New J-8, Life is Good

[fraley]

Yeah! A little package arrived from ruscamera today, a new Jupiter-8 2/50, black model. Looks like it did in the ad! I have a Zorki waiting for this...

 

[peter_n]

Nice! What are the first two numbers in the serial number?

 

[fraley]

It's #8510176. Funny, the serial number doesn't appear in the eBay ad, but I can identify it by a little mark on the focusing ring.

 

[peter_n]

I was only interested in the first two numbers, Michael. 🙂 They tell you when the lens was made so yours was made in 1985. I have a J-8 too and it seems like a really good lens. Hope yours is too! 🙂

 

[fraley]

Thanks Peter,

It looks like there was some use, slight marks on the focus ring. But the lens is pretty spotless. Actually my original silver lens - starts with 56 🙂 - takes good pictures. Looking through it is pretty scary, though. Bubbles in the glass, scratches, etc. I wanted something that looked less beaten-up...

 

[sockeyed]

I like how yours says "Jupiter" in cyrillic. My just says Jupiter. It's identical otherwise, just made in 1977. Love it. I've got some recent shots taken on it with my Bessa in my gallery.

I've also got 2 silver ones which are lovely to look at (and take pretty good pictures too).

 

[Pherdinand]

Bubbles are no prob. Actually, bubbles in the glass were, in case of Carl Zeiss lenses, an indication of high quality glass. Something related to bubbles appearing when the glass is mixed well before cooling down (i'm not 100% sure).

 

[matu]

I like seing you guys using Zorki's and Fed's and leaving home the Bessa's or the Leica's.

 

[peter_n]

I like how yours says "Jupiter" in cyrillic. My just says Jupiter. It's identical otherwise, just made in 1977. Love it. I've got some recent shots taken on it with my Bessa in my gallery.

If the lens says Jupiter in Roman script then its an "export" model - supposedly better in quality than those made for home consumption.

I like seing you guys using Zorki's and Fed's and leaving home the Bessa's or the Leica's.

Pablo I use my Jupiters on my Leica M6. 🙂

 

[fraley]

Sockeyed, you have some good pics of VietNam and Halong Harbor, on your site. Beautiful rock formations! I saw the Wet Morning pic taken with J-8, very impressive. Also the lens test, I remember checking out that before, it's worth another perusal.. thanks!

 

[sockeyed]

Thanks, Michael! The Viet Nam pictures weren't shot on a rangefinder, but on my Canon F-1, but it's still old-school, I figure.

I like your Mission Dolores and your Japanese Tea Gardens series a lot. There is a lot of depth to those images.

I've posted a shot taken on my Rolleiflex of the Nitobe Gardens in Vancouver here

 

[Richard Black]

😀 I am a big fan of the Jupiter 8. I've had two and have not been disappointd with either. My current one, and the one I used recently to post two pics in my gallery, is a black one, sn 85****. Sharp and produces great color.

 

[FrankS]

My black J8's serial number is 088*****. Made in 1988? I like mine too, especially for the price! It's got to be the best buy out there.

 

[2maneekameras]

I have been using a black J8 for several months and I really like it!! I just got a white version with an early Zorki 4 back lens cap. I will be shooting my first roll with this combination. My other 50mm lenses are a summar 50mm/ƒ2.0, a M mountsummicron 50/ƒ2, an industar 10 50/ƒ3.5, an industar 22/ƒ3.5. The black J8 pictures look great even compared to the Leitz glass INHO.

 

[peter_n]

My black J8's serial number is 088*****. Made in 1988? I like mine too, especially for the price! It's got to be the best buy out there.

Agreed Frank. Serial nr. 088xxxxx is not made in 1988 I'm pretty sure. I think (this is just a theory of mine) that the lenses that begin with 0 as a serial nr. are made in Ukraine (Kharkov?) and don't conform to the general "first 2 digits in serial nr. are year of manufacture" rule.

 

[Kin Lau]

Frank's J8, if it's the one I sold him, came with a Zorki 4 that was built in 73.

 

[FrankS]

That's the one, thanks Kin.

 

[Richard Black]

Rarely do I enlarge prints beyond 5x7. I mainly have them printed to the standard 4x6, so I would find it difficult to determine any difference between the Jupiter 8 I have and the lenses made by Leica. I know this is blasphemy, but really, can you tell the difference between two regular prints at the 4x6 size taken with the J8 and a Leica 50mm? Mine have great contrast and sharpness and a wonderful oof wide open. If someone has both lenses, take out the same camera and use both and take them to a commercial developer and have them printed. Let me know, I really would like to hear from someone. If it is better, I may have to move up to Leica quality. I don't want to start a battle between Leica fans and the rest. I truly want to see the difference. I will grant that at the extremes the Leicas will outperform most others; however, given my constraints, can you see the difference?

 

[tedwhite]

When I decide to make a print from a black & white negative I make only 8X10's. It might be easier to see a difference at that magnification. If you can't then the question is settled.

From the 8X10's I will select a small percentage for enlarging to 11X14. This is not an easy task. The negative has to be quite sharp in the first place, and the image itself has to be worthy of the effort.

I have, but not often, made a 16X20 from a 35mm negative.

I have on order a Jupiter 8 for my Bessa R. As I don't have a 50mm lens to bolt onto the Bessa I'm looking forward to it. I've got a nice 55/1.8 for my Pentax Spotmatic, but I prefer carrying RF cameras.

Ted

 

[2maneekameras]

Read my post #14 in this thread to see which Leitz lenses I have in 50mmfocal length. I have done exactly what you describe above, using chromogenic c-41 process film. The difference is immediately noticable, but I like the J8 pictures just as well as the Leica glass pictures. The J8 images are really sharp, but I would subjectively say that they are a little "harsher' than the Leica lens pictures. I showed them to a friend who has an M3 and IIIC leica. He immediately went out and bought a J8 based on my photographs. I have a 1979 vintage black export version and a 1964 "white" version. I have not taken side by side comparisons pictures with these two lenses. I like the fact that the front element doesn't rotate when focusing with the older one. Another feature of the older mount is that the numbers are engraved rather than painted on. This doesn't affect the optics, but I always use a lenhood with these lenses and the rotating front element is annoying when using a rectangler lenshood. Tne black export lens is much cleaner internally. both lenses have good glass.