Hey Jay, before I get to the issue with the Jupiter 9! I want to thank you so much for the Helios-44M.
I would have never even considered it and it has become my favorite lens of the month.
The ultimate little Family snapper...

Look at this Helios shot... in funky bathroom lighting... almost DA 40ish


*****************************************************************
Anyway back to the Jupiter 9...

I am out shooting between rains here yesterday and getting the regular old Jup 9 kind of shots...






When I get home and look on the comp.... One of them looks like this????
Looks like Lawrence Welk on acid... Exploding Gumball Bokeh EGB
It is kinda scary to think my smooth creamy J9 can somehow do this...


What is going on here? Did you ever see anything like this from your J-9

[heliphoto]

Dude, that's awesome! I really like the EGB.

The clarity in that cat shot is mind blowing too... I see these threads, and I think I need that lens to get those kinda shots, but I've been through lotsa lenses, and now, two bodies, and it turns out it's the photographer , or maybe the photographers workflow, I never feel my shots have that crispness like your second and third do... Are these jpegs straight from the camera? If so, what settings, and if not, how do you process your raw shots?

[stevebrot]

When I get home and look on the comp.... One of them looks like this????
Looks like Lawrence Welk on acid... Exploding Gumball Bokeh EGB
It is kinda scary to think my smooth creamy J9 can somehow do this...


What is going on here? Did you ever see anything like this from your J-9

The short answer is YES.

The long answer is a question...What were you expecting? Bokeh at small apertures is really tough. The "light-rimmed" circles are fairly representative for the J-9 as well as for many other lenses. Ideally, the circles would lack the rim.

Steve

BTW...I think that you get consistently excellent results from your J-9.

[stevebrot]

Dude, that's awesome! I really like the EGB.

The clarity in that cat shot is mind blowing too... I see these threads, and I think I need that lens to get those kinda shots, but I've been through lotsa lenses, and now, two bodies, and it turns out it's the photographer , or maybe the photographers workflow, I never feel my shots have that crispness like your second and third do... Are these jpegs straight from the camera? If so, what settings, and if not, how do you process your raw shots?

You might want to try the J-9 if you get a chance. I good copy fairly consistently produces these kinds of images. No kidding! Cumbersome to use, but rewarding in the end.

Steve

Wow thanks for the ego stroke...

These are Jpegs from the K100d... in camera I have changed the saturation to -1 and the sharpness and contrast are still on 0.

As far as what I do to the pics... I do not have a real PP program, I use the adobe photoshop album starter... or the microsoft office picture manager... they both came with the computer. I have recently started to play with Picasa.

But usually I just give a slight contrast boost and sometimes sharpen a bit before I resize for the web. In all honesty, it is a lot more about the lighting than anything I am doing. And for the three or four pics I post... 200 go bye-bye...

thanks for the awful nice comments

Ps... I do think you are right about not just buying a lens because someone else posts shots you like with it. Guys like Jay, Hin and others can take dirty mason jars and take great shots...

But I will say, when I do get a lens that I have been really wanting, like the jupiter 9, I spend a whole lot of time with it. I think that probably makes the biggest difference in the shots. Too often I buy a used lens and shoot a week with it and never pick it up again.
But I have loved Hin's Jupiter 9 and Jay's Helios-44 since I put them on the camera.

The short answer is YES.

The long answer is a question...What were you expecting? Bokeh at small apertures is really tough. The "light-rimmed" circles are fairly representative for the J-9 as well as for many other lenses. Ideally, the circles would lack the rim.

Steve

BTW...I think that you get consistently excellent results from your J-9.

Thanks for the comment and quick answer

Steve, I guess I did not realize I had been shooting a small apertures, but that could be it. I almost always keep the Jupiter at F5 ish or below, usually well below. But I guess I could have easily spun the front ap dial too far... But I would think if I was at a small ap, that the background would have been more in focus...

When you say small apertures, what ap have you seen this Gumball look at?
Thanks
gus

[jsherman999]

Gus, yes, I got that type of bokeh also with my J-9. I don;t know if I have a lot of examples uploaded, let me see...

By the way, incredible shots, especially that last leaf shot! So very pleasing to my brain, very, very nice!

Here are some J-9 bokeh shots:



not exploding gumball, but weird/pleasing (wide open):



This is just good bokeh, imo:




Wish I had more bokeh shots uploaded to show ya - I'll have to look through my images on disk to see if I find any exploding gumballs.

BTW, really, really impressed with what you can do with that Helios.

PS: Is that Cz Jena getting any use, or are you finding the action too tight still?


.

Gus, yes, I got that type of bokeh also with my J-9. I don;t know if I have a lot of examples uploaded, let me see...

By the way, incredible shots, especially that last leaf shot! So very pleasing to my brain, very, very nice!

Wish I had more bokeh shots uploaded to show ya - I'll have to look through my images on disk to see if I find any exploding gumballs.

BTW, really, really impressed with what you can do with that Helios.

PS: Is that Cz Jena getting any use, or are you finding the action too tight still?


.

Oh thanks Jay... those are the OOF areas I know and love from your J-9...
I just dont remember seeing the exploding gumball in yours or Hin's shots. It was so 'exploding' that at first I was not sure it was the same lens.

The poor Cz Jena is not getting any use. Three reasons really. The helios has barely left the camera, the weather has just turned,
and the action is still too tight to make it easy to use. And as you know focus is tough enough on these MF lenses...
I have not yet attempted any "repair". I am not really sure what is causing it to bind up. Eventually I will get around to opening it up.

Again thanks for the reply to the question, the kind words on the shots... And thanks for my Soviet Limited.

[Ratmagiclady]

Sweet!

That's just the kind of quirky thing I love about unusual lenses, and it looks pretty darn nice at more regular apertures besides.

[stevebrot]

When you say small apertures, what ap have you seen this Gumball look at?

I have seen it with specular highlights at f/11 and f/16.

Steve

[figmental1978]

Some J-9 bokeh love

That last one looks like it is melting and dripping... wow I love it.


But I see no EGB Bokeh...

I have seen it with specular highlights at f/11 and f/16.

Steve

Steve, I have no idea how I could have got the Fstop up that high.

well actually there had been some drinking... on an empty stomach... as we waited for thanksgiving dinner... ummmhhh It is starting to seem possible that I may have turned that front ap ring too high...

thanks for the feedback.

[figmental1978]

yeah, no EGB but theres MDB (melting dripping bokeh)

[pingflood]

figmental1978: INCREDIBLE shots. The toning on them is subtle but really adds something.

Do you use a standard focusing screen or did you replace it?