New Member Registered: December, 2017 Posts: 2 | Review Date: December 4, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $49.00
| Rating: 8 |
Pros: | colours, sharpness, bokeh, build | Cons: | weight, heavy focus ring | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 5
Value: 9
Camera Used: Kiev 60, canon eos 5dii
| | Useful lens as well on the Canon EOS as on the medium format for what it was made.
As for the tripod problem: I solved it for the EOS combination by attaching a 64mm tripod mount to the adapter. Works well, sits tight. Take care not to buy one made out of plastic
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Loyal Site Supporter Registered: August, 2012 Location: North Carolina Posts: 3,685 1 user found this helpful | Review Date: September 22, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 8 |
Pros: | Generally good optically, price | Cons: | Weight, handling, need Pentacon 6 adapter | Sharpness: 8
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 2
Value: 8
Camera Used: K-x, K-01, K-5II, K-S1
| | I may have bought this lens for less than $50, shipping included. I think the previous owner was happy to pass along a "white elephant". I haven't done much with it, because the weight makes it almost unusable on Pentax DSLRs. As you can see from the optical diagram, the front third is one huge mass of glass, making it extremely nose-heavy and difficult to use hand-held. Optically, the lens is fairly sharp with (to me) pleasant bokeh. It does have a fairly long minimum focus distance (more than 3m/10 feet). Of course, the lens is all-manual, and it's Pentacon 6 format. To use it on a K-mount camera, you'll need a Pentacon 6 to M42 adapter (and an M42 to K-mount ring) or a P6-direct-to-K adapter, which may cost a little more, but adapters aren't hard to find.
The weight really demands a tripod, but the lens lacks a tripod foot. I haven't found any Pentacon 6 adapters with a built in foot. Using the camera as the tripod mount is awkward because so much weight is so far forward. I have found that an 81mm Canon 'C' type tripod ring/collar will fit perfectly in front of the aperture ring - which really is the only part of the lens where you could put a tripod ring. This puts the heaviest part of the lens directly above the tripod connection. How well this works depends on how heavy your camera body is. You will need a decent tripod that doesn't shake like a frightened puppy under the weight.
So who is the Jupiter 36B for?
- Well, Medium Format shooters, obviously. As fs999 shows, the lens gets excellent results adapted to 645.
- 35mm Full-frame or film shooters, possibly.
- APS-C is hard to justify on this lens - you are just using a small part of the image circle provided by all that glass. If you are going to stop down, you might as well get a slower 300mm zoom or prime.
If you are a student on a budget and desperate for longer glass faster than f/4.5, or just someone who likes to experiment (me), you can make this lens work, but you will have to work at it (and invest in a good tripod).
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Loyal Site Supporter Registered: July, 2008 Location: Luxembourg Posts: 8,588 1 user found this helpful | Review Date: April 14, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $170.00
| Rating: 8 |
Pros: | It is sharp and has a nice bokeh | Cons: | It is heavy and it is heavy :) | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 7
Value: 8
Camera Used: 645N
| | As far as I have seen, it is a nice lens. It has a smooth bokeh.
Did I mention it is heavy ? Realy heavy 1500 gr., 1.5 Kg.
645N on TMax 400
with a Hoya closeup filter n°3
New images | |
New Member Registered: April, 2015 Posts: 12 | Review Date: June 15, 2015 | Not Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 7 |
Pros: | Nice "to have" and good rendering | Cons: | Weight | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 5
Value: 5
Camera Used: Pentax LX
| | Quite simple;
Too Heavy to seriously carry....
But, for foolish collecters of USSR stuff great to have | |
New Member Registered: February, 2021 Posts: 1 1 user found this helpful | Review Date: February 28, 2021 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 6 |
Pros: | Interesting | Cons: | Heavy | Camera Used: Full Frame DSLR
| | I wanted to add some info about this lens that some may find useful. I was looking at my copy of this lens the other day and noticed that fungus was starting to grow on the front and rear elements. It wasn't bad yet. It just looked like someone had left their french fries lying on the lens for a day and left the lens greasy and dirty. The front element was very easy to remove and clean. It's just held in by a screw crown. The rear element was a little trickier to remove but the screws all behaved and everything went back together real smooth. My front and rear elements are now spotless and I took the attached test shot of my dog. | |