Four 85mm-ish lenses compared

[woodrim]

I've finally gotten around to doing a side-by-side image comparison with four of my lenses in this range. The initial motivation was having bought two very different Jupiter-9 lenses, one RF and one M39. Instead of pulling up short, I've included two of my other lenses in the range. While I still believe actual field use gives a better appreciation of what a lens will deliver, today was too damned hot out to go anywhere. These type tests will typically show lenses being closer in performance than they really are, and I suspect this comparison is no exception, yet there are some obvious differences. I have taken all pictures jpg and only adjusted exposure in post processing because I always underexpose. All adjustments are equal. For the bokeh comparison, I adjusted shadow areas for better visibility.

The lenses in the test are:
Jupiter-9 (1966 M39)
Meyer 80/3.5 Primotar
Jupiter-9 (1961 RF)
Vivitar Series 1 90/2.5

Wide open:
J-9 M39

Meyer

J-9 RF

Vivitar


At f/2.8
J-9 M39

J-9 RF

Vivitar


At f/5.6
J-9 M39

Meyer

J-9 RF

Vivitar


Bokeh and 100% crops to follow. Gawd, this is monotonous.

[RSalles]

Woodrim,

Apart considerations of bokeh, sharpness, resolution, etc, what i prefer, visually speaking, is in the order:

1- J-9 RF
2- J-9 M39
3- Meyer
4- Vivitar

With different subject and lightning my preferences may differ,

Cheers,

Renato

[Attila]

Lot of work I rather like to see you great shoots , than boring same , to me looks all same anyway

[woodrim]

RSalles: Way off. Here are 100% crops of the wide open shots in same order:

[RSalles]

Wide open? Well, go figure, Vivitar smashes it all!
But i keep my previous choice: color rendering and overall contrast/sharpness, even if it's based in a subjective matter.

Cheers,

Renato

[frenched]

[woodrim]

Not surprising to me. The Bokina is known for its sharpness. The Meyer had the advantage in being the slowest at f3.5, the Vivitar was a little slower than the Jupiters at f/2.3. In defense of the Meyer, it does have some haze.

Here's the third phase with the background lightened for better bokeh assessment.

Same order again - wide open.

[sammo]

I love the bokeh of the rf jupiter. It beats the bokina imo.

[parabellumfoto]

[woodrim]

On the last set of bokeh shots, don't consider the color or anything else because of the processing done to lighten the background.

Attila: I agree with you and will have a much better feel for these lenses after using in real world. Right now I'm liking the M39 Jupiter a lot, but must wait until the newness wears off. The Meyer is the weakest of the lenses but may improve with a good cleaning.

[Digitalriver]

[Pancolart]

I find it hard to even look at the Meyer. Sorry Meyer it must be the haze to blame.

[Ultron]

The rf version of the Jupier 9 has much better bokeh than the m39 version. Is there a difference in the lens design?

[Lightshow]

There are lots of versions of Russian lenses through the years with the same designation, often made in different factories, so I'm not surprised to see some differences, I'd need to see the name rings to confirm.
But generally I do think they are the same design(elements/groups) between the RF & the SLR design.

[Ultron]

The light is different seems more cloudy in the l39 shots than the m39 shots.
Maybe that causes the different bokeh.

[Orio]

J-9 M39 = sharp, busy bokeh, over correction of spherical aberration causes a slight impression of double edges wide open
Meyer = by far the weakest, flares, low contrast
J-9 = the cleanest, classical rendering (sharp with smooth bokeh)
Vivitar= the most "3D", dimensional, aggressive microcontrast, shows it's younger age.

[woodrim]

That's a very good assessment, Orio. However, I think my processing of the bokeh images may have influenced perceptions, so over time I will update this with more natural and meaningful images that display bokeh better from each lens. I may drop the Meyer from this until it has had a proper cleaning and will introduce the Hexanon in its place.

For now, Here is something the M39 J-9 can do...





And here is what the Series 1 can do...

[parabellumfoto]

Very classy shots Woodrim. They ooze style!

The VIVITAR blows em all out of the water in my opinion. What Orio wrote was accurate, I agree.

The 3D type rendering and colour are main factors.

[RSalles]

Well, want to have both! Normally, i don't like too much the modern japanese lenses: it's too perfect for my taste, nearby military perfect, and the contrast is another issue: i have meanings to add, but not to remove, or maybe is the film in my veins that insist to run which makes me prefer less contrasty lenses. But the good japan lenses have a crispy color rendering that pleases the public very much, and me also, when the right subject is chosen. But i'm sure is just a matter of taste: it's impossible for me to technically validate my preferences and i agree with who do prefer it.
Woodrim, the photo 3º is so nice, like a canvas, very well done,

Renato

[woodrim]

Thank you both. I was up early this morning - not much past 8:am. It had rained all night and everything had water drops. I wouldn't call the Series 1 a modern lens as it dates to circa 1977, but can still compare well with new and expensive glass. As I think we all know, much o this is more about taste than technical data. And bokeh is probably the most subjective quality. I personally would rate these four lenses in the order of Vivitar, J-9 M39, J-9 RF, and Meyer at the tail. Aside from the haze, the slowness of the Meyer compromises its bokeh. These are among my favorite focal lengths, so I'll be using them frequently and hope to provide more meaningful pictures that better show their characteristics.

[cheekygeek]

Would love to see the Bokina II (Tokina AT-X 90mm f2.5) in this mix.

[woodrim]

[hoanpham]

That bokina is awesome.
I never knew until now

[Laurentiu Cristofor]

[woodrim]

Laurentiu: WHile the camera was not on a tripod, I was sitting in the same place for all pictures, so it was just a matter of framing, not distance. Field of view would have resulted from focal length differences.

I was out on Father's Day and used these lenses extensively... except for the Meyer. I took pictures of an object while sitting in the same exact place for all images, but then cropped from the right side of the image to display bokeh only. The following images are now in random order so you can judge bokeh not knowing the lens, thus without prejudice. All images were taken at f/2.8 except for the Meyer which was taken at f/3.5. The Meyer will stand out, but the others not so much.