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Jupiter-3 50 mm f/ 1.5 Lens

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Jupiter-3 50 mm f/ 1.5 lens

Jupiter-3 50 mm f/ 1.5 lens

Jupiter-3 50 mm f/ 1.5 lens

Jupiter-3 50 mm f/ 1.5 lens

Jupiter-3 50 mm f/ 1.5 lens

MTF-charts

Jupiter-3 50 mm f/ 1.5 MTF Chart

Optical design

Jupiter-3 50 mm f/ 1.5 optical design

Jupiter-3 50 mm f/ 1.5 optical design

Jupiter-3 50 mm f/ 1.5 optical design

Format: 35mm rangefinder

Type: Prime lens

Focusing: Manual Focus (MF)

Lens mounts: Contax I-III (CRM), M39 Leica screw-mount (LSM)

First year of production: 1948

Optical design: 7 elements in 3 groups

User reviews (2)

Photos (25)

Tests (0)

Owners (31)

Views (40994)

Average price: $255

Specifications:

Focal lengthMax. apertureMin. apertureBladesMin. Focus (m.)Filter Ø (mm.)Weight (gr/oz)Length (mm/in)
50mmf/1.5f/22130.940.5160/5,655/2,2

Additional information:

The Jupiter-3 50 mm f/ 1.5 (Russian: "Юпитер") is a standard fast lens with a single-layer coating, produced at S. A. Zverev KMZ till 1956, at the Zagorsk Optic Mechanic Factory in 1956-1977 and at the  Jupiter Valday Factory since 1977.

Real focal length of the lens:  52.54 mm

The export version was named the Jupiter-3. It was a replica of the German Carl Zeiss Sonnar 1.5/50.

Initially, it was produced using the trophy Zeiss lens units, delivered from Germany as war reparations (including technological specifications, the Schott company equipment, various structural materials, and optic glass), and was named the Sonnar of Krasnogorsk (SK) lens. Afterwards it was renamed in the Jupiter-3.

In 1954 after the supply of the German optic glass had exhausted, the Jupiter-3 lens  was recalculated for domestic glass by M. D. Maltsev. The lens barrel and the focussing ring were also slightly altered. In 1955 the revised Jupiter-3  50 mm f/ 1.5 was put into serial production.

The lens was produced with the m39 screw mount for rangefinder cameras Zorkiy and FED, and with the Contax G bayonet mount for rangefinder cameras Contax and Kiev.

It was equipped  with an iris  circular 13-blade aperture. The aperture control is manual, continuously adjustable, not discrete, therefore, any intermediate values are possible (you can set the aperture in between the numbers). This peculiarity is valued in video filming as well as for creating visual effects.

The Jupiter- 3 50 mm  f/ 1.5 renders very beautiful, flexible image with good contrast and "characteristic" bokeh. The amazing combination of softness and sharpness, as well as beautiful bokeh, made it very popular among portrait photographers. The "german" versions of this lens are especially popular and distinguished for its bokeh.

The following shortcoming may be noted: low resolution at the edges of the frame.

The Jupiter-3  cannot be used without a considerable adaptation on modern digital SRL cameras due to a rather short flange focal distance. Nevertheless, it is easily and successfully used on mirrorless cameras such as the Sony NEX or the Micro 4/3 system cameras.

The above characteristics are given for the screw mount version.

The bayonet version of the Jupiter-3 50 mm  f/ 1.5  has some differences:

  • Minimum focusing distance: 1 m.
  • Length: 50 mm
  • Weight: 145 gm.

Other characteristics of the Jupiter-3 50 mm  f/ 1.5   

  • Resolution: at the center - 30 mm; at the edges - 14 mm
  • Coefficient of transparency: 0.8
  • Angle of  view: 44.5 °.
  • Flange focal distance: screw mount variant – 28 mm, bayonet variant – 31 mm

Links to online resources:
PDF Files:
Posted by: Sergei Borodin   Date of publication: 27.10.2010



Photos taken with this lens Jupiter-3 50 mm f/ 1.5:


***
Autor: var
5 0 5175

diaphragm 1.5
Autor: Saber
5 0 4596

Girl
Autor: stimilek
4.5 0 4446

diaphragm 1.5
Autor: Saber
4.5 0 3759

Mechanical quality4.1613
Optical quality4.6313
Usability4.3113
Pricing / Value4.0613
Bokeh4.9313
Overall lens rating
4.42

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Owner reviews: Jupiter-3 50 mm f/ 1.5

Brian Sweeney 08.01.2022 04:28:17
Period of use: 18 year

Strengths:

KMZ 5cm F1.5 with German glass can match a Wartime Sonnar for performance, and the LTM focus mount is q better/more relable design than the Zeiss Original Typically performance improves if adjusted for the camera to be used on.


Weaknesses:

Far edge performance is soft, some of this due to field curvature.


Comments:

KMZ produced two main versions of this lens: the original using Schott glass, the second using a reformulated design with Russian glass. Production of the two versions ran concurrently through 1956. The easiest way to identify the different version is the fixture for the rear triplet. The V2 lens has a guide ring machined into the fixture, the original version has threads as the back of the fixture. The Schott glass is superior in perfomance, my lens from 1956 matches the Wartime Zeiss Sonnar that it is based on.




ocrakraut 18.05.2018 13:38:31
Period of use: 4 years

Strengths:

the overall character of its imperfections lead to great photos, it´s not as sharp as the helios 103, the corner are weak even stepped down, the bokeh is lovely, and the results are often very useable as a whole composition, I use it very often


Weaknesses:

see the above


Comments:

I guess I will never part with this one