Thanks to my good friend Hin (hinman), I finally got a chance to get my hands on a lens I have wanted to try since I first got my K100d. The 85mm Jupiter 9. Now I know we have all seen the wonderful images from Jay with his J9, someday I would love to get just one that looks like his.

But these were my first attempts. It has the weird two aperture ring set-up and it took me a bit to figure it out.

I took some shots of The Menace inside with a bounce flash and outside in late afternoon light. Shot some flowers and then stuck my sony 3358 macro filter on it to see how it did as a cheap macro shooter.

Here are way to many shots... Hopefully I will get better over the next week or so.







Indoor with Bounce Flash...




MF action shots
She is so fast her feet dont even touch the ground... even Nikon would have trouble freezin' her....



A Flower





Thanks for looking... any jupiter 9 tips would be much appreciated....

Macro attempts Below

Here I stuck my sony 3358 macro adaptor on the front of the jupiter 9 to get closer focus...









I am not sure which one I like better... the first version of the mini rosebud or the last. They are very different, but I think the lens and macro did well on both.

I kind of like the possibilites of this lens...

Thanks for looking

Nice Gus, glad you got the lens you wanted. Great portraits. I'd be interested in seeing the flower shots without the filter to see how it handles bokeh.

This should have been in Post your photos...

So sorry...

Hi Gary,

The first two flower shots are with out the adaptor... They are not Jay quality, but the bokeh wide open looks pretty good in some of my other ones. I think my copy is softer than Jay's wide open... Some of his F2 shots are really sharp.

Those close ups in the second post have the adaptor..

[figmental1978]

Nice photos Gus, I've just recently bought this lens too. It is a little strange to start with but soon get the hang of it.

[jsherman999]

Hi Gary,

The first two flower shots are with out the adaptor... They are not Jay quality, but the bokeh wide open looks pretty good in some of my other ones. I think my copy is softer than Jay's wide open... Some of his F2 shots are really sharp.

Those close ups in the second post have the adaptor..

Gus, those shots are incredible - makes me want to go out with the J-9 this afternoon. And no, my copy is very soft wide open also - if you saw some sharp shots of mine, I don't think they were wide open, unless I mislabeled them.

My M 85 f/2 is much sharper wide-open than my J-9, but stopped down a couple the J-9 starts getting really sharp.

I love the way those flowers are rendered, and the portraits are truly very, very
good... Congrats, hin's lens is in good hands.


.

Nice photos Gus, I've just recently bought this lens too. It is a little strange to start with but soon get the hang of it.

Figmental, How are you liking the lens? What camera are you using it with?

Gus, those shots are incredible - makes me want to go out with the J-9 this afternoon. And no, my copy is very soft wide open also - if you saw some sharp shots of mine, I don't think they were wide open, unless I mislabeled them.

My M 85 f/2 is much sharper wide-open than my J-9, but stopped down a couple the J-9 starts getting really sharp.

I love the way those flowers are rendered, and the portraits are truly very, very
good... Congrats, hin's lens is in good hands.

You are much too kind Jay... I may have just assumed some of your sharp shots were wide open because the OOF area looked "wide open"...

How exactly do you use the dual aperture? Do you set the stop down limit and just turn between the two? It is kinda cool having the smooth variable ap, but I never know where exactly I am,(other than at each end) so when I look at the shots later it is just a guess as to what I shot them at, but I like it.


Again my apologies for puting this in the lens discussion thread,
when it is really a "Look at me, Look at Me!" kind of post that belongs
in the Post your photo thread

[cardinal43]

Gus:

Pic #3, without a doubt.

Just curious, but did you buy that from Hin, or is it on loan?

[hinman]

Gus,

You are doing exceptionally well with the J9. Damn it! You are going to make me miss my J9. I love the portraits.

I originally kept the J9 myself and I only sold it to friends.

[SOLD] Jupiter 9 85mm f/2.0 (M42)

My good and very admired friend Peter Zack's address was on the box label under Gus' mailing label. It was the wrong timing for Peter and when Gus says 'No thanks' the first time, I immediately withdrew the lens. The lens is a shear beauty in one's hand and it is the best $100 value lens you can find in the market for the 85mm. The reason that I sell is really simple: my LBA is totally un-manageable without friends and lens not used are really expensive in the end. And I love my good friends to share the Pentax gems with me. I only sold good stuff and those not-too-good ones are fully disclosed with a cheaper price.

Gus and I both come from the Fuji world with p&s camera, we both love the Fuji F30. And we share in common in wanting to see how the dark side in Nikon will do. We are both interested in Nikon D90. And I hope the gem in Jupiter 9 85mm f/2.0 can re-invent his interest. We both love Pentax but there are times the dark sides seem more intriguing and tempting when K30 is not out. As for me, I am staying put with Pentax adding more gear as we speak, I may score the LBA king title in October on focal length with 50mm, 135mm, 200mm, 300mm, 1.7x, and others

And Gus, think longer and harder with Pentax and study the Nikon carefully as every lens with a VR label is not only going to break your budget and you will lose all the fun with $100 lens that performs like a $350+ charm. You NEED a K20D for sure to make up the missing pieces in K100D. Unless you make a living in Photography, my thinking is to stay in Pentax as it is best for serious Amateur on a budget. And in the Pentaxian world, you are more likely to run into similar minds who become long-time friends as you and I have done.

Thanks,
Hin

Hey Tom,

I like her expression in #3 too...

I actually bought the lens from Hin, I had been waffling back and forth because I am considering heading to the dark side D90... but I had wanted this lens since I first got my
k100 and had been trying to get Hin or Jay to sell me theirs for a long time (actually begging would be a better word) So when Hin put his for sale, I initially contacted him, but was still not sure because of the D90 struggle!

I am so glad to get a chance to play with it though, even if I do head in the other direction.

Thanks for your kindness...


You are so right about needing the K20d,
I believe deep down that if I could get my hands on one and use it for a few days, all my questions would be answered...
But it is a 900 dollar gamble as I do not know anyone locally that has one.
And I am not one to buy one, use it for a month and then return it.

As for you missing the J9... haha, you have so many new/old lenses to try out and so little time!!!!
I still have a few that have never really even made it to the camera...

I bet you may have some too

Thanks again your patience
gus

[stevebrot]

How exactly do you use the dual aperture? Do you set the stop down limit and just turn between the two? It is kinda cool having the smooth variable ap, but I never know where exactly I am,(other than at each end) so when I look at the shots later it is just a guess as to what I shot them at, but I like it.

Welcome to the J-9 club...Great shots! I particularly like the "running" one. I have never tried action with my J-9. Good job.

The "dual aperture" stop down is more commonly referred to as a pre-set aperture. At one time it was very common (especially on T-mount lenses) and provides an easy way to focus wide open and quickly change to the taking aperture without a complicated mechanical aperture coupling. (At one time "automatic" aperture stop-down was a selling point for lenses. Only the more advanced lenses had it.)

Traditional Usage:

• Set the desired taking aperture using the aperture ring
• Turn the "pre-set" ring to the "open" position
• Focus
• Turn the "pre-set" ring to the "stopped down" position
• Make your exposure

Common Usage on Pentax Digital:

• Set the exposure mode to AV
• Set the aperture ring to its smallest setting (largest f/number)
• Turn the "preset" ring to the "open" position
• Focus
• Turn the "pre-set" ring to stop down the lens until you get the desired DOF/shutter speed
• Make your exposure

Note that the "Pentax usage" may be complicated by incredible meter bias (2+ stops underexposed) with the J-9 on the K10D at wider apertures.

Steve

[stevebrot]

Hey Tom,

I like her expression in #3 too...

I actually bought the lens from Hin, I had been waffling back and forth because I am considering heading to the dark side D90... but I had wanted this lens since I first got my
k100 and had been trying to get Hin or Jay to sell me theirs for a long time (actually begging would be a better word) So when Hin put his for sale, I initially contacted him, but was still not sure because of the D90 struggle!

I am so glad to get a chance to play with it though, even if I do head in the other direction.

Be wary of the dark side, you must! M-42 is not able to function there! The focus you will lose! The Tak will not be with you and the density of the J-9 will not help you there!

Steve

[stevebrot]

BTW...What is the Sony close-up adapter? The fly picture is pretty incredible for not being a bona fide macro lens. I have tried my Hoya close-up auxiliary set on my J-9, but with very mixed results.

Steve