Reviews, Tests, Comparisons of Lenses

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Three Lenses With Fixed Focal Length Against One Variable Focal Length Lens, who Will Win? Comparison and Review: Jupiter-8 50mm f2.0, Jupiter-9 85mm f2.0, Jupiter-37A 135mm f3.5 against Olympus Zuiko ED 40-150mm f4.0-5.6

Jupiter-37A (MC) 135 mm  f/ 3.5

Jupiter-9 85 mm  f/ 2.0 (SLR)

Olympus ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 40-150 mm f/ 4.0-5.6

Jupiter-8 50 mm f/ 2

During purchasing of a digital camera with interchangeable lenses I had big question - is it possible to replace a one zoom lens by several prime lenses? Input - the price of this zoom should not be much more than overall price of the all fix lenses. Therefore, the idea was to compare a "dark" product of the modern Japanese lens makers (Olympus Zuiko ED 40-150mm f4.0-5.6) against the three "light" (high speed) or "very light" Sonnar lens systems of the Soviet lens makers (Jupiter- 8 50mm f2.0, Jupiter-9 85mm f2.0, Jupiter-37A 135mm f3, 5). That is the White Tower against the Black Tower ... Well, almost the same as “The Lord of the Rings."...

Lenses, which will be discussed and compared:

Olympus Zuiko ED 40-150mm f4.0-5.6 - made in China

Jupiter-8 50mm f2.0 M39 № 7328400 - KMZ Krasnogorsk

Jupiter-9 85mm f2.0 M39 № 7108085 - Lytkarino

Jupiter-37A 135mm f3, 5 M42 № 867 416 - KOMZ, Kazan

Group photo:

The general impression about the lenses.

Olympus Zuiko ED 40-150mm f4.0-5.6 was purchased along with a camera kit lens. It has a lot of plastic, metal mount, in principle, good ergonomics. The focus ring is too small possible because the lens is autofocus. Aperture is controlled through the camera. In general, nothing more, a typical commercial version, the price, however, is also moderate.

Jupiter-8 50mm f2.0 M39 is certainly not the first freshness, but the lens is clean. All parts that you need to rotate - rotates easily. Which is not necessary to rotate - not rotating. No excess oil - all good, just right for this test.

Jupiter-9 85mm f2.0 M39 spent thirty years on the bottom shelf of the cabinet and as a result - a bit tight focus ring rotation and the mist of grease on the front lens. Since the aperture did not stuck, complete disassembly of the lens was not produced; only front lens was removed and washed.

Jupiter-37A 135mm f3.5 M42 did not differ from the Jupiter-8, was taken "for rent" especially for this test.

Test conditions: no direct sunlight, ISO100, white balance fixed (the sun), Olympus E-PL1, a tripod, volleyball ball as an object and about 2m to the background. The distance from the camera to the subject varied for the focal length. It was chosen that the object took about the same area in the picture for all lenses. The focal lengths were set up at Olympus to match the focal lengths of prime lenses. In this case I face some complexity, because the marking on the Olympus was not so accurate, and the camera did not indicate focal lengths at the Life view. Further verification in the EXIF showed only 1-2mm mismatch. Photos were not processed.

The parameters for comparison:
Convenience of usage
Color rendering
Sharpness at 100% crop
Overall character of the lens and the bokeh
Absolute light transmission. Light transmission was determined by the value of mining exposure on the camera.

Despite of different lens specification (FF sensor vs. 4/3 sensor) comparison was made at the same f-stop numbers.  
 

* What was happened - a Jupiter-37A was a defect - pronounced ghosting. Therefore, the 135mm are only two photos without analysis.

As the number of shots become too large, I chose five images at 50 mm (see table above) plus a 100% crop images, and six (+ f2.0) at 85mm.

Pictures:

50mm

Olympus Zuiko ED 40-150mm f4.2

Olympus Zuiko ED 40-150mm f8.0

Jupiter-8 50mm f2.8

Jupiter-8 50mm f4.2

Jupiter-8 50mm f8.0

85mm

Olympus Zuiko ED 40-150mm f4.8

Olympus Zuiko ED 40-150mm f8.0

Jupiter-9 85mm f2.0

Jupiter-9 85mm f2.8

Jupiter-9 85mm f4.8

Jupiter-9 85mm f8.0

135mm

Olympus Zuiko ED 40-150mm f5.2

100% Crop: 

50mm

OlympusZuiko ED 40-150mm f4.2

Olympus Zuiko ED 40-150mm f8.0

Jupiter-8 50mm f2.8

Jupiter-8 50mm f4.2

Jupiter-8 50mm f8.0

85mm

Olympus Zuiko ED 40-150mm f4.8

Olympus Zuiko ED 40-150mm f8.0

Jupiter-9 85mm f2.0

Jupiter-9 85mm f2.8

Jupiter-9 85mm f4.8

Jupiter-9 85mm f8.0

135mm

Jupiter-37А 135mm f3,5 - Please pay attention on letters doubling

Light transmission:

Conclusions:

Convenience of usage: by this parameter definitely the leader is a "dark" side. Total 220gr for Olympus against about 783gr total for the three other lenses leave no other choice. Plus, autofocus and the ability to quick change the focal length.

Color reproduction: No difference in features and color reproduction was found, all lenses have right color rendering

Sharpness at 100% crop: Again, Olympus is the undisputed leader. High resolution, contrast and sharpness - are its main advantages. However, we cannot fail to note that, starting with f2.8, Jupiters also show a very good sharpness. At f2.0 for both Jupiters shows soft effect. In certain circumstances it can be even an advantage.

The overall character of the lens and the bokeh. Here the "light” trio takes revenge. All three lenses (even defective Jupiter-37A) show more interesting and distinctive image than the Olympus. By the way, it hardly to cal “bokeh” thing, that Olympus has in background...

Light transmission: In this feature again, winning Jupiters. Ability to set the aperture wider than f4.0 (green area) significantly expands the capabilities of these lenses. Even though the soft-effect on f2.0. When shutter speed compared at the same apertures advantage goes to the Olympus. Still, the modern glass and multi-coating technology gives the best light transmission.

The general conclusion:

Olympus Zuiko ED 40-150mm f4.0-5.6

Can take:
Reportage pictures (sports, kids, pets etc.) were fast autofocus needs.
Close-up photos, especially where high detail.
Naturalistic shooting of animals.
Survey of distant objects, buildings, architectural details.

Can't take:
Portrait photo - it will carefully underline any pimples! Just because of the wide depth of field is very difficult to achieve emphasis. It is not always clear whom you want to shot.

Note: Due to the limited light transmission is of limited use in low light. For this reason, there can be problems with autofocus.

"Light" trinity: Jupiter-8 50mm f2.0, Jupiter-9 85mm f2.0, Jupiter-37A 135mm f3.5

Can take:
Portrait photo
Art photo
 
Can't take:
Well ... shortly, everything that Olympus can!
Note: may have certain advantages in low light.

Thus, the answer to our question (whether to replace an Olympus by three Jupiters) - no. You cannot! But there is another, but a positive conclusion - these lenses are perfectly complementary.

Olympus Zuiko ED 40-150mm f4.0-5.6

Jupiter-9 85mm f2.0

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