MC Jupiter-9 in M42 mount, opinions?

[alexander_nichols]

Is this version (black plastic barrel) a good bet? Thanks!

[skygzr]

I got one cheap off eBay a few years ago. It makes a good portrait lens since its somewhat soft wide open. It gets sharper as you stop it down.

 

I also have one of the older ones (black metal barrel). It's actually sharper than the new one.

[david_m]

Plastic? I've had an early one and a later model one and both were all metal. They are preset aperture lenses which is the major drawback as far as I am concerned. They are also somewhat heavy. The performance is ok stopped down but varies greatly from example to example. The 85mm Super Takumar is a far superior lens but will cost 3 to 4 times as much.

[richard_oleson]

i have two J9s that i like very much. both are older though, chrome barrels from the 50s.

[michael_p6]

I have two Jup 9 from the 80s and 90s (single coated) they are really, really good lens. At f2 they are soft as expected (I suspect it was by design!) but by f4 they are really sharp. At f8 they are extremly sharp.

 

The bokeh is excellent, it's a small sonnar and it shows. Furthermore it's a "preset" lens so it's very easy to use on a DSLR or any other camera with a M42 adapter. Gorgeous 15 blade iris too !

[skygzr]

The newer plastic barrel lens can be seen <a

href="http://cgi.ebay.com/JUPITER-9-LENS-2-0-85mm-ZENIT-M42-EXPORT-BLACK-MINT_W0QQitemZ7570181738QQcategoryZ30062QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem">here</a>.

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[aurelio]

I love this small fast lens

 

The one I own is all-metal and dates from 1985 (first 2 digits in serial number)

 

I didn't know it was a Sonnar copy, now I realize why it is so a fine performer

 

I bought it some years ago at a street market stall of Polish people, it was like new and really cheap, then at home I mounted it on my Minolta XD through a M42 adapter and looking at viewfinder screen I realized it was a great lens

 

My Minolta alternative for this focal is the very good MD 28-85/3,5-4,5 zoom, but I often prefer using this little russian wonder for its wider aperture and good bokeh given by the almost perfectly circular iris<div></div>

[michael_p6]

Kevin, the Jupiter 9 in that auctions is full metal. I know, I have 2 of these. There is a model that started from 1992 with multicoated glass and a more "scalopped" focus ring -- that one might have some plastic in, altho I'd be surprised, russians lens in my experience are all metal.<br>

In any case the model you are showing is full metal. Quite a chunk, even tho it's still small than many 50mm !<br>

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You might want to have a look at my small <a href="http://galleries.oomz.net/pub/M42/russian/jup9/">gallery of Jupiter 9 sample shots</a>