaned/lubricated?

Peter

 

[Uwe_Nds]

It's the Jupiter-8 1:2/50mm lens.

Do you mean these lenses have to be adjusted to the Leica Rangefinder? Or just cleaned/lubricated?

Peter

Peter, I recommend to try it out first before doing anything to it. My J-8 came straight off a Zorki-4 and I didn't find the need to adjust it to the Hexar RF or Bessa R. Best regards, Uwe

 

[Anupam]

Try the Jupiter 50 and 85 lenses with the M8. Check that the lenses focus wide-open and close-up. Often, they have to be shimmed for the Leica standard.

Is there any cheap source for doing this. I have taken apart and put back a J9 with back focus problems but have no idea where I could get the shims.

-Anupam

 

[Peter G1G2]

...here's an example of J-12 + Fed3 + Fomapan 400 in Diafine (8x10 print scan on a dirty scanner bed)....

Nevertheless: Nice contrast and composition!

Cheers,

Peter

 

[brachal]

Thanks for the quick replies guys! 🙂

What, in your opinion, is characteristic for these lenses?

- Contrast
- Colour redition
- Sharpness
- Suitable for black & white?

Peter

IMO ...

- very nice contrast, not too extreme.
- again very good. maybe a little on the warm side.
- reputed to be a bit soft wide open, but tightening up nicely with smaller apertures. remember that these are essentially 70 year old designs.
- see above. beautiful with black and white.

 

[Peter G1G2]

Thanks Bill,

exactly what I wanted to hear...

Cheers,

Peter

 

[Peter G1G2]

The 50/2 and the 85/2 came in this morning. (€100,- all together)

The 50 has dirt (fungus?) on the outer sides of the frontlens, but at f2,8 it's of no importance, I hope...

Is fungus contagious? Should I keep the Russians away from the Germans?

The rangefinfer works with the 50/75 adapter. My wife took some close-up portraits of me just to check, but I'm wouldn't dare posting them here. (Don't want to scare anyone...)

These are at infinity...

 

[OldNick]

My 1987 35mm Jupiter 12 matches up well with my Leica IIIf rangefinder. I could detect a very small focus error at 1 meter wide open. In use, it has never posed a problem.

Jim N.

 

[oscroft]

- very nice contrast, not too extreme.
- again very good. maybe a little on the warm side.
- reputed to be a bit soft wide open, but tightening up nicely with smaller apertures. remember that these are essentially 70 year old designs.
- see above. beautiful with black and white

That's pretty much my experience too

 

[Stephanie Brim]

A Jupiter-3 is a wonderful lens that I want again, even though I have a Sonnar now. It's a great lens wide open as long as you make sure it works well with your camera.

All shot wide open on a Canon P.

 

[varjag]

The difference between Leica and FSU focusing standards is less of an issue with 35mm lenses or wider. So chances are that any error with Jupiter-12 would be marginal.

The adjustment towards Leica standard for longer/faster lenses can be done at home: I think Brian has detailed posts about it in several threads here.

Some competent repairsmen can do that for you. I had Leonid (known on eBay as leon1965jazz) adjusting my J-3 that was remounted from Contax mount for Leica standard. Judging by the negs he did a perfect job.