Author: | | New Member Registered: April, 2017 Location: France Posts: 9 1 user found this helpful | Review Date: August 25, 2018 | Not Recommended | Price: $30.00
| Rating: 9 |
Pros: | sharp, excellent construction, obtic quality | Cons: | heavy | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: Pentax K5
| | | | | | | New Member Registered: August, 2015 Posts: 13 1 user found this helpful | Review Date: August 28, 2015 | Not Recommended | Price: $70.00
| Rating: 4 |
Pros: | Don't know | Cons: | Weak sharpness, heavy, no AF etc.. | Sharpness: 3
Aberrations: 4
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 4
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-5
| | I do not understand how you can assess the sharpness of this lens is 10 points. You guys blind? This lens is not suitable for what it was designed. It is not possible to get a clear image in any circumstances. Stoping down does not resolve its shortcomings.
| | | | New Member Registered: March, 2019 Location: Ontario Posts: 15 2 users found this helpful | Review Date: March 19, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $58.00
| Rating: 10 |
Pros: | very sharp, little to no lateral CA, good micro-contrast, natural colours, sturdy and durable, easy to repair, clicked aperture, good value | Cons: | some axial CA, shoddy build quality, 8 aperture blades, heavy, short lens hood | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 8
Value: 10
Camera Used: Sony a6300
| | My lens came in perfect optical condition and not-that-perfect mechanical condition. I rebuilt the lens, and it now works like a charm. Through my rebuilding of the lens, I can report that this lens is very shoddily built, even by Soviet standards, and the complex aperture mechanism is not helping.
Focus is hard to nail down, as this lens has quite a shallow DOF and this lens is heavy. It weighs a hefty 1kg, or 2.2 pounds. Personally, I'm not bothered by the weight and find this manual-lens a joy to use. It took me only two days to get used to this lens, but it is a case of your-milage-may-vary.
Optically speaking, this lens is quite good. My copy has quite the performance on APS-C, I can reach pixel-sharpness barely stopping down, which is impressive. Microcontrast is good, focus peaking struggles at 11.7X magnification, though that is quite a high bar, resolution in the actual photo is superb. I see no lateral CA or purple fringing from this lens, though axial CA is present, especially at wide open. Interestingly, I don't think sharpness improves much when stopping down, at least in the centre. Stopping down only reduces the CA and fringing. This is definitely a lens that you can shoot wide open most of the time. Contra-light performance is understandably poor, due to mediocre coatings and poor blackening of the internals. Gluing a light absorbing material to the metal plate which covers the aperture mechanism salvages some contra-light performance. The built-in lens hood is too short to be of much use, but I have yet to find a reason to buy one (the filter size is 58mm, in case you need a lens hood).
Personally, I find the lens to perform best in warm, contrasty scenes, where it delivers tack-sharp, punchy images that pop while still look natural. It does not seem to like bright, low contrast scenes, where softness creeps in (I think it's partly due to focusing becoming really difficult under those conditions). Also, for an f4 lens, bokeh is very nice and creamy. The 8 aperture blades are hardly an issue, as this lens is good enough wide open most of the time.
Enough text, photo time! (Sorry, flickr does not support AdobeRGB, the actual colours are slightly more vibrant)
(These photos are straight from camera, with some cropping applied to some photos. All shot with AdobeRGB, so please view with a colour-managed browser, Chrome isn't good with colours)
Shot of a squirrel
Shot of another squirrel at f5.6 (I think), cropped
Shot of birds (first three were shot at f5.6, the rest were shot wide open)
(note the extreme resolution)
(I lighting condition that will make any lens scream in terror. Note the lack of fringing and notable amounts of axial CA)
Note the colours on a good day
Shot of a plane tree nut wide open (or 5.6)
This shows the sharpness at wide open (or 5.6, I don't remember)
This lens loves warm, contrasty scenes. This one was shot wide open.
The moon is a bit too far, though... | | | | Junior Member Registered: June, 2018 Location: Lyon / Rennes Posts: 39 1 user found this helpful | Review Date: December 7, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 9 |
Pros: | Sharp, easy to repair by yourself, hood integrated. | Cons: | very prone to flare, heavy and big, sometimes not very reliable (blame mass production and poor quality control.) | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 10
Camera Used: K30
| | So,
I used this lens for almost a year now and I find it very good.
First, it is very sharp, with a resolution of 51/30 lpmm, which is very, very good.
Then, It has a nice character to it, since it has a quite nice color rendition, but you must be quite careful with the flares, hopefully you can do three things :
1 : nothing. Maybe you just like flares, like I do.
2 : deploy lens hood.
3 : glue some black velvet / cloth on the plate on the back of the lens, inside the barrel. It reflects quite a lot of light.
I can't really judge of the chromatical abberation since there's not much on crop sensors, but this lens is designed for 35mm...
I need to mention that this lens is very easy to disassemble. A little more difficult to put pieces back together though, but if you are patient and pay attention in which order you dismantle the lens everything should go smooth)
Note : My lens was technically almost perfect, but it is very usual to fall on copies with slow diaphragm (you'll need to dismantle the lens and clean everything, maybe adjust diaphragm spring), play in pieces (just a little screw-srewing should solve the problem) or de-cementation between the first doublet of lenses.
If the focus ring is too tough, it will be a real pain in the ass to focus, so if it is, make sure to dismantle and grease the helicoid.
I apologize for my poor English as it is not my native language too
Hope this'll help !
| | | | | New Member Registered: December, 2012 Location: Kedah Posts: 10 2 users found this helpful | Review Date: September 12, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $120.00
| Rating: 9 |
Pros: | Sharp, beautiful colour, decent bokeh | Cons: | Weight, Price (I paid too much, still love it) | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 9
Camera Used: K-5
| | Got this lens almost 4 years ago.
Use it for stage performance, sport, bird, portrait (occasionally), anything further than the FA77 can handles.
It is heavy but Pentax K-5 and battery grip handles it well. | | | | Junior Member Registered: February, 2016 Location: Ludhiana (India) Posts: 35 2 users found this helpful | Review Date: May 10, 2017 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 9 |
Pros: | Easy on Pocket | Cons: | Heavy | | It's really sharp lens and easy on pocket also, the only drawback I feel is its weight.
Need suggestion regarding the Tripod collar mount for this lens, What size Collar should I buy for it?
| | | | New Member Registered: September, 2009 Location: london Posts: 23 2 users found this helpful | Review Date: April 24, 2017 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 9 |
Pros: | sharp, good colour | Cons: | reflective plate at mount end needs to be modified | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 10
Camera Used: pentax kx
| | First of all, I want to thank Biulazz (review below this one), who provided the solution for low contrast, haze and flare that I encountered when I first tried to use this lens (Jupiter 21M) with my Pentax kx dslr.
The attached photos were taken through my window and show results before I did Biulazz's modification and after I did so.
They were shot raw, and changed to jpegs, with no other modifications. The improvement is clearly dramatic.
I also show the modification to my lens as so beautifully described and illustrated by Biulazz. Many thanks again.
I haven't used this lens extensively in different situations so far, but from the images I've been getting of mundane things around the house, I expect great results.
The lens is, indeed, heavy but I find it helps my hand steadiness when using the Pentax kx!!!
Before modification
After modification
Modification à la Biulazz | | | | New Member Registered: September, 2015 Posts: 2 4 users found this helpful | Review Date: September 21, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 9 |
Pros: | sharp also at full aperture, colour, bokeh | Cons: | bulky (but solid...) | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 7
Value: 10
Camera Used: Pentax istDS, modified Canon AstroDSLR
| | Used full aperture in my Astrophoto setup, it delivers astonishing pinpoint star images, vivid colours (maybe on the cool side); contrast is not the best, but if you cover with anti-reflecting black velvet a flat metallic plate inside the flange ring of the lens, contrast improves radically (see the photo of this mod, sorry for the poor quality...).
Apart dimensions and weight, performances are similar to the stunning Jupiter 37A (a lens that I consider one of the best Russian optical products ever), superior to many german Sonnars from which the optical scheme is derivated.
Bokeh is good (8 blades iris).
Weight, dimensions and M42 flange can be a minus if handheld, but not in my astrophoto piggybacked use, so I can only recommend it! | | | | New Member Registered: August, 2015 Location: Brasilia, Brazil Posts: 3 | Review Date: August 5, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $81.00
| Rating: 10 |
Pros: | Great image quality. Very sharp. Great bokeh. Feel of an old school lens, not too much contrast. | Cons: | It's heavy and bulky so you won't want to be carrying it all the time. | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 7
Value: 10
Camera Used: Canon 70D
| | This lens is great. Image quality is awesome, very sharp and with great bokeh and colors. The mechanic focus is very precise, with a long turn. The images are very different from nowadays lenses, which tend to be too "punchy" with lots of contrast. With the Jupiter 21M you get the feeling of an old school lens, which doesn't deliver much contrast and yet you love the image results.
Ok, I used my Canon 70D with an M42 mount adapter, and this is a Pentax forum, but I couldn't resist revewing this lens.
It is very fun! https://www.flickr.com/photos/133477133@N08/sets/72157655921166470/with/19933567138/ | | | | New Member Registered: May, 2013 Location: Jakarta Posts: 2 2 users found this helpful | Review Date: December 4, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 8 |
Pros: | sharpness, bokeh, | Cons: | huge n heavy | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 7
Value: 8
Camera Used: K5
| | for me this lens has big size, and really heavy...moreover it can produces excellent sharp image, good bokeh
here the samples images: https://www.flickr.com/photos/roe_groho/sets/72157643326797905/ | | | | Site Supporter Registered: January, 2014 Location: Maclean, NSW Posts: 95 1 user found this helpful | Review Date: August 24, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 8 |
Pros: | Sharp, easy to focus, bokeh, built like a tank | Cons: | heavy, low contrast, bluish colours | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 10
| | Sharp from wide open, I'm impressed by the image quality from this lens. Some purple fringing when shooting against really bright light, but not a problem in most cases. The low contrast is easily fixed in post processing. I've noticed that colours tend to be on the cool side - again something that can be easily fixed. All in all, an incredible bargain at $50 including postage. | | | | New Member Registered: June, 2011 Location: Kaliningrad region Posts: 7 1 user found this helpful | Review Date: May 29, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 10 |
Pros: | Sharpness | Cons: | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 8
Value: 9
| |
| | | | New Member Registered: January, 2013 Posts: 3 2 users found this helpful | Review Date: January 7, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $90.00
| Rating: 10 |
Pros: | Sharpness is good, cool looking | Cons: | heavy and manual focus is difficult | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 9
| | my design i hope you will like it
this is my sharpness test look pls battery. | | | | Pentaxian Registered: May, 2012 Location: --- Posts: 6,802 1 user found this helpful | Review Date: July 19, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 9 |
Pros: | very sharp good colour rendering and contrast | Cons: | heavy, flare | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 8
Value: 10
| | Just got this lens yesterday and tested it. It's very sharp from wide open en renders very well contrasty and it weighs a ton and hates back-light. It's probably as sharp as a modern 200mm prime or expensive 70-200mm zoom. Very slight purple fringe, hardly noticeable and easy to solve. Close focussing to 1.8 meters (a little less than six feet so great for close ups). I Like the handling, very long throw allows for precise focus. (my eyes and pentax af confirmation are the problem not the lens).
examples: (hand held)
1. ugly moped across the street
2. 100% crop mark the bicycle tire and the number on the left lower side of the number plate
3. example of the lens rendering (no edits)
4. 100% crop of previous photo.
5. Infinite F4 F5.6 en F8 + original
6. chopper flew by (crop)
7.Back-light is not the friend of this lens , but there is someting else going on. The second picture was taken under the exact same circumstances and with the same setting as the first one except for my hand on the point where mount meets body. There is light leakage into the body at that point which you will need to solve when you get this lens (put a sock on it or something like that).
]
8. last a 100% crop of a piece of the picture that was in focus (I need to get a Katzeye). Jupiter 21m 200mm F4 by random dump, on Flickr
| | | | Forum Member Registered: October, 2010 Location: Klaipeda Posts: 78 | | |