Jupiter 8 Micro Four Thirds Review
Soviet retro at its best
The Jupiter 8 50mm f/2, a Zeiss Sonnar clone from the former Soviet Union. If you’re into experimentation, manual focus lenses, or just enjoy “vintage” gear, at around $50 it is a bargain, and can be easily found on ebay.
It has that cool Soviet era retro look, with engraved cyrillic characters and the KMZ logo that make you dream of cosmonauts, spies, Lada cars, and cold war paranoia as well, but let’s not think about that for a moment.
This is a review from a photographer’s perspective. Forget about charts, brickwall photos or artificial studio shots and technical details – there’s people that can do that much better than I do. My goal is to convey the feeling of using this gear in the real world, and what elements it might add to your imaging palette.
Design and handling
Like most rangefinder lenses it is quite compact, and matches Micro Four Thirds cameras nicely. The J-8 is known for being quite prone to flare, that makes the lens hood a must. Lens, L39 to m43 adapter and hood are around 8cm deep – not pancake sized but not that terrible either.
As requested by fellow photographers: I got my lens from artemstore in ebay, the adapter is from rainbowimaging.
My copy has smooth aperture and focus rings, but none of them have click stops, so when out shooting I found myself checking those settings from time to time, if only to make sure they were where they should be. The lens has a reassuring weight to it, without being heavy, and balances nicely on the GF1. For some reason when mounted on the camera, all the aperture, and distance markings that should be facing the upper plate ended up facing the camera’s right side. Funny. [Edit: the M39 to μ43 adapter has 3 screws that allow repositioning the lens - now my Jupiter 8 has all markings on top as it should be! Thanks to Tedolph at DP Review Micro Four Thirds forum for pointing this out.]
In use
Because of Micro Four Thirds crop factor of 2x, the venerable Jupiter 8 becomes something like a moderate tele at 100mm equivalent (in full frame terms). In reality, you don’t get quite the same compression or depth of field, due to the size of the sensor.
Pictures straight out of the camera have low contrast and look a bit washed out, I had to adjust the black point and contrast quite agressively to get an adequate result, and I believe that shows in the rather “compressed” tones of the pictures – you may like it or not, I accept that as part of the look.
My intended use for the Jupiter 8 is mainly as a fast portrait lens with character. If you wonder what do i mean by character, well, think about the spies, lada cars and Sonnar heritage again 
. It renders images in a way you simply don’t get with current lenses, with all their corrections, exotic materials and software aided design. I would describe the pictures as having a lovely buttery, warm, tender feeling to them.
The flattering “glow” at f2 is great for people shots. The characteristic sonnar bokeh,although not that evident due to the crop factor, is generally very pleasant and buttery, displaying a gentle transition from in-focus to blur. It can get a bit busy if there are elements with lots of detail in the background, though.
Portrait, Sarandí del Yí, Uruguay.
Manually focusing a lens this long requires practice. Judging focus using the camera’s LCD is not an exact science, and even with the GF1 focusing magnification, it’s easy to get the shot just that tiny bit off so as to ruin it. Moving subjects become a challenging proposition, and although focus can be nailed, it is an exercise in determination – or plain stubborness.
After some warm up I grew to like the challenge of using this vintage lens on my GF1 – In the future, I would like to try manual focusing with an EVF, I’m sure that would allow for less hit-and-miss.
Conclusion
What’s to like
The Jupiter 8 is a great bargain lens. It is full of character, renders beautiful images, and fits Micro Four Thirds cameras such as the Panasonic GF1 like a glove. Works great for portraits. It is hardly an instant gratification tool, rather, it demands a learning curve that must be endured – and that’s exactly why it can help you improve your photographic skills.
What’s not to like
Manually focusing a 100mm equivalent lens is unwieldy, although with practice I’m sure the ratio of good shots improves. The lens is prone to flare, and the unprocessed images lack contrast, although after proper post processing they can look very special.
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Have fun!
I have two Jupiter 8 lenses and I think they work great on my M mount cameras. I’ve also tried it on the GF1 and obtained good results like you.
The photos you presented look completely different than lenses designed for MFT (your results are great).
Using the EVF does make it easier to manually focus.
BTW, I have adapters for ltm and m mount Leica lenses. I was going to investigate other legacy lenses with adapters, but the prices have really gone up on previously very cheap lenses. Must be that everyone is now buying them to use on mirrorless cameras.
Very nice pictures with a special edge. I think I like the non compensated direct colours…
It’s funny and nice how some Uruguaians look so Vasque. I know there was a lot of immigration from Vasque country in the past and it can really be apreciated.
Nice photographs
Fernando
Thomas, thanks for sharing your experiences! You’re right, ever since the mirrorless cameras have gone “mainstream”, lenses that used to be bargains have gone up in their prices – now there’s a much wider user base willing to use them. On the other hand, I find cool that these cameras give new life to gear that otherwise was doomed to die inside an armchair. I’d love testing this lens using an EVF…soon, hopefully.
Fernando, are you from Spain? You’re absolutely right, there’s quite a bit of Vasque DNA in Uruguay, and particularly on the countryside. Thanks for your kind comments.
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Very nice review!
What really strikes me is that I got quite similar results out of my Zeiss Tessar 50mm; especially close-up, the bokeh is out of this world… I have to shoot with this lens more often… cf. http://massenbelichtungswaffen.de/2011/02/glimpse/
Regards
Stephan
great samples, interesting lens!
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Great review!
From what you posted, I would say that the results are very “film like”. This is a look I like, especially for people and portraits.
I have an Industar LD61, 55mm f/2.8 from the Soviet era Ukrain. Like the Jupiter 8 it is a great bargain (about $19.00) and a very good portrait lens but like the Jupiter lens is suceptible to flare and ghosting. A hood is a must outdoors but if you are cognizant about the position of the sun not really a problem. Indoors no issue at all. Heavy haze outdoors is the porblem as you are often not aware of the position of the sun but the lens sure is! I think you will notice a little less contrast than with a modern lens too. Anyway, tweaking the contrast in PP pretty much solves that problem.
I love the posted images, especially the child on the horse.
You really did a nice job with this review, especially with the picture half procesed and half unprocessed.
One final comment-that is one sexy lens hood. Makes me want to order a martini-shaken, not stirred and dry, very dry.
Tedolph
I have one of those with a M39-Micro4/3 adapter. I’ve used with my former GF1, but now with my Olympus E-P2, and it’s probably the best lens you can buy for the money.
Focusing with the great (in many ways) Olympus external viewfinder is possible event without the zoom aid
In my copy, I don’t have to adjust constrast so much: pictures come usable from the scracth: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=jupiter-8&w=14167171%40N03&z=m&s=int (those are processed, though)
Thanks for the review. I love this kind of review. It shows me just what I am interested in. I might get myself one of these and have a play with it.
wonderful eye for composition. really good photos, like exceptional, 12 kids from school, “marvelous” OH yea, good review. i am a GF1 owner myself, and am using Hexanon lenses, “from my old cameras” they work super also, i bought cheap adapters for 20 bucks out of New York. However, i need to learn the eye look, ” camera composition ” you get , use. cheers from Thomas in Vancouver Canada. See you behind the lens.
Thanks for the review. Nice pictures.
I just ordered one myself.
Where did you get the hood?
Hey guys, thanks for the comments.
Stefan, thanks for sharing!
Tedolph, I agree with you regarding the organic texture, almost film like. This is something I’ve always liked about the GF1, the images it renders have this quality…add a vintage lens, and the effect is even more visible. At least with my copy of the lens, the hood is a must. I had haze issues even on cloudy days. BTW, the hood is sexy, ain’t it?
Ganso, the Olympus PEN series work great for vintage lenses. Not only you have a high quality external viewfinder, but also all lenses are stabilized. Thats huge!
TomR and Ulli, thanks for passing by!
Bombova, thanks for the compliments. I’m sure those hexanons are killer! They have quite a good reputation (some of them favourably compare to their leica counterparts for what i’ve heard!). Would love seeing some pics taken with them…
Johannes, I got the hood from heavystar in ebay (40.5mm Screw-in Vented & Tilted Hood).
I love the look of that, what lens hood is that my friend?
A great review, and you have motivated me to explore the possibilities of this lens. Thank You
Excellent post, I also love to shoot vintage lenses on my M9 and M6, there are many examples on my website. Cheers Jason
Hi, wonderful post. I also enjoy shooting vintage lenses on my M9, M6. I’ve had some very pleasing results, it’s quite possible to get amazing glass with a little luck of course!!! There are many examples on my website. I look forwards to reading more posts, I really like your photographic style. Cheers Jason
Nice post. I bought one myself from artemstore. Hehe
Thanks
Yes. Where did you purchase the lens hood. I also want that setup for my G3.
Thanks again
Hallo nico,
“….I got the hood from heavystar in ebay (40.5mm Screw-in Vented & Tilted Hood).”
I guess you answered this already.. Hehe