Playing With Lenses: June 2018

Saturday 16 June 2018

From Russia with Love: ЮПИТЕР-8M (Jupiter-8M) 1:2 5cm

Cost: $12 (average market price unknown as this specific variation seems to be rare on eBay)

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

Pictures taken with custom made Contax RF to Nex adapter

1/4000 sec - ISO200 B - Handheld

1/800 sec - ISO200 B - Handheld

1/880 sec - ISO200 B - Handheld

1/400 sec - ISO200 B - Handheld

1/800 sec - ISO200 B - Handheld

1/1250 sec - ISO100 B - Handheld

1/400 sec - ISO100 B - Handheld

1/125 sec - ISO100 B - Handheld

1/200 sec - ISO100 B - Handheld

1/500 sec - ISO100 B - Handheld

1/80 sec - ISO100 B - Handheld

Sources:

sovietcams.com

camera-wiki.org
flickr.com

Thursday 7 June 2018

Back to the U.S.S.R.: ИНДУСТАР-26M (Industar-26M) 5cm 1:2.8

Cost: $24, including mount Contax FR-NEX (average market price $24)

ИНДУСТАР (Industar) was one of the lens brands produced in the FED camera factory in Kharkov in the former Soviet Union for the Russian FED-2 and KMZ (KM3) camera's. The Industar brand name was a classification for certain 4-element 3-group lens constructions based on the Leica Tessar design. Most the lenses were released with a Leica m39 mount, but my copy came with a Contax RF mount.

The FED factory in Kharkov in Ukraine was founded as a children's commune, for children orphaned or displaced by the combined upheavals of the First World War, the Revolution and the subsequent civil war. After the groundbreaking introduction of the Leica II in 1932, Soviet leaders used the FED factory to create it's own line of Leica. In 1934, the FED factory began churning out its first clone of the Leica II rangefinder camera. Since then, they have produced millions of cameras, some good and some not so good.

The lens has an aluminium barrel and a specified focal length of 52.4mm (instead of the 5cm mentioned on the lens itself). The fragile mechanical construction feels a little wobbly, and the aluminium, while very light, does not stand the test of time very well. The cement holding the lens together has worn badly, resulting in often unscrewing the lens elements instead of focussing. It doesn't help that the aperture ring is part of the focussing barrel, so instead of changing the aperture, you are turning the whole focus barrel. You have to hold the focus ring steady while changing the aperture... a two handed operation.

The click-less aperture can be useful for shooting video, but the low quality of the lens stops you from benefitting from this feature. Not very sharp, bland color rendering that is not always easy to correct in Lightroom, heaps of color fringing and a nasty bokeh makes it a very disappointing experience. It might just be my copy, as there are some really nice pictures posted online (flickr.com). But I'm not the only one complaining about the build quality.

This lens is also very sensitive to direct, side and back light. The use of a hood to avoid flares is advised.

Do note that dozen's of different versions were made of this lens, very likely with different levels of quality. Guess I wasn't lucky...

Lens Specification:

Focal Length: 52,41mm
Maximum Aperture: F2.8
Minimum Aperture: F22
Image Format: 35mm
Lens Mount: Contax RF
Image Stabilization: none
Optics: 4 elements / 3 groups
Blades: 10
Focussing: Manual
Minimum Focus: 100cm
Filter Size: 58mm
Weight: 90g
Length: 27mm to mount
Production: 1954 - ?
Serial Number: 058971
Made in: USSR

Samples

Pictures taken with custom made Contax RF to Nex adapter