My new Jupiter 3, after Brian Sweeney

[tbarker13]

I think I may be in love with this lens. Following the guidance of Brian Sweeney, I picked up a 1953 J-3 off eBay a few weeks ago. Sent it to him for adjustment. The thing is now spot-on with my M8.
I wanted a sonnar lens for portraits. And considering the total price, I can't imagine finding anything out there I'd be happier with.
Just a few shots from today, testing it out wide-open. (I realize they aren't great photos, but I like the results, in terms of rendering and potential.) Each of these was shot at f/1.5 or f/2.0 at ISO 640.

 

[payasam]

Looks good. I too have one of these, fixed for me by Kim Coxon.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

This J-3 is one of the best I've ever seen. Every bit as good as my Wartime Sonnars that go for 3x and 4x the cost. The focus on this one was off on the Leica, consistent with using a lens made to the Zeiss standard with it. Adding 0.15mm to the shim fixed it up. Now this lens has some shims in it made in Germany in the 1930s.

 

[raid]

Excellent! Congrats. I need a J-3 LTM. Mine is in Contax mount.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Brian is a magician. Here's a shot with an uncoated "green-eyed" J-3 I got from him about four years ago.


M8 + Jupiter-3 @ f/1.5 or f/2

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Okay. Now TWO of the Three best J-3's that I've ever seen are on this thread. The lens that Gabriel has was probably made for use with Infrared film, explaining the green coating. The color of the coating matches some optics in the lab that were made for some near-Infrared work.

It's a good thing that I have one of the three!

My 1953 J-3, after rebuilding. Required the helical be repositioned in the mount to drive the RF to infinity, and the optics module be shimmed for close-focus.

Wide-open, close-up.

 

[raid]

This thread is encourgaing me to look for a J-3 LTM. Should I thank all?

 

[tbarker13]

Based on my experience (and Brian's amazing help), I'd definitely recommend it. I have a bunch of portrait sessions lined up with some local actors during the next couple of months. Can't wait to try it out on them.

 

[funkaoshi]

I love my J3 too. It's such a stellar lens.

 

[MXP]

Okay. Now TWO of the Three best J-3's that I've ever seen are on this thread. The lens that Gabriel has was probably made for use with Infrared film, explaining the green coating. The color of the coating matches some optics in the lab that were made for some near-Infrared work.

It's a good thing that I have one of the three!

My 1953 J-3, after rebuilding. Required the helical be repositioned in the mount to drive the RF to infinity, and the optics module be shimmed for close-focus.

Wide-open, close-up.

Very sharp image!
Can I ask a question about the J3. I have this one:
[http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=73534&stc=1&d=1253895941]

which is a mint looking black J3. It also takes very nice images on my Fed 3.
It has a bit of "slack". If I fix the apperture and focus collar I can move the collar with the DOF scale approx. 1/2mm. It that normal or could it be fixed?
Could it be a loose screw somewhere?

 

[Sonnar Brian]

This slight movement in a J-3 is fairly common, and most often I track it to the guide pins moving in the rails that hold the two portions of the helical together.

There's the Culprit! (but not on this lens)

It can be annoying, buy does not throw the focus off. The RF cam moves with the lens. I had one J-3 that it was pronounced, and used some copper tape to thicken the guide screws. This design is from the Carl Zeiss Jena Wartime Sonnars in LTM, which also have the same issue.

 

[capitalK]

I really should use mine more often. Mine was sent to Brian by the previous owner and shimmed.

 

[MXP]

This slight movement in a J-3 is fairly common, and most often I track it to the guide pins moving in the rails that hold the two portions of the helical together.

There's the Culprit! (but not on this lens)

It can be annoying, buy does not throw the focus off. The RF cam moves with the lens. I had one J-3 that it was pronounced, and used some copper tape to thicken the guide screws. This design is from the Carl Zeiss Jena Wartime Sonnars in LTM, which also have the same issue.

Yes, I am sure that what you show in the picture is the case with my J3. Then I know that it is not falling into pieces. I am quite happy with the lens and as you say the focus is not affected. I have some pictures which shows the sharpness of the lens. Taken at 5.6 or so........on Provia 100F.

 

[tenderobject]

how much for a j3 fixed? 🙂

 

[Sonnar Brian]

You see adjusted J-3's pop up in the classified ads here from time-to-time. My main problem is once I have one the way I like it, letting it go. And if I get one that has bad optics, I use it to convert a German Contax Mount Sonnar to Leica Mount.

The J-3 is an easy lens to work on.

J-3 repair:

http://ziforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=39

http://pentax-manuals.com/repairs.htm

Sonnar Conversion:

http://ziforums.com/showthread.php?t=93

 

[Carlsen Highway]

Brian, just to let you know, I am very happy with the Jupiter 8 you sent over to me; on my gallery all of the photos were taken with this lens (apart from the landscapes). Very happy indeed with its performance.

regards James

 

[Sonnar Brian]

That's what I like to here. The FSU lenses can be great performers, they need some twiddling for use on a Leica. I had the '53 J-3 with a new front element from an '82 J-3 module on it today at the local Fall festival. Yesterday, had the '56 J-3 modified for close-focus out. You get attached to these lenses after working on them!

 

[jmkelly]

I had a Contax-mount 1937 Jena Sonnar with haze and scratches on every element, and separation of the middle triplet. I swapped the elements from a 1977 Valdai J-3 into the Zeiss shell and wonder of wonders! - sharp and perfect focus. The FSU glass can be very good.

 

[Instantclassic]

My Jupiter-3 fixed by Brian S.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

These are not hard lenses to work on. The Jupiter-3 and Jupiter-8 are built to the Zeiss standard, and typically need 0.1mm added to the shim for use on a Leica. The worst part is re-aligning the aperture ring, need to tap out 3 little holes.

Same with a Lube job: three set screws for the focus ring, 3 for the helical and only 1 for the KMZ mount, two guide pins to separate the inner and outer helical. The worst part is getting the old Lube off. Ronsonol to the Rescue!

Kim Coxon's site is host to a number of self-repair guides for Jupiter lenses.

http://pentax-manuals.com/repairs.htm