[Leica] Jupiter 35/2.8- yours for fifty notes....

["Doug Richardson" <doug@meditor.demon.co.uk>]

Jem Kime <jem.kime@cwcom.net> wrote:

>I buy into this system for the camera (body), the feel, the
technique, the ergonomics, the style.

It's what I think of as the "Leica experience" - the pleasure of
handling a finely-crafted object as using it as a tool. Although I
often take pictures for publication, I'm not a professional
photographer, and would rather have the sensual pleasure of using
older equipment than the performance edge which is provided by the
latest technology.


>If you've got a touch of camera shake at 1/125th sec. no one will see
the difference between a 35/1.4 Summilux Asph and a Jupiter 35/2.8.
One's over a grand and the others yours for fifty notes.... But the
camera still feels good and the shot is still the same.

For the benefit of US readers, Jem's fifty notes refers to the folding
stuff which the Bank of England prints, so is about $80.
Russian lenses tend to be much cheaper over here in the UK than they
are in the USA -- with Jem's help I recently bought a 5cm f1.5
Jupiter-3 for about $55. I've just scanned the central part of a
negative taken using it. Viewed full-screen on a 17in monitor, it's
not as sharp as a similar image from my Leitz lenses, but a fine
tribute to 70 year old Zeiss design. Like my 20mm Russar and 85mm
Jupiter this lens is good enough for my purposes - and a tiny fraction
of the price I'd have to pay to get the nearest Leitz or Leica
equivalent.

Regards,

Doug Richardson