After World War II, much of the tooling at the Zeiss factory was appropriated by the Soviets and installed in the Ukraine at the Arsenal defense factory in Kiev. Arsenal is known cloned cameras such as Zeiss Ikon. Most of them were simplified for production behind the Iron Curtain but some were actually quite good, even creating a cult following.
The most well-known camera produced at Arsenal is the Kiev 88. The Arsenal factory also made good Zeiss lens copies. The company still produces cameras and lenses today.
The ЮПИТЕР-8M (Jupiter-8M) was an upgraded version of the Jupiter-8, the standard lens on Kiev-4 camera's and a clone of the better known Zeiss Sonnar 50mm f2. The aperture dial is engraved on both sides of the lens, enabling to see the setting from any angle. In contrast with the Jupiter-8M, the aperture works with aperture "clicks".
Although both made in the former USSR, the Jupiter-8M is a better build then the Industar-26M I reviewed last week. Less "spiel", and smoother operation. It has however the same problem that the aperture ring is mounted on the focus barrel, so again two-handed operation is required.
My copy had a few falls, so the filter mount was damaged, but with no apparent effect on the quality.
Image quality is better then the Industar-26M... Much sharper, nice colors, but in general just an average quality. Where it shines, is the 3D effect. It has the capability of really bringing depth in a photo. You do not see that in all lenses.
So, reasonable quality, nice 3D, less then ideal handling, but available at a very cheap price, especially in the contax-mount. I would not use it for daily shooting, but for sure a lens worthwhile of experimenting with.
Check out some other samples on flickr.com.
Lens Specification:
Focal Length: 53mm
Maximum Aperture: F2
Minimum Aperture: F22
Image Format: 35mm
Lens Mount: Contax RF
Image Stabilization: none
Optics: 6 elements / 3 groups
Blades: 9
Focussing: Manual
Minimum Focus: 90cm
Filter Size: 40.5mm
Weight: 120g
Length: 23mm to mount
Production: 1957-1967 (this lens was made in 64)
Serial Number: 6442842
Made in: USSR
Samples
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| Pictures taken with custom made Contax RF to Nex adapter |
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| 1/4000 sec - ISO200 B - Handheld |
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| 1/800 sec - ISO200 B - Handheld |
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| 1/880 sec - ISO200 B - Handheld |
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| 1/400 sec - ISO200 B - Handheld |
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| 1/400 sec - ISO200 B - Handheld |
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| 1/800 sec - ISO200 B - Handheld |
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| 1/1250 sec - ISO100 B - Handheld |
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| 1/400 sec - ISO100 B - Handheld |
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| 1/125 sec - ISO100 B - Handheld |
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| 1/200 sec - ISO100 B - Handheld |
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| 1/500 sec - ISO100 B - Handheld |
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| 1/500 sec - ISO100 B - Handheld |
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| 1/80 sec - ISO100 B - Handheld |
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