playing with the Yupiter 8 2/50

[lukitas]

At a party, to complement the Ricoh GR I always carry, I decided to fit the Yupiter 8 on my Fuji sexy2. A most interesting lens. A Sonnar design, If I recall rightly. I shot it at f2, let the camera choose speeds and focused on focusing. At two meters there isn't much boke to speak of :

But this lens just adores faces :

And I do like the boke :

excellent for low light :

It flares a bit with back light, but rather evenly, and that works well for the more mature subject.

and it flatters young ladies most pleasingly :

and a bit of three-dimensionality :

I think I just fell in love with this lens. It is sharp. Pixel-peeper grade sharp. A rather busy boke with lovely round balls.

Now, I'll have to carry two cameras. Oh bother.

Cheers.

 

[Austintatious]

Very well done images Lukitas. It does seem to love faces !
I use one (black version) on a NEX 6 as well as a FED II. Quite happy with the performance it gives me.

 

[lukitas]

Thanks Austintatious!
I like how the crop factor makes it a portrait lens.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Very good portraits with one of the best lens.

 

[traveler_101]

Thanks for posting. Nice work!

 

[daveleo]

Very nice work with the lens, Lukitas.

I got a Jupiter 8, and got just "okay" results shooting outdoor shots (on my Fuji X-E1). They were just too soft and sweet looking for me.
I lent it out and it is touring the US for a while. The guys shooting with it really show some good stuff (as your pictures).

I decided I was not using the lens to its best advantage, and just got an Industar26m that I like quite a lot, and learning to exploit its best characteristics.
They are lenses you need to get to "understand and work with".

You have used yours well!

 

[farlymac]

Lovely portraits, Lukitas. Now for the technical nitty-gritty. Did you use a standard LTM-FX adapter, or one made for FSU lenses? If a standard one, did you have to make any adjustments to achieve proper focus on the Fuji?

PF

 

[mcfingon]

You'll only have to tinker with shim adjustments if you use the J8 on a Leica rangefinder camera, PF. On a Fuji, or Sony A7S like I use, you are focusing on the actual sensor image, so no need to alter the lens.

 

[lukitas]

Did you use a standard LTM-FX adapter, or one made for FSU lenses? If a standard one, did you have to make any adjustments to achieve proper focus on the Fuji?

PF

The lens sits on a LTM to M-mount ring, which fits in an M-FX adaptor.

No shimming needed with through the lens focusing.

Thanks!

 

[lukitas]

The lens changes character with the light : with the sun at your back, it is sharp and contrasty; with back light, or even open sky behind and around the subject, it becomes dreamy, requiring quite a bump in contrast. On the other hand, in low light, it handles point lights directly behind the subject quite well, and barely shows any flare. The last shot, the guy wagging his finger, was taken in candlelight, you can see the two candles reflecting in his nose; the boke balls in the upper right are party lights on a string.

Thanks!

 

[lukitas]

Thank you all for your kind praise.
Makes me feel warm inside.

Cheers!

 

[tbhv55]

I agree - very nice work! Your subjects appear very happy to be photographed, and that's an achievement in itself. The results are very pleasing indeed.

Are these Jpegs straight from the x-E2, tweaked Jpegs, or processed Raw? I have been using an x-E1 + J-8, and I've been trying to get a similar look, but it has eluded me so far.

 

[lukitas]

Processed Raw in Lightroom. Set the white and black points. Add contrast where needed. Backlit scenes can use quite a bit of contrast. Sometimes, I do a little dodging or burning. I export smallish jpegs for the web, use the raw files for printing.

Thanks!

 

[tbhv55]

Processed Raw in Lightroom. Set the white and black points. Add contrast where needed. Backlit scenes can use quite a bit of contrast. Sometimes, I do a little dodging or burning. I export smallish jpegs for the web, use the raw files for printing.

Thanks!

Many thanks for these details.
However, I think that I've just realised the problem: when I read your post I was thinking Jupiter 8, but I've actually been using an Industar I-61 on my x-E1 for some time.

When using my J-8 a few years ago (on m43) I tended to avoid using f/2, as the IQ was... let's say, not so great. However, I have now brought my J-8 out of semi-retirement, so let's see how it fares. I'll try it at f/2 (as you were using), and see what the results are like. In fact, I have already taken a couple of test shots, and it's looking good!

 

[goamules]

I've got no problem with a Jupiter 8. Here it is from a restaurant outing.

 

[tho60]

At a party, to complement the Ricoh GR I always carry, I decided to fit the Yupiter 8 on my Fuji sexy2. A most interesting lens. A Sonnar design, If I recall rightly. I shot it at f2, let the camera choose speeds and focused on focusing. At two meters there isn't much boke to speak of :

But this lens just adores faces :

And I do like the boke :

excellent for low light :

It flares a bit with back light, but rather evenly, and that works well for the more mature subject.

and it flatters young ladies most pleasingly :

and a bit of three-dimensionality :

I think I just fell in love with this lens. It is sharp. Pixel-peeper grade sharp. A rather busy boke with lovely round balls.

Now, I'll have to carry two cameras. Oh bother.

Cheers.

Very good pictures! I am keen on Jupiter-8 lens, however I am preferring Industar-22 for sharper images.