the unofficial Cosina-Voigtlander User Community

As an interim follow up, I decided to do some quick 'tests' of the J-9 on my R3A just to see how far out the focus would be at f2. At 1.5m, the back focus is about 8cm. At 15m, there seems to be no back focus apparent. Same at infinity. Funny thing is, though, the lens seems worse on my Zorki 4...Makes me wonder what's happening.

Anyhoo, while I was messing around with the J-9 I decided to throw on the J-8 for laughs. I took a frame at each of f2.8 and f.16. I did the same with the 50/1.5 Nokton just to see how 'bad' the J-8 would be. As much as it pains me to say it, at first blush the J-8 stacks up fairly well against the Nokton, especially for a 40 year old uncoated lens that cost about $25.

So far I'm only looking at the negs under a loupe, but I will scan them and upload them if I can to show you all.

Cheers,
Kent

More follow up,
A week ago I hadto shoot a roll of colour film for a work event. Honestly, it's the first colour I've bought and used in about 5 years. With the remaining frames on the roll, I decided to do a head-to-head comparison with the J-8 and 50/1.5 Nokton. Not having many frames, I did both wide open and both stopped fully down. I simply placed a bright yellow grocery basket and a bright red hat next to a green slide on green grass. 1800hrs with the sun to my back.

The 50/1.5 Nokton is razor sharp as in no softness at all. The colour rendition is really nice and close to the original colours of the objects. Altogether what I personally like in a lens.

The J-8 came off pretty badly. Very soft either open or stopped down, and there seemed to be a good deal of 'bleeding' of the yellow into the green. The effect is noticeably worse at f22.

Kent

With mixed feelings, I went ahead and bought a Nokton 50/1.5. WOW! The results are stunning! This lens is very sharp and bokehful. It surprised me, that's for sure.

My J3 is now in the hands of Brian Sweeney for some work. I found that I had trouble with it wide-open and up-close. Stepped down it worked pretty well I think. The focus ring on my lens was also very stiff but felt smooth. I started getting cramps in my wrists after about a half hour of use. I was told to put the lens in a warm place for a few days like inside a computer case so I did just that. Well, that did loosen up the focus ring so it was usable but then it developed some rough spots and it was still a tad stiff.

Here are some shots from the test roll with my J3. http://www.flickr.com/photos/fgsemedo/tags/jupiter3/

I'm eager to get my Sweeneyfied J3 back with the problems hopefully worked out.

Edit: Just got an update from Brian Sweeney about my J3. Focus is off about 1m at 5m, .3m at 2m. He said that a 0.1mm shim will probably fix it. It also going to get a lube job.

Post edited by: Nando, at: 2006/09/09 19:38<br><br>Post edited by: Nando, at: 2006/09/09 19:44

edit: deleted double post<br><br>Post edited by: Nando, at: 2006/09/09 05:49