I’ve been casually looking for a good example of this lens for over a year. I really wanted something longer than the Helios for portrait stills and physically smaller than the Pentagon Six lenses I’ve adapted for cinema work. Jupiter-9 lenses are plentiful on eBay although generally in well used condition. I’m really pleased to have scored a near mint example straight from the motherland. This is a silver edition from 1965 that was originally made for the Soviet Zenit SLR. This is a stunning lens to look through and to look at. This is a lens I will treasure and pass down. I’ve never thought about any of my expensive Canon gear that way…
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I did the tourist thing the other day and grabbed my 5D3 with a few old communist lenses…Helios 44-2 2/58, Zeiss Jena Flektogon 4/20 and Biometar 2.8/120. I intended to shoot some video but ended up enjoying the new focus screen so much I stuck to stills. The Helios remains my all round favourite due to size and vintage look. The Flektogon has amazingly little distortion compared to my Canon 17-40 (check out the straight lines on the image of Buckingham Palace). It’s a bit soft around the edges but that’s its character…
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In my review of the Optix auto focus confirmation chip, I mentioned how most modern cameras use focus screens optimised for auto focus lenses and therefore lack some of the focussing aids found in older film cameras such as split prisms. I also said I was content using the focus auto confirm with my manual lenses but I’ve been growing more and more frustrated lately when the auto confirm fails to sound…
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I finally got a free day with some dry weather to take my increasing collection of Jena primes out for a spin. This is the first time I’ve been able to shoot with them together for comparison so it’s a bit of test film more than anything else. Sorry it’s a familiar spot for me (Kensington Gardens) but since I’ve already shot this place to death with my Canon glass it made for a good location to test…
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Carl Zeiss (today reunified) have historically been pioneers in the field of optics with many innovations in design carrying through to this day. Zeiss glass has an almost legendary look and while many of the most highly regarded lenses came out of the West, the East German produced lenses should not be overlooked. I’ve been building a collection of vintage primes primarily for cinematography use and have chosen a specific range of Carl Zeiss Jena lenses from the mid 1960s that were originally made for a medium format camera system called the Pentacon Six…
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It’s paradoxical to have spent years in the pursuit of optical excellence, carefully choosing professional grade lenses based on performance to now be selecting glass based on character and imperfection. It’s human nature to long for the greener grass on the other side but for lower contrast grass that’s less sharp and covered with flares? LOL I’m loving it!
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I’ve discovered the charm and character (not to mention value) of vintage lenses. It started as a novelty having picked up a budget £20 Helios 44-2. I was looking for a lens that could better capture that filmic look particularly with regards to flares and light leaks which by design are hard to achieve with my Canon L glass. I was instantly intrigued with how a 30+ year old lens which cost less than a plastic Canon lens hood could resolve so well on a modern digital full frame sensor and produce such a signature, swirly look…
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I took my new (ancient) Helios 44-2 out for a quick spin and have posted a video complete with obligatory Russian folk music…mute now if you don’t want the Tetris theme to be stuck in your head for the next 48 hours.
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I recently picked up a Soviet Helios 44-2 58mm made in 1977 in order to obtain a more vintage look for film and stills. Sloppily crafted by prisoners with designs taken from a Carl Zeiss factory after WW2, the optics of this lens are every bit as flawed as the ideology from which it was born. And therein lies its charm…an artistic …
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