Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/11/22
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]All this talk from Marc about the quality of the Jupiter-3 f/1.5 50mm lens got me interested. At today's Gielda, I saw three Jupiter-3s, one was LTM, and had visible circular scratching marks on the front element. The dealer wanted 90 zloties ($26) for it. I passed. The same dealer had a Contax/Kiev bayonet mount (does one say "CBM"?) Jupiter-3, from 1961. It was dusty but optically unmarked. He wanted 120 zloties ($35), I offered $30 in US bills which he happily took. Downstairs I came across a Russian guy with another '61 vintage Jupiter-3 in CBM, also optically clean, but slightly dinged around the filter ring (Damn! can't screw in that UV filter :-). Offered $25. Offer accepted. So - for $55 I have a brace of f/1.5 Jupiter-3s, the fastest lenses I have ever owned... (thinks back over past two decades... nope, never *owned* anything faster than f/1.8 - Canon's 85mm FD). So: How good are they? I'll find out at the end of the week and let y'all know. I've already started snapping about the house, kids, household lightbulb illumination, lenses wide open. Incidentally, there were three f/6 Orion 28mm LTM lenses; all priced at 350 zloties (just over a hundred bucks). A risker proposition. That old Russar f/5.6 20mm was still there for two hundred. A Kiev 90 was on offer, number 0000xx, with prism number 00000x! Didn't even ask how much. The Leica specialist with his (so it seems from this group's input) faked Luftwaffe M2 was there; this week he had a 75mm Summilux on offer at 4,000 zloties ($1,160). Hmmm. Tempting...