50mm Jupiter 3 f/1.5

An Introduction

I’ve been meaning to get around to this user report on the 50mm Jupiter 3 f/1.5 for quite some time now. This is a lens I have used extensively on the Leica M9, indeed for a long period of time it was the only lens I used. This 49 year old Soviet era glass bought about my neglect of the 50mm Summarit f/2.5, something that would ultimately result in its sale on the basis that I found using the Jupiter 3 to be more rewarding.

There is a genuine thrill and a real romance to shooting vintage glass, something I personally find to be almost tangible, a quick look at my gear will reveal my fondness for lenses old and new. In particular when this vintage glass is combined with modern technology it can deliver results that are often surprising good, occasionally incredible and nearly always in excess of your expectations.

There will always be the purists, there will always be those that dismiss the lens due to its country of origin or indeed era of manufacture.  Others would simply ask why?  Why would anyone shoot a $280.00 lens on what at the time was a $10k camera. The answer to this question is what I consider to be it’s unique character, to my eye the Jupiter 3 has a distinctive look that I for one find visually pleasing and if you can manage to lay your hands on a good one it will reward you handsomely.

The Lens

For completeness I will give a brief history of the lens but there are entire websites dedicated to the cameras and optics of the former Soviet Union which offer a more thorough perspective. With it’s maximum aperture of f/1.5 its certainly amongst the most inexpensive “fast glass” options for the rangefinder system and worthy of further investigation.

Depending on which version of events you read and where you read it the Russians either begged, stole or borrowed the lens designs from Zeiss at the end of WW2. It’s really a matter for historians and not critical to this post, lets just say that wherever the truth lay we’ve got to be happy about having some very interesting optics available at bargain prices.

Identification 

As is the case with many vintage lenses the Jupiter 3 has undergone various facelifts and alterations over the years and as a result comes in numerous guises, as I am only discussing my version of this lens there is little point in me going in to great detail on the other versions. www.sovietcams.com is an amazing resource for Soviet lens and camera identification and I am extremely grateful to them for allowing me to reference aspects of their research in this report. Using their information on the Jupiter 3 I was able to identify my lens as the following - 

My lens, Serial No: N6311446 does not bear the “Made in USSR” inscription. It does however have an additional character
 (“P” in Cyrillic – “Prosvetlennij” which indicates the lens is “Coated”)

Lens Technical Details 

 

Focal Length

Whilst most people refer to this as a 50mm lens which is indicated on this lens barrel it’s true focal length it is actually 52.4mm to be exact.

Elements/Groups

Comprising of seven elements in three groups the lens design is based on the classic Zeiss Sonar 50/1.5

Aperture Range

There are no click stops between aperture settings, not an issue but you just need to be mindful that you don’t adjust it by accident.

focusing

Officially this lens focuses from 1m, I suspect mine is closer to .9m. I have read about others who have achieved a minimum focusing distance of .8m with some adjustment to the lens.

Lens Mount

This lens comes in LTM/M39 mount, in short that means you will require an LTM/M39 – M Mount adaptor in order to shoot it on the M9 or any other M mount Leica.

Adaptors are available for between $20-70 on ebay. From experience I would choose very carefully as some of the cheaper offerings are not machined accurately and subsequently the fit to the M9 will be less than satisfactory. You can get a sound version - Here.

Filters

You most likely won’t find the 40.5mm filters in your local camera store, however they are available from many sources online.

Russian Beauty – Leica M9 – 50mm Jupiter 3 f/1.5 ISO 400 1/30 Sec

My first shot with the Jupiter 3, from memory I’d had the M9 a few days when I took this. It’s not perfect but it really gave me a taste of what this lens was capable of.

Caveat Emptor

In his 1945 allegory Animal Farm the author George Orwell satirised the Russian Revolution in an attempt to dispel what he believed to be the myth of communism. If your wondering where this is going, please bare with me!! Arguably the most famous quote from this particular work goes something like this “All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.” do you see where this is going yet?? All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others. – George Orwell

 

Yes, you guessed it, a critical point to note when looking at the merits of the Jupiter 3 is this. Whilst all lenses may appear the same, some are clearly more equal (desirable) than others.

So we’ve established early that acquiring this lens really is a case of “buyer beware” but that should not put you off, in fact to the conterery the information that follows will hopefully  both encourage and empower you to dip your proverbial toe in to the Soviet lens market.