Kiev 50mm lens test at last!

[Duncan Ross]

It's my first attempt at developing my own negatives! This is classic pan 400 using a Kiev with a Jupiter 8M, Jupiter 3 and a Menopta all at f5.6. Lighting is with bounced flashbulb at 1/10s so some blurriness on one of the shots might be camera wobble (they are all handheld). As you can see I'm still getting the hang of processing.

As is traditional now I'll hold off revealing which lens is which at first although it isn't really a proper test.

Here they are;

 

[sychan]

Finally, one of the newly minted menopta owners chimes in with a lens test!

I got my menopta as well, but have only done a very basic comparison - I was surprised by how warm the color rendition was compared to a cron (for a modern lens). Maybe I'll do a wide open comparison between newish Japanese, German and Russian lenses later...

 

[Duncan Ross]

I've only had B&W through it so far but it seems to perform nicely with no obvious faults.

 

[arothaus]

Hello,

I'd be interested in a duell Menopta vs. Helios-103. I'm waiting for a Menopta, too - maybe I'll do a test someday. btw: I would perform a test only from a tripod and I'd make several images from every lens, so results could be better compared.

What do you guys think who already got their Menopta, is it real or a fake made of a Helios?

Regards,
Andreas R.

 

[RJBender]

It's my first attempt at developing my own negatives! This is classic pan 400 using a Kiev with a Jupiter 8M, Jupiter 3 and a Menopta all at f5.6. Lighting is with bounced flashbulb at 1/10s so some blurriness on one of the shots might be camera wobble (they are all handheld). As you can see I'm still getting the hang of processing.

As is traditional now I'll hold off revealing which lens is which at first although it isn't really a proper test.

Here they are;

Duncan,

Here's my guess:

1) Jupiter 3
2) Jupiter 8M
3) Menopta

R.J.

 

[Duncan Ross]

Bad luck, it was Menopta, Jupiter 8M, Jupiter 3. I'm surprised at the amount of contrast I'm getting from my Jupiter 3.

The menopta image looks soft but I think it is camera wobble, here's another one from the menopta on the same film:

 

[sychan]

Bad luck, it was Menopta, Jupiter 8M, Jupiter 3. I'm surprised at the amount of contrast I'm getting from my Jupiter 3.

I think I remember reading someplace that the J3's sweet spot is at F5.6

 

[RJBender]

Bad luck, it was Menopta, Jupiter 8M, Jupiter 3. I'm surprised at the amount of contrast I'm getting from my Jupiter 3.

The menopta image looks soft but I think it is camera wobble, here's another one from the menopta on the same film:

Wait a minute! The Menopta's focal length is 53mm. The Jupiters are both 50mm lenses. The angle of view for the Menopta is less than the Jupiter's.

You have 78 pixels of space to the left of the shelf in photo 3. If you moved the camera to the right, 78 pixels woudn't take you halfway through the scale. Did you crop any of these photos? In photo 1 the shelf is at the left edge but you can see 80% of the scale. Photo 2 is about the same as photo 1.

R.J.

 

[varjag]

It is very hard to find difference between lenses if you don't include any noticable OOF areas in the shots.

RJ, I believe Jupters are 53 mm too, it's just they're marked as 50. You have to have 53 mm to focus with Kiev/Contax built-in helical correctly.

And Menopta very likely *is* Helios-103.

 

[RJBender]

It is very hard to find difference between lenses if you don't include any noticable OOF areas in the shots.

RJ, I believe Jupters are 53 mm too, it's just they're marked as 50. You have to have 53 mm to focus with Kiev/Contax built-in helical correctly.

And Menopta very likely *is* Helios-103.

Eugene,

I looked at the one Moscowphoto has listed on eBay. It looks like a Helios 103 to me.

"It resembles the Helios-103 cosmetically and is assumed to be an arsenal product although it has no makers logo.." Source: http://www.commiecameras.com/sov/35mmrangefindercameras/lenses/index.htm

So the Jupiters are also 53mm lenses?

R.J.

 

[varjag]

So the Jupiters are also 53mm lenses?

I suppose so. And, in general one shouldn't trust too much to inscriptions on lenses, unless it confirmed by tests (like they do in some magazines). Certain 35mms are really in 37-38mm range, some 28-80 zooms are truly more like 30-76, etc.