Jupiter-3 - new member to the family. Tried out during Turkey trip.
Some time ago I became the owner of Jupiter-3 soviet lens. I dreamed about it for years but always found it too expensive. But finally (ta-da!) I made up my mind.
My copy is from 1958 year. Jupiter-3 was produced for soviet 35-mm rangefinder cameras (Zorki, FED, Kyiv). Originally I was a replica of the Carl Zeiss Sonnar 50mm/1.5 and was built from the German component parts during the post-war reparations from Germany to the Soviet Union.
Jupiter-3 is considered extraordinary for close portraits because of the softness and nice bokeh on the open apertures. At the same time, it is known, that assembling quality and therefore quality of pictures could vary a lot from one copy to another in all Soviet lenses.
I had an opportunity to play a little bit with my Jupiter-3 mounted on a digital Fujifilm XE-2. I've done some bokeh tests at home and shot sample pictures during my vacation to Turkey. So let's start.
Bokeh tests
First of all, I see a lower contrast on the fully open aperture, and the circles in the bokeh are harsher. But from +1 stop all these problems disappear.
Click to enlarge.
Once or twice I caught a lite bokeh swirl. I don't know how to reproduce it, but it is definitely more prominent in the pictures from the forest with the multicolored background. I will take more pictures there when I test Jupiter-3 on the film camera.
Moreover, I tested the precision of the focus (or "focus shift", you can find a brilliant explanation of this effect here). I found out that my Jupiter has a focus shift on the f/1,5 aperture. I have to keep it in mind while shooting a film.
In sum, I liked this lens. It is definitely more interesting that Jupiter-8 or any Industars I have. I am thrilled to try it with film.
Sample pictures from my journey to Turkey
This October we visited the Göynük district in Antalya, Turkey. With me I had this new Jupiter-3 with a digital camera, then Zeiss Ikonta with 15-year expired film, and finally a super cheap Polaroid camera. Nice set, ha-ha. A lot of experimenting. Later I will write something about the latter toys, but now I share some shots from Jupiter-3.
That's it for today. See you next time. I am going to review a lot of other strange and interesting devices. Cheers!
