Better choice between 2 lenses

[hexi]

Hi all

As i browse this forum more and more, i also discover the lenses that help to take all those great shots posted by many.

so lacking a lense for portraits , i have 2 135mm though ( Sonnar and Md Rokkor ), my choice goed for a Jupiter 9 85mm. But as i discovered the Meyer Trioplan 100mm i'm hesitating, cause this lens and its rendtion are superb. Of course if i had money i would take both lenses, but for now i must choose one.

so any advices are welcome, thank you

[Carlsson]

My vote for the Jupiter-9. Much better to handle. With the Trioplan you can run in situations where it's "craziness" is not controllable (without stopping down).
For portraits I like the Jupiter-9 much more. The only problem is flare, there are hoods available, somtimes for the price of the lens. So I made one on my own

If you like, some samples, taken between f2-f2.8. I have the later black one.

[zewrak]

Super Takumar 85/1.9

[luisalegria]

Jupiter 9 is the cheapest and easiest to find of the classic 85mm lenses.

Other 85mm-type portrait lenses tend to cost at least 3X as much.

[martinsmith99]

90mm Tamron or Volna-3?

[spiralcity]

Are you shooting FF or crop cameras?

With a crop camera a good 55mm or 58mm works perfect as a portrait lens. I tend to use my 58mm Biotar on my Pentax when I shoot portraits.

FF I would use a longer lens.

[Gus Helios]

I agree with carlsson, I have the jupiter, the trioplan and the Helios 44m.

The Trioplan is just too unpreditable in my experience... it seems to change everytime I shoot with it. I have got some nice portraits and then 8 shots later the background goes all crazy swirly.

The jupiter is a fine lens, 'portrait' soft wide open, with a nice soft glow, and sharpens up pretty quick and by F4 it looks is sharp and still has a nice background.

But as spiralcity says... the 58mm of the Helios or Biotar is very nice on a crop sensor. And it gets more use than the other two on my pentax.

If you want a wild lens the trioplan is that and more. I really like mine, but if you really are looking for portraits I would choose the the Jupiter 9 over it.

Jupiter 9 F4

[Mal1905]

Although the S-M-C Takumar 1.8/85 and Helios-40 1.5/85 are my current favourite portrait lenses, the Jupiter-9 is well capable of competing with either when stopped down.

As has already been mentioned, the Trioplan can be just plain crazy sometimes. And not always good crazy

Bide your time and search carefully, and I have no doubt that the Jupiter-9 will come up at a reasonable price. There are lots of them out there, and not all of them cost the earth

[no-X]

I prefer Trioplan to Jupiter. It's true, that Trioplan can have crazy bokeh at f/2.8 (not always), but stopped down a bit, it's very smooth and really retro...

[martinsmith99]

I like those images. What aperture was used?

[no-X]

I'm not sure, if the question was intended for me, but the first one is f/2.8-f3.2 and the two others somwhere between f/4-f/5.6. I don't remember exactly.

I'd say, that at f/2.8 the lens creates glow and circle OOFLs. At f/3.2 slight glow persists, the circles are almost eliminated, bokeh is unusual, retro, but pleasant (at least for my eyes). At f/4 glow it is almost eliminated, circles also, but bokeh is still very characteristical. At f/5 or more, bokeh is almost uniformly smooth. At f/5.6 sharpness is significantly higher, at f/8 the lens is really sharp.

Some time ago I posted this sharpness test (100% crops):

[Orio]

What a great child portrait, Gus!
I love it when children portraits are taken into THEIR dimension of life, that is the dimension of play, instead of the more serious dimension of the adults.
Here there is the playful, there is a great and unusual, very fresh framing concept, and there is the great colour match of the leaves with the green of the eyes.
A masterpiece, and I really wonder how is that this portrait hasn't got any comment yet!! Sometimes the best photos can strangely pass unnoticed.

-

[estudleon]

I really like the J-9. I used it a lot.

But in this forum, I saw a vivitar pre set 1,8/85, and I fall in love with it.

I bought one. Now is my favorite. A bit rare the bokeh at 1,8 (rare and beautifull too). Lens in the cold side (a bit only), with the classic excelent sharpness of planar design at F/4 to 11 -better at F/5,6 - 8.

The warmish J-9 has a place in my pics; it has certain don't know what.

Rino.

[hexi]

Thank you all for the information. The rendition of the Jupiter 9 is superb, and if its results are less "crazy" that the Trioplan its better. Though i don't mind i'm being crazy sometimes

the handling is important to me. i think the jupiter is a bit shorter , therefore easier to handle. anyway i saw that the Trioplan is more rare on ebay, but last night on ebay i saw one at 49€ , gone of course. So i think it'll be Jupiter, for a start.

[spiralcity]

[estudleon]

Hi Gus.

The portraits of your daughter are excelents. I didn't say anything here because I thought that we had see this pic before in the forum (if I don't remember bad) and said how much i like them in other topic.

I don't think that the good pics have gone without any word of us. Almost all congratulate and always animate to the photographer who shows a good photo. Sincerely I beleave that.

Rino.

[Gus Helios]

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the kind words about the leaf girl... It was a shot taken my first day out with the Jupiter 9. And Rino, I have used it so
many times in the other forums (and maybe even this one) as an example of the Jupiter 9, that I just assume everyone has seen it. So I did not
expect the comments but always do appreciate them.

Orio thank you for capturing with words what I like about this shot. She really was in her own little play world. As I was shooting
some tests shots with my 'new' J-9 of the trunk of the big leaf plant


She was hiding in those leaves trying to get my attention... I turned and got a couple of snaps before she completely covered her face with the leaves.
It is still one of my favorite quicksnaps of the kids, and how could I not love the Jupiter 9 after giving me that on the first day? To me, that shot alone
was worth the money I paid for it...

I got another shot that day, that is very different but I also really like it, it captures her fearless nature as she explores her own 'little' world.
It is really one that maybe only her parents would love, but it is so 'her' personality...


Thanks again...