Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/03/26
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]on 3/26/01 2:32 PM, Juan J. Buhler at jbuhler@pdi.com wrote: > I'm in the look for a Jupiter-9 85mm f2. I've looked in the archives > for comments on this lens, but there's one thing I cannot find: What > years are the safest to go with? I'll probably be buying from ebay, > unless someone suggests a good source for these things in the San > Francisco bay area, so I won't be able to try before I buy. Juan, mine was a total dog, which was a shame because I wanted to like it. Eventually I discovered the problem was that the focus cam had WORN DOWN FROM USE. I could not believe it but the camera store (Jessops classic in Pied Bull Yard, London) agreed with the diagnosis. Must have been phenomenally soft metal. Never seen anything like it before or since. Got my money back from the dealer. A shame because it had a lovely tonal quality when focused, quite unlike any other lens and certainly superior in look if not sharpness to either my voigtlander 75 or (heresy!) the skinny tele-elmarit. Both of these are fine lenses but a good jupiter has something about it that's unique. Probably uncorrected spherical aberrations! But you absolutely must try before you buy and make sure you do a critical focus test wide open at near focus and infinity. It is easy to blame yourself with this lens because at f/2 focused close, the dof is vanishingly thin. - -- Johnny Deadman http://www.pinkheadedbug.com