What is the best JUPITER-12

As a general rule of thumb, '55 through '65 are probably the best years. Having said that, you never know what you'll get from any particular year, early or late, until you test the lens. AFAIK, the only difference between the silver and black is the finish. Also, the black finish wasn't introduced until, I think, sometime in the 70s.
 
I have a J-12 from 1987, black, LTM, that is an excellent lens. I purchased it from Yuri at Fedka. You can see some examples of its work among the airplane photos in my gallery.

Jim N.
 
the early 1950s ones sometimes do not fit a Leica thread mount, I have one like that from 1953.
anything from mid 1950s to the 1980s seem fine.

at at around 1960, KMZ stopped production and LZOS of Lytkarino took over making the J-12.
 
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I recently bought a black J12 with a "76' designation... Have yet to finish first roll. Currently have a UV on it... Am I going likely to run into lens flare and ghosting issues with using this...?
 
Kapa said:
I recently bought a black J12 with a "76' designation... Have yet to finish first roll. Currently have a UV on it... Am I going likely to run into lens flare and ghosting issues with using this...?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't think you'd get flare from the filter. The J12 is somewhat notorious for unusual flare; usually this is caused by the black paint on the big rear element getting chipped or scraped -- can happen easily when you mount/dismount the lens. I use flat black model paint to touch it up.
 
As was said, a lot depends on condition and sample you get, but overall, KMZ-made Jupiters (esp. earlier ones) are usually better regarded than LZOS-made.
 
Do you really believe anyone can really tell you which year is worse then another ?

there is no such pattern. It depends only on the individual sample you get. Each lens has had its life since it was manufactured some 50 years ago. Some have been kept in velvet, som have been kicked and dropped. The only way to find out is to buy one. Best if you buy from a reputable seller who will replace it or refund your money if it's not working good.
 
i've gotta agree with ondrej on this one, we're talking about equipment that ranges from 20-75 years old here and the life history of each piece of equipment is very very important. i don't have a j-9, but isn't a primary bit of trouble with one usually that someone took it apart and didn't put it back together correctly? this has much more to do with whether a j9 is usable today or not than what it was like when it left the factory.

what i love about FSU equipment i don't think can be described by asking what the best stuff is. it's more... how does this piece of equipment change how i take photographs? i've had very different experiences with my Fed-2 that had light leaks until Jay helped me, my perfect Fed-5c, and my battered Kiev 4am/ J12 setup which has taken some of my best rangefinder pictures to date. i love having multiple FSU cameras(and my argus c3) with me at a variety of focal lengths and seeing how the world changes with each.

if that's how you look at it, it doesn't really matter what is the best j12 out there. my '71 J12 is fine. so is my Fed2 with t-shirt paint on the shutter. i've loved using them.

freestyle photo put it right in their description of photo-taking with a holga. they call it a collaboration between a unique (ie in that every holga has some strange quirk) camera and the photographer. i'm not trying to say a high quality camera like the Fed2 is similar to a Holga, but i'd approach using the two in a similar way. see what you can get out of each camera.
 
Good points being made. I have FSU lenses from Arsenal, FED, KMZ, ZOMZ, LZOS, and KOMZ, with dates ranging from 1955 to 1990. I'm happy with all of them. I think my '74 LZOS J-12 is every bit as good as my '61 ZOMZ J-3 or '85 KMZ J-8. I wouldn't let the plant or date influence my purchasing too much. As Spyderman points out, the newest is almost 20 years old and most are much older.

Choosing the seller is more important than choosing the factory or date. I've bought most of my lenses from fedka. I know each one was inspected before I bought it, and there's a reasonable warranty/refund period.
 
mabelsound said:
Thanks, I won't then!
Click to expand...

If you don't know why, the big rear element on the J12 will block the lightmeter. It will also almost certainly bump into the first of the Bessa's shutter curtains, damaging the lens and probably the shutter as well. Some say that if you don't focus past 10 meters or so you won't hit the curtain, but who wants to live with that?
 
brachal said:
If you don't know why, the big rear element on the J12 will block the lightmeter. It will also almost certainly bump into the first of the Bessa's shutter curtains, damaging the lens and probably the shutter as well. Some say that if you don't focus past 10 meters or so you won't hit the curtain, but who wants to live with that?
Click to expand...

Yes, I had indeed read that. I just wasn't sure if it was true for the entire Bessa line. I will probably be ordering an R3M tomorrow and am mulling over my options...
 
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