[figmental1978]

It was a joke - no-one notices the bokeh because what's in the foreground draws all the attention (the lovely woman.

I guess when we talk about the tech side of things we forget the big picture and don't concentrate on the beautiful things in the photo, especially the women.

[jake.astig]

Here are some more from a Jupiter 9 mounted on a Spotmatic ESII. Shot wide open.

[Zewrak]

I guess when we talk about the tech side of things we forget the big picture and don't concentrate on the beautiful things in the photo, especially the women.

Funny that. I did not understand what you guys were talking about. I didnt see her until you told me she was there. I only saw some obstructed bokeh. Now I see that the obstruction is a woman.

[stevebrot]

Jupiter 9, 85mm, f2.0 (resize and crop 100%):

I think you might have a problem with your J-9!

If I remember right, this one was done wide open. Extremely narrow depth-of-field at this range, but definitely acceptable sharpness:



Also wide open to show off the boring bokeh...

---

Last edited by stevebrot; 08-18-2008 at 11:04 PM.

[stevebrot]

Cool, nice little write up Jay. Someone asked about the condition of your shipped lens from rugfit as his had no lens caps, was dusty and was badly packaged.

That someone was me. My lens was loose in the box with several sheets of newsprint for padding with no rear cap (front cap was in place). Instead of a rear cap, the lens was supposed to be attached to the base of the clear plastic "display" case. Why it was out of the display case and detached from the base is anyone's guess (customs inspector?). The external surfaces where quite dusty and had a light coating of a sooty black substance. That all came off though and the lens has performed like a champ. To their credit, Rugift apologized for the shipping condition and extended a 15% future purchase discount that I applied to my Zenitar 16.

See the review in the 3rd-Party lens database:

LZOS Jupiter-9 Reviews

The pictured lens is mine...

Steve

[figmental1978]

Cool, thanks for that Steve, nice review too.

[stevebrot]

Tit for tat aside. I'm sure the Jupiter-9, Helios 40 and the Takumar 85 are all great performers for different situations. Personally, I'd like any of them as I don't have an 85mm at all.

Excellent point.

I have seen beautiful shots with the Helios (love suro's work) as well as some really surreal effects. The Jupiter-9 is more pedestrian, to be sure, but still has portrait magic wide open with extremely predictable bokeh. What I really like about the J-9 is the color rendition. The Helios seems to share that characteristic.

One thing to consider (beyond price) is the size/weight of the lens. I have never seen the Helios in person, but the photos I have seen of the lens mounted on a camera are impressive. The J-9 is quite a bit smaller, but is still fairly ponderous to use.

I any case, either the Jupiter-9 or the Helios 40 should provide new creative possibilities.

Steve

[suro]

It was a joke - no-one notices the bokeh because what's in the foreground draws all the attention (the lovely woman.)
.

Gotcha!

[suro]

I think you might have a problem with your J-9!
If I remember right, this one was done wide open.

I tested two of Jupiter 9, and have similar soft Is critical for portrait, because the wide must be maximally opened.

I dream about Pentax 90 (120) mm /1.0 if it possible

[suro]

The cat's fur looks very soft, strand of fur is not mature I get similar picture from Tamron 28-75mm /2.8.

Look on the this fur for example (Jupiter 37A 135mm /f3.5):

[stevebrot]

The cat's fur looks very soft, strand of fur is not mature I get similar picture from Tamron 28-75mm /2.8.

Yes, the fur was not mature. The cat was young and still had its kitten fur.

The cat picture is a little deceptive and probably not the best example. I seldom shoot the J-9 wide open and the two that I posted are the only ones that I know for sure that I shot at f/2. The picture was taken at the J-9's minimum focus distance at its maximum aperture. The DOF is only a couple of millimeters. The only part of the shot that is actually in focus is the glint on the surface of the near eye at this distance.

There was another complicating factor. The shutter speed was only 1/8 second hand-held. I feel lucky that the shot worked at all! Thank you Pentax for Shake Reduction!

I am a real fan-boy for the Jupiter-9. But I too have reservations about some of its characteristics. Here are the minus points that I have noted with my copy:

• Soft wide open (though not significantly worse than the various Pentax 50/1.4 lenses)
• Serious lose of contrast under bright conditions when wide open. (Internal reflections?) This is helped somewhat by using a fairly deep hood similar to the one Hin has mounted in the picture he posted on this thread.
• "Blooming" of color when the color is intense and there is high local contrast.

The combination of low resolution and low contrast can yield disappointing results under certain conditions and the color bloom is just too distracting.

Steve

[suro]

Yes, the fur was not mature. The cat was young and still had its kitten fur.

Oops... I mean "low detail level or resolution" of fur

[suro]

Serious lose of contrast under bright conditions when wide open. (Internal reflections?)

Yes, is reflection. Try a more long blend with velvet on the inner surface

[georgweb]

Two more from yesterday,

Jup-9 non-MC black version on K100D (got a new telescopic hood also )


Crop, brightened up + contrast



Crop, no other pp


Never had an 85 Tak, but would assume that the Tak excels in brickwall shots, and the Jup in people shots (just for the bokeh and true Sonnar design). I hope this serves as positive motivation for 85 Tak owners to show some of theirs Maybe also 100/105 Taks?

Edit1: Haven't seen Zewrak's pic with the 85mm f/1.9 Tak, very nice wide open, I like what I see.

Edit2: The discussion here about bokeh, wide open or not, which lens for what, how to use it,.. just tells me that it is all too subjective to set up any rules for this. Just show your pics, keep it going!

All the best,
Georg

[figmental1978]

The Jupiter-9 just went up to $274 USD from rugfit but $125 from kremlin Optics