2016
Jupiter 3 - The Shiny Soviet Sonnar
The Jupiter 3, a Zeiss Sonnar (50mm f1.5) clone, was first produced in the USSR in 1948 with original Zeiss components taken from Germany. These lasted until 1954, after which the lens was remade with Soviet materials. The word on the street seems to be that the best and most desirable copies of the Jupiter 3 are those produced up to 1954. Mine's from 1959, which is supposed to be a pretty good year as well. There's lots of information out there about the Jupiter, and a few user reviews which show what this lens can do on digital bodies. And here's one more.
The Jupiter 3 (50/1.5) specs:
Build Quality/Handling (Alright/Not bad)
The shiny Jupiter 3 might be all metal, but that metal is soft aluminium that would likely bend if dropped sufficiently well. Having said that, my lens is 57 years old and actually looks rather nice, so maybe it's not as flimsy as it seems. On my copy, both the focusing and the aperture rings work smoothly. However, sometimes when I turn the aperture ring too far, or try to remove an attached filter, I accidentally begin to unscrew the lens element group from the focus mount. Of course, it takes many more turns to actually unscrew it completely, but it does not instil a great deal of confidence. On the other hand, all this makes the lens fairly easy to take apart.
The Jupiter 3 is a very light and small lens and the M39 to E-mount adapter adds very little to its size. Together with the A7s it makes for a tiny, though perhaps a somewhat odd-looking, package. The manual operation is smooth, but I'm not a big fan of the clickless aperture ring. Finally, the 1m minimum focus distance can be limiting, but is fairly standard for old rangefinder lenses.
Image Quality (Mostly good)
The Jupiter is a bit of a mixed bag, but is certainly capable of great results.
The Jupiter 3 (50/1.5) specs:
- 7 elements in 3 groups
- Weight - about 140 grams
- Length - 36 mm (47 mm with the M39 adapter)
- Filter size - 40.5 mm
- Min. focus distance - 1 m (or a tiny bit less)
- Aperture - 13 curved blades, f1.5 to f22 clickless
Build Quality/Handling (Alright/Not bad)
The shiny Jupiter 3 might be all metal, but that metal is soft aluminium that would likely bend if dropped sufficiently well. Having said that, my lens is 57 years old and actually looks rather nice, so maybe it's not as flimsy as it seems. On my copy, both the focusing and the aperture rings work smoothly. However, sometimes when I turn the aperture ring too far, or try to remove an attached filter, I accidentally begin to unscrew the lens element group from the focus mount. Of course, it takes many more turns to actually unscrew it completely, but it does not instil a great deal of confidence. On the other hand, all this makes the lens fairly easy to take apart.
The Jupiter 3 is a very light and small lens and the M39 to E-mount adapter adds very little to its size. Together with the A7s it makes for a tiny, though perhaps a somewhat odd-looking, package. The manual operation is smooth, but I'm not a big fan of the clickless aperture ring. Finally, the 1m minimum focus distance can be limiting, but is fairly standard for old rangefinder lenses.
Image Quality (Mostly good)
The Jupiter is a bit of a mixed bag, but is certainly capable of great results.
On Sony a6000 at ISO 800
centre and corner @ f1.5
centre and corner @ f2
centre and corner @ f2.8
I shot the same scene with the Canon FD 50mm f1.4 SSC and the Pentax-M 50mm f1.4 SMC and it looks to me like wide open the Jupiter 3 is actually sharper, with less CA than those lenses, but only in the centre. The corners are very blurry. The jump in central resolution and contrast stopping down to f2 is impressive and rivals the other fast 50s I've tested. The corners remain blurry. Things don't really change much from there (though I think I've missed focus slightly at f2.8). The centre remains sharp and corners do improve, but edge to edge sharpness is simply never there, doesn't matter how much the lens is stopped down.
A couple more shots with the A7s which I think further show that central sharpness wide open makes this lens very usable at f1.5.
A couple more shots with the A7s which I think further show that central sharpness wide open makes this lens very usable at f1.5.
f1.5 (click for full resolution)
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f1.5 (click for full resolution)
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Some other reviews I read complain about Jupiter 3's bokeh in some situations. It's true that it isn't always the smoothest, especially when there's a large separation between subject and background. However, most of the time it's very good and I really like it. It's soft, almost organic, and quite different than what I'm used to seeing from other fast 50s. Also, the 13 curved aperture blades ensure that highlights remain circular when the lens is stopped down.
I love the way specular highlights are rendered here, some might not
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looks pretty smooth to me
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a bit messy
definitely not smooth
f1.5
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f2
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f2.8
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f4
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Most of the time the corner shading is surprisingly well-controlled (see shots above). At other times, this lens can vignette like nobody's business (see shots below). The dreaded uneven vignetting that I'm beginning to see with many of my adapted lenses is also present here. (Edit: it appears that the electronic first curtain, which I usually leave enabled, can cause uneven exposure at high shutter speeds. I need to thank Phillip Reeve for pointing this out)
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The red П (P) on the name ring indicates that the lens is coated. I think it's a single coating which does little to inhibit ghosting flare. I gotta say, though, that contrast isn't affected as much as expected on a single-coated lens from the 50s. Surprisingly decent performance. In addition, CA is well-controlled.
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I don't usually discuss distortion in my reviews of 50mm lenses because it's negligible. Worst case scenerio, an SLR fifty might show slight barrel distortion that's not visible in most circumstances. My Jupiter, however, is special and has noticeable pincushion distortion.
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But, let's not end on a sour note. One of the things I love about this lens is how vibrant the colours coming from it are. I'm often surprised by the colour saturation coming straight out of camera with the Jupiter 3. The shots below have had minimal contrast adjustments only.
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Conclusion
This lens is the oldest I have. It was produced two years before Kennedy came to power and Gagarin orbited the earth. 1959 saw the first unmanned moon landing by the Russians, the invention of the microchip, 'Ben Hur' winning 11 Oscars, Buddy Holly falling from the sky, and twenty-five South African students fitting into a single telephone booth.
It's mind-boggling that today I can stick this antique little lens onto my digital camera and be happy with the results. Sure, it has its faults, it's certainly not perfect, but the Jupiter 3 can produce wonderfully saturated photos with a unique rendering. The high central sharpness combined with peripheral softness, ghosting flare with little loss of contrast, (mostly) good vignetting performance, bokeh that can be smooth or harsh, pincushion distortion, lack of CA, and vibrant colours all add up to a lens with a distinct personality.
It's worth keeping in mind that getting a good copy might be difficult as there appears to be a huge sample variation based on year of production and various other factors. Still, trying to get a good one might be a risk worth-taking.
This lens is the oldest I have. It was produced two years before Kennedy came to power and Gagarin orbited the earth. 1959 saw the first unmanned moon landing by the Russians, the invention of the microchip, 'Ben Hur' winning 11 Oscars, Buddy Holly falling from the sky, and twenty-five South African students fitting into a single telephone booth.
It's mind-boggling that today I can stick this antique little lens onto my digital camera and be happy with the results. Sure, it has its faults, it's certainly not perfect, but the Jupiter 3 can produce wonderfully saturated photos with a unique rendering. The high central sharpness combined with peripheral softness, ghosting flare with little loss of contrast, (mostly) good vignetting performance, bokeh that can be smooth or harsh, pincushion distortion, lack of CA, and vibrant colours all add up to a lens with a distinct personality.
It's worth keeping in mind that getting a good copy might be difficult as there appears to be a huge sample variation based on year of production and various other factors. Still, trying to get a good one might be a risk worth-taking.
Related reviews
Sample Images
- Canon FD 50mm f1.4
- Canon FL 55mm f1.2
- Carl Zeiss 50mm f1.7 Planar T
- Nikkor 50mm f1.2 AI-S
- Pentax-M 50mm f1.4 SMC
Sample Images
