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Jupiter-6 for street photography?
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 29, 2020 9:23 pm    Post subject: Jupiter-6 for street photography? Reply with quote
I have spotted couple Jupiter-6 m39 relatively cheap it seems, in the 12.000 RUB ~170 EUR, the current ebay prices are from 250 EUR


I am no collector, and the idea is to actually use it. I am trying to make my mind about usability as a walk lens when wandering around in cities.
Typically I shot Salyut and it has happened I used the Zodiak-8 for random street photography. The Zodiak weights ~1 kg but the combo Salyut+prism+Zodiak is compact, volumetrically well balanced, no problem for street usage.
The specs of the Jupiter-6 says ~1,5kg but it's a relatively short lens, thick and short.
I try to figure out what how it could feel.
In the 35mm SLR category I have a Vivitar 1 70-210 zoom which is ~700g and it's light, but my Orestegor 300mm at 2kg is unusable handheld. BUT, the combo SLR+Orestegor is ~2,7kg so basically like the combo Salyut+Zodiak, yet the one requires a tripod, the other I walk with all day and is very easy to shoot with.
I am thinking that because volume/weight distribution and size, a combo SLR+Jiupiter-6 will be ok, but I'd like to hear from experiences.

for comparison, left to right, Salyut with basic prism and Zodiak ~2,5kg easy, SLR+Orestegor ~2,7kg impossible, SRL+70-210 zoom ~1,7kg very easy (not for street photography of course, just usability/weight comparison):
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 29, 2020 10:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
You could look at a Soligor 180mm 3.5. It is a nice sharp lens and pretty compact. Lighter and shorter than most 200mm 3.5 lenses

http://allphotolenses.com/lenses/item/c_2648.html


PostPosted: Sun Mar 01, 2020 8:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I never complain about the weight of lenses, so i won t say it s too heavy, but after 10 15 minutes of shooting one really starts to feel the weight. Been what it is i never feel ok with it just hanging on the camera when not in use, i have a Sony A7ii....so i always keep it in my hand. One important thing, the lens you ll buy will probably have a stiff focusing ring, i greased mine three times, if i make the focusing easy the weight of the optical group makes the focusing "grinding", add enough grease to avoid that and the focusing gets harder, with such heavy lenses is almost impossible to have an easy focusing ring, so add that to the equasion.

One good thing about the lens is that after using it...any other lens you pick up feels very light....the Helios 40-2 feels paperweight if i use it immediatly after i used the Jupiter 6.

Smile


PostPosted: Sun Mar 01, 2020 9:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I'm not sure if I have missed it, but what will you shoot the Jupiter 6 M39 lens on?
Which camera?
Film or digital?
That will make a difference to any possible suggestions for you.
I am sorry, I have no experience with the Jupiter 6 but others in that focal length
Tom


PostPosted: Sun Mar 01, 2020 3:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Oldhand wrote:
what will you shoot the Jupiter 6 M39 lens on?
Which camera?
Film or digital?


with film, on purely mechanical 35mm slr, yet I could use it once in a while on a Canon 5Dmk1 I have left, which is basically a digital back for my lenses.

tomasg wrote:
I never complain about the weight of lenses, so i won t say it s too heavy, but after 10 15 minutes of shooting one really starts to feel the weight. Been what it is i never feel ok with it just hanging on the camera when not in use, i have a Sony A7ii


well, I don't complain about weight itself, but there's a limit in what I can keep steady handheld:)
the Salyut on the left of the picture is my main camera, which I have often in my hand with or without grip and even with the Zodiak (~1kg) I forget about it quickly, with Zodiak it's ~2,5kg but no problem to handhold without wobbling.
The Orestegor 300mm with whatever slr screwed to it, say with a Zenit like on the picture, ~2,7kg so basically same weight, but I can't stop wobbling and need a tripod.

the good point is that the buy will be by meeting with the seller locally, so I will have the possibility to try a bit.

D1N0 wrote:
You could look at a Soligor 180mm 3.5. It is a nice sharp lens and pretty compact.


it's not that I am looking for a 180mm specifically, but while searching for others Jupiter (3 and 9), I saw for cheap a couple Jupiter-6 in m39 on the side. All I know is that the lens has a very good reputation, so for the price I could as well just buy it. I have never used more than 135mm focal for a walk-around lens but that could be the occasion.


PostPosted: Sun Mar 01, 2020 5:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
landstrykere wrote:
All I know is that the lens has a very good reputation, so for the price I could as well just buy it.

For the 170EUR you can find Zeiss Sonnar 180/2.8 (the lens Jupiter-6 was copied from) in P6 mount plus the P6-M42 adapter.


PostPosted: Sun Mar 01, 2020 5:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
landstrykere wrote:
... I have never used more than 135mm focal for a walk-around lens but that could be the occasion.


Thanks I was wondering about that. You can take out the 70-200 set at 180mm to try it? BTW, you may need the extra focal length walking around with such attractive rig as Jupiter will be... lol

I second Zeiss recommendation.


PostPosted: Mon Mar 02, 2020 12:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Alex TG wrote:
landstrykere wrote:
All I know is that the lens has a very good reputation, so for the price I could as well just buy it.

For the 170EUR you can find Zeiss Sonnar 180/2.8 (the lens Jupiter-6 was copied from) in P6 mount plus the P6-M42 adapter.


well the point is that I am focused on ZM39 mount. My most used 35mm SLR is a Start. It's very well done camera, early 60's, basically a Zenit with a Zorki-4 speeds mechanism ie. 1s to 1/1000. It takes receiving cassettes and has a film knife. It's a dream SLR. I am so used to MF 12 -frames 6x6 or 16-frames 6x4,5 that I always feel weird to have to shoot 36 exposure with 35mm rolls before I can develop. With the Start, I can shoot N frames, cut with the integrated knife, open and remove the cassette, use the remaining film later. Even if no cassette, use a dark bag (well this also can be done with any SLR and a pair of scissors inside the dark bag).

anglospheric internet is very scarce about the Start. Usually reviews do mention that there's only the Helios-44 lens fit with its custom mount, like this:



but there was a Start-M39 ring produced for it, which did ship with the set in the box. I have few of these adapters, they are not so common but there's always some listed on Avito for 500 to 1000 RUB.
So any ZM39 lens will do, for instance a Mir-1:



besides, i am used to tinkering, and it's often easy to modify M42 lenses for M39 (cut away the m42 thread, epoxy glue a M39 thread with some filling metallic ring, on the mount plate, disable any optional auto-aperture pins and/or springs, paying care of the flange, plan and parallelism but this is easy, just be careful). So for instance a Mir-20 with a M39 thread, on the Start:




or, say, on a Zenit-3:



japanese universal mount systems of the 70's/80's are also easy to do into M39, the Soligor T4 and the Tamron Adaptall, which allows for their whole range of lenses to be used on one modified adapter. For instance a Tamron Adaptall SP 28-80 on the Start:



this is because I have so much the ZM39 mount in mind, for that versatility with all my soviet gear including Zenit-S and Zenit-3. That I have been considering the "white" Jupiter-6.
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