My Jupiter-3 DIYs

Wulfthari said:
Everybody looted Germany after the war, and the countries that were looted by them during the occupation (France,Benelux, USSR, Italy, Poland) had more right to do so...

I can't speak for other lenses, but DR Summicrons are easy to be disassembled and they are engraved because if you mix the upper part of a lens with the base of another with different focal length the focusing error will of course be pretty big.

Mine is engraved as such and it appears 51.9 was the most common focal lenght for DRs...
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Hi,

One or two countries were not looted but were bombed rather a lot, as I well remember over 70 years later, and I feel we were owed a lot. What worries me is that Google will now produce your list of countries so I'll add Britain to the post... Our contribution to the war is often forgotten.

Back to Leica lenses, my 90mm is marked sideways on the focussing scale with "00" which means it was exactly 90mm. Alas it's too hot to start searching for others and references and photographing. I don't know about the innards of lenses, in my old area of specialisation I know what customers can do to wreck things and so I leave lenses well alone. It's a matter of practicing what I've preached about it.

Regards, David
 
johannielscom said:
The relocation was made official long time after it was carried out. ....
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The relocation was done in 1946. By this time this territory and factories were officially under USSR control by SMAD, Soviet Military Administration of Germany.

Russian rangefinder forum member did some research and significant part of it is based on German books. It is written in Russian.
http://rangefinder.ru/club/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=15284

Less detailed info in English is available here:
http://www3.telus.net/public/rpnchbck/zconrfKiev.htm

Was relocation done with some force? Yes. But if you compare to what Russia did with Germans and in opposite planns of Germans to submerge Moscow under water and eliminate all of the residents, you might realize why I'm thankful for my grandfathers to win.
 
k__43 said:
Kostja, nice examples - your J3 is definitely less blurry than mine. I can't believe that power pole base is shot at f/1.5.
The difference between a Summilux and a Jupiter-3 is the price! If a v2 summilux would cost as much as the J3 I wouldn't bother with that crappy aluminum piece of garbage. AND I would still try to change close focus if it would be as easy! Trust me, there are many other nice lenses out there I'd love to own but the 1m often is a deal breaker to me.
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Thanks. It was taken with #4 contrast filter and printed with contrast filter as well. I took about four rolls at 1.5 earlier this year for contest "Jupiter-3 at 1.5" on russian rangefinder forum.

J-3 description of yours is hard to justify. It is one of them most elegant and compact, light and fast fifty available on the market. And comparison to the Lux v2 is wrong as well, it is much more modern lens.
If you want to compere J-3 to something, do it against of Summarit 50 1.5 which was designed around same time and also common in LTM mount. In fact, I used same filter size on J-3 and Summarit. At the end I kept J-3.
Because it is smaller, significantly lighter and has working 1.5, while Summarit 50 1.5 has none of it, but have something worse.

I have tried many old German LTM 50mm lenses. Unacceptably soft glass, prone to fungus and some of them were unreasonably heavy and large.
 
Maybe all true about that summarit but I've seen and handled a V1 Summilux and I'd swap my Jupiters for one without hesitation
I really wish they'd have used brass for that lens not aluminium. I don't care much for the weight advantage - I think that brass bends less so the cams just stay smoother over time

Meanwhile another one at 70cm:

Untitled by Kay K, on Flickr
 
Summilix type 1 (1959-61) is slightly updated Summarit with same weak performance wide open.
Also most if not all pre-ASPH Summilux are 1 meter MFD.


Here is one note which was given to Jupiter DIYers by one repair enthusiast who is famous in russian cycles. If you want to have smooth focus on Jupiters, the focusing threads must be cleaned completely before re-lubing. You have to look very closely for each thread and clean it not with just cloth wetted in the gasoline.
I also followed his advice and applied enough grease to dump aperture ring. Now it stays where I want it to be.
 
Ko.Fe. said:
Summilix type 1 (1959-61) is slightly updated Summarit with same weak performance wide open.
Also most if not all pre-ASPH Summilux are 1 meter MFD.


Here is one note which was given to Jupiter DIYers by one repair enthusiast who is famous in russian cycles. If you want to have smooth focus on Jupiters, the focusing threads must be cleaned completely before re-lubing. You have to look very closely for each thread and clean it not with just cloth wetted in the gasoline.
I also followed his advice and applied enough grease to dump aperture ring. Now it stays where I want it to be.
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Yeah .. the all except the last pre-asph.
As I stated earlier if the price point would be as low as the russian lenses I would still attempt to change that. It's easier to throw 100€ in the garbage than 1000+

I did that - I cleaned it very well. The threats were super smooth until I put all three pieces back together, they are working against each other - my guess on of them is slightly elliptic. It's ok tho, not that bad really I can live with it for now - but not Leica smooth like my DR Summicron used to be.

The aperture ring on mine is super stuck. Can't get it off :(
 
k__43 said:
Yeah .. the all except the last pre-asph.
As I stated earlier if the price point would be as low as the russian lenses I would still attempt to change that. It's easier to throw 100€ in the garbage than 1000+

I did that - I cleaned it very well. The threats were super smooth until I put all three pieces back together, they are working against each other - my guess on of them is slightly elliptic. It's ok tho, not that bad really I can live with it for now - but not Leica smooth like my DR Summicron used to be.

The aperture ring on mine is super stuck. Can't get it off :(
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The lens needs a CLA, not to be thrown away.

As the J3 is a good performer it is worth of IMO, of course if you want a brass lens Lomo sells the J3+ that is new and built with good quality control...it's expensive though, almost like a Nokton, but if I hadn't the Nokton perhaps I would get it.
 
Wulfthari said:
The lens needs a CLA, not to be thrown away.

As the J3 is a good performer it is worth of IMO, of course if you want a brass lens Lomo sells the J3+ that is new and built with good quality control...it's expensive though, almost like a Nokton, but if I hadn't the Nokton perhaps I would get it.
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No man, that was hypothetical .. lens is fine and I just gave it a CLA. Get of my back! If I had 700€ to spend I would get a V3 summicron. The J3+ is interesting but no one sells it used and I'm not buying my gear new - ever! I'm not rich - I'm not loosing money on camera stuff.

I only need to reset the aperture collar, which seems to be glued on the lens and solve that front focus problem.
BUT INSTEAD OF SOME INSIGHT TO MY QUESTION I GET HISTORY LESSONS AND SMART ASS COMMENTS - well this is the internet what did i expect ??
 
k__43 said:
No man, that was hypothetical .. lens is fine and I just gave it a CLA. Get of my back! If I had 700€ to spend I would get a V3 summicron. The J3+ is interesting but no one sells it used and I'm not buying my gear new - ever! I'm not rich - I'm not loosing money on camera stuff.

I only need to reset the aperture collar, which seems to be glued on the lens and solve that front focus problem.
BUT INSTEAD OF SOME INSIGHT TO MY QUESTION I GET HISTORY LESSONS AND SMART ASS COMMENTS - well this is the internet what did i expect ??
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The answer to your question for me it's simple: stop messing up with the lens and have it CLA by somebody who know what he's doing.

It's clear that you little understanding of what to do properly, on the other side you complain about the aluminium barrel, the 0.5 difference in scale distance etc...camera repairers exist for that.
 
Have you tried warming up the lens to try and free up the aperture ring? The grease in there may have dried up.

Nathan
 
nhchen said:
Have you tried warming up the lens to try and free up the aperture ring? The grease in there may have dried up.

Nathan
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Not really, besides hand warming. What would you suggest as a heat source ? a hair dryer?

I mean the ring in the moment is about half a centimeter away from where it should be. but that could change if I put in a thinner shim like I think I need.
It might even be that when I'm done adjusting the shim the aperture collar ends up where it needs to be.
 
k__43 said:
Not really, besides hand warming. What would you suggest as a heat source ? a hair dryer?

I mean the ring in the moment is about half a centimeter away from where it should be. but that could change if I put in a thinner shim like I think I need.
It might even be that when I'm done adjusting the shim the aperture collar ends up where it needs to be.
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Oh I understand what you mean now, the aperture dial is not lining up to the dot after adjusting the lens.. To move it you'll have to unscrew the little grub screws holding it down, and because you're moving the ring, you will need to drill new holes at the new position so that the screws can sit flush after you tighten them down again.
 
Screws are out, the ring sits tight. I believe it's glued in. The aperture itself goes nicely from f1.5 to f8 and then gets a bit stiffer but I like that: since I have no clickstops it's a way of knowing you stop down a too far when not watchin.
 
the ring is threaded so you should be able to unscrew it. Look up the servicing instructions online to see how it's taken apart.
 
k__43 said:
I really wish they'd have used brass for that lens not aluminium. I don't care much for the weight advantage - I think that brass bends less so the cams just stay smoother over time
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Machinists know, one of the best combinations for moving parts is brass on steel; if the parts are well machined, with minimal surface roughness, a very fine film of oil remains between the moving parts : as long as there is no metal to metal contact, such a bearing will work forever.
Inferior metalwork leaves highs and lows in the surface, when the pieces are first fit together, they can fit well, but as soon as the thing is used, the highs polish each other off, both surfaces loose a few or more microns, leaving a sloppy fit.
 
johannielscom said:
Hey Kay,

tried this yet? http://www.pentax-manuals.com/repairs/j3service.pdf It's Brians write-up of the J-3 servicing.

Or, reach out here and ask some of the prior to 2012 members for Brian Sweeney's mail address, he's a friendly fellow and I'm expecting he might help you out.
This old thread might help too: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=78083

Good luck, and I won't rake up any more history, I promise ;) :D
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Yeah, that was what I used for working on my lens. well written piece.
 
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