Jupiter lenses

gelmir said:
So, RML, how's the J3 doing ? Following that test http://www.pbase.com/dingolee/nokton_vs_jupiter3_testi it shouldn't be bad at all !

As for me, I finally got myself a black J8. Serial number is beginning by 74, so according to what I've read here and there, the lens should have been made in 1974. Can't wait to try it, it looks so nice ! I only have to find an adapter, believe it or not, but I could'nt find one in Paris.
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Gelmir, I'm sorry to say that I still haven't been shooting enough with the J3, and what I've shot I haven't scanned yet. I really must start working on that but other, more important, issues are demanding my time right now.

About the adapter... on eBay you can buy Marumi adpaters from Merkle Camera. I've bought several from them, as did peter_n IIRC. The adapters are good and not expensive at $30 each.
 
There's no hurry RML. Sometimes life is about anything else than rangefinder :) I'm waiting for a J-3 so I'll see for myself how it goes.
 
I didn't have any luck searching out those adaptors on the Merkle site. Can someone provide a direct link?
 
rover said:
I didn't have any luck searching out those adaptors on the Merkle site. Can someone provide a direct link?
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Ralph, I don't think they have them listed.
You may try to contact Dennis at Merkle Camera by e-mail: Merkle Camera.

I just got mine in the mail this morning: Marumi 35/135 adapter, quite nice, fits well, and comes with the mounting "key"....
I'd say it's same (or better) quality as CV adapters. The one from marumi even fits my M2 better (not as tight as the CV one)...

Price was $30 (US$), plus $9 for postage to Croatia.

Denis
 
rover emailing Dennis at Merkle directly is the best if you want to buy several adapters at once . I did it that way and saved quite a bit on the shipping. If you just want to buy a single adapter eBay is probably the best way. Enter the string "Marumi adapter" in the search engine and you will get the offers. When they expire he renews them. The adapters are very good quality as Denis says - Marumi is an OEM and supplies Adorama with the same adapters which they then sell for $55. :eek:
 
I need to take stock and perhaps have one for each frame set as now I don't have manually selected framelines. I think the extra I have now is for the 35/135 set.
 
I agree with most of what has been said.

J-8 50/2. I have several - two old chrome ones and a newer black one in LTM mounts and a chrome Contax/Kiev mount one. They all give good results, but I think the newer black one is the best - it has a bit more contrast than the others.

J-9 85/2. I have a black one of these which is very good, though I've also had an older chrome one which was very poor. (I'm currently selling the good black one on a well known auction site, as it happens, because I don't really get on with longer lenses on RF cameras). It does suffer flare, as others have said.

J-12 35/2.8. I have a black one of these and it's pretty good. It's sharp and gives good contrast, but suffers a bit of barrel distortion. I've never had a flare problem with it. And definitely don't try to use in on a Bessa - the big deep rear element is almost certain to do some damage.
 
What about J-8 focus accuracy? I have two of them and both backfocus badly. I've read that soviet cameras were calibrated differently than Leicas and that using the Soviet LTM lenses on Leica bodies (or bodies calibrated like Leicas, like Bessa/Cosinas or Canons) requires the lens be adjusted to be accurate.
 
Chriscrawfordphoto said:
What about J-8 focus accuracy? I have two of them and both backfocus badly. I've read that soviet cameras were calibrated differently than Leicas and that using the Soviet LTM lenses on Leica bodies (or bodies calibrated like Leicas, like Bessa/Cosinas or Canons) requires the lens be adjusted to be accurate.
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Bad samples most likely. The FSU lens focus shift is only noticeable (if it's noticeable at all) at wide apertures and close up. With a J-8 you might expect focus to be off an inch or two at 1 meter. f/4 would probably cover it. I've never noticed it (but I almost never shoot at f/2 and 1 meter) in 4 years of using Jupiters on my Bessa R and Leica IIIf.

If the lens is really off, it can be adjusted -- usually by adding or removing shims. There are some people on the forum who do it regularly, and DIY instructions can be found here:
http://www.pentax-manuals.com/repairs.htm
 
brachal said:
Bad samples most likely. The FSU lens focus shift is only noticeable (if it's noticeable at all) at wide apertures and close up. With a J-8 you might expect focus to be off an inch or two at 1 meter. f/4 would probably cover it. I've never noticed it (but I almost never shoot at f/2 and 1 meter) in 4 years of using Jupiters on my Bessa R and Leica IIIf.

If the lens is really off, it can be adjusted -- usually by adding or removing shims. There are some people on the forum who do it regularly, and DIY instructions can be found here:
http://www.pentax-manuals.com/repairs.htm
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Mine's off a lot more than that. It backfocuses about a foot wide open close up! I've seen Fedka's website where he charges a pretty low price ($39 I think) to recalibrate the focus on a J-8 and I will probably have him work on one of then when I have some extra $$. I have two good 50mm lenses for my Bessa, a 50mm Nokton and an Industar-50 and both of them are accurate, so I am not in a hurry.
 
I've found that most Jupiter-3 and Jupiter-8 can benefit from a slight adjustment of the shim, usually 0.1mm. That typically brings the close-up and wide-open focus spot-on. But on others- they were WAY off and I've added as much as 3mm to the shim.

On some lenses, the helicals are misassembled. Once you find the "groove", they get a lot better.

I would not try a J-12 on an M5 for Leica CL. It will probably interfere with the meter stalk.

My 1953 KMZ J-3 after correcting the Helical and shimming:

Wide-Open at F1.5 on the Leica M3:

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And a 1969 ZOMZ J-3, after adding 0.09mm to the Shim, wide-open at F1.5:

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Point of focus is the darker crack in the wood.

I'm finding the 1950s KMZ J-3's to be among the sharpest that I've used.
 
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I have a few Jupiter 8s, and an 11 and 12. One of my black J-8s needed adjustment (thanks to Kim Coxon it's now fine). I've not used a hood on the J-12 and never had flare - perhaps I'm just careful though. Nice lens, sharp and contrasty. All the J-8s perform well.

One other 50mm to consider, I'm surprised no-one's mentioned it, is the Industar 61 or 61L/D. Very sharp and contrasty and quite cheap. The best-made ones are probably the "Panda", black and silver striped. Not quite as fast as a J-8, at f/2.8 but a lot sharper (not always what you want, agreed). They also have click-stops, which LTM Jupiters don't.
 
The Industar 61 L/D and the Industar 26M are both rather good, lenses, not as fast as the Jupiters, and the images are more "modern" looking, with greater contrast and resolution, to my eyes. They remind me of the CV lenses I have. Thay are not Sonnars, of course. I think the design is Tessar.
 
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The -12 I have flares like hell if I put the russian "light yellow" filter it came with. I guess it´s both the filter quality and the huge space between filter and glass...
 
Kozhe said:
The -12 I have flares like hell if I put the russian "light yellow" filter it came with. I guess it´s both the filter quality and the huge space between filter and glass...
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If I remember right the filter is right up front and has no protection from the sun. Have you tried a lens hood in front of the filter to help shade it?

Bob
 
Nikon Bob said:
If I remember right the filter is right up front and has no protection from the sun. Have you tried a lens hood in front of the filter to help shade it?

Bob
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I have a UVB living on the front of mine and it still doesn't flare easily - not that I've noticed, anyway.
 
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