Winter seaside Jupiter 9 fun
What to expect when you're expecting a Soviet Jupiter 9 85mm f2 in the mail.
It's been a while since I've wanted to test some old school Soviet lenses and cameras. I started with a humble Zorki 4k and the Jupiter 8 50mm f2 kit lens, and promptly managed to acquire a Jupiter 9 85mm f2 for it.
Some shots below taken with it. Nevermind the colors, as the film was some sort of bubble gum themed affair that I had lying around.
Despite my exposure errors (still trying to learn how to meter properly and apply that to a purely mechanical rangefinder camera), the pictures turned out better than I imagined when scanned at the shop. The obvious character of the lens to me is its soft background blur (15 aperture blades make everything somewhat roundish and creamy, even at higher f stops) and the general softness at open apertures. It sharpens up quite nicely from f4 though.
Some of the shots below at f8 (like the seagull if I remember correctly) showcase the lens potential, despite the difficulties of accurately focusing an old Soviet lens with gloves in February, and composing through the separate viewfinder.
To wrap it up: don't buy it expecting edge-to-edge crispness or good performance wide open, don't buy it to be your only portrait lens. Certainly don't buy it to adapt to an M Leica (they're notorious for being impossible to focus because of flange distance differences with Leica LTM cameras).
But using it sometimes with weird film stock? A load of fun!
