Jupiter-11 135mm F4
Jupiter-8 50mm F2
Contrast of Leitz Wetzlar Elmarit 90mm F2.8
Jupiter-11 135mm F4 vs. Sony FE 85mm F1.8
Jupiter-8 50mm F2 vs. Sony FE 40mm F2.5 G
Jupiter-11 135mm F4 – flares from sunlight
Jupiter-11 135mm F4 – flares at night
Jupiter-8 in darkness
Jupiter-11 in darkness
Jupiter-11 long exposure at night
Jupiter-11 night video, 4K30p
Jupiter-11 and Jupiter-8
These lenses complement each other quite nicely. But do you want them?
To try out old lenses, I bought Jupiter-11 in july 2023 for 30 EUR, Jupiter-8 is borrowed from a friend together with Zorki-4K camera, which I don’t use. The size, weight and picture qualities of these older lenses are appealing.
All photos are JPEG straight out of the camera without any processing, unless otherwise noted. Shot on Sony A7S III camera with M39 adapter.
Good
Jupiter-11 135mm F4 is a good lens for landscape, people and objects.
Jupiter-8 50mm F2 is a good general purpose lens.
Bad
Lenses do not report aperture nor focal length to modern cameras.
Both lenses suffer serious flare.
The focus rings have very long travel.
Jupiter-11 aperture ring is prone to accidental movement.
My opinion
Both lenses are doing something interesting to colors and highlights that I really like. I use them as an interesting flavor for a digital camera image. A glass filter if you wish. Both are sharper than I expected for such old lenses. They are fun to work with when there is time for it. They are both quite usable at night with an adequate light.
They are not practical when focus speed, higher contrast or lower F is required, and you will have to live with flares and some vignetting when using them.
While having similar colors, Jupiter-11 lacks contrast when compared to Leitz Wetzlar Elmarit 90mm F2.8. Both Jupiter lenses are designs copied from Zeiss. All other aspects of the Leitz lens are better than Jupiter.
When the task is to document something, for it’s wider angle and super fast autofocus, I prefer Sony FE 40mm F2.5 G much more to Jupiter-8 50mm F2.
Size comparison
Where to buy a used lens?
Best in a physical shop.
I highly recommend to buy from reputable dealers, who know what they are selling. Slightly higher prices compared to internet sellers is a service to you. You can be sure you are getting the thing you pay for, not a fake, not a broken one, and a receipt as well.
Be prepared to stretch your budget at least two or three times. You might find something you didn’t expect. You will not be shy to try more expensive options to compare them.
Having a used lens in hand before you buy it is a very rewarding experience. You will know it’s that one.