Saturday, February 1, 2020

Leica M3 with Jupiter 8 2/50 Lens

  
     Although I already own a Jupiter 2/50mm lens, when I saw an Ebay listing for one that claimed to be new old stock at $75, I made an offer of $55 and won. After the lens arrived, I was pleasantly surprised because this Soviet made copy of the prewar Zeiss Sonnar 2/50mm lens was indeed pristine.
       Because the Jupiter has a Leica Thread Mount, I had to buy second LTM-M adapter before I could mount it to my Leica M3. I also bought a generic lens shade and cap, as well as a 40.5mm DHQ UV filter and a gold colored soft release, all of which are available for very little cash on the Internet.
        In the photo (above) you will see, also, a Butter Grip, which is a 3D printed camera hand grip that I've found to be an extremely helpful accessory. It also helps to note that at just $20 or so, you won't have to sell the farm to buy this grip.
        Of course, you can read many reviews of this lens that are quite technical, but I never paid any attention to them. Based on my earlier experiences with the Jupiter 2/50, I knew that under decent lighting conditions it would produce the sharp, snappy black/white photos I enjoy printing in my darkroom.
        Here are a few examples.The "Sunny 16" rule was my guide for estimating exposures on
 Kentmere Pan F ISO 100 film which I developed in D-76 1:1. I printed the images on Kentmere VC Select RC glossy in Dektol 1:2.
 


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