NikonGear'23
Gear Talk => Lens Talk => Topic started by: MEPER on February 14, 2021, 20:55:53
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Today I went out on a walk with Z50 + Jupiter12 which is a 35/2.8 lens from the past. Probably based on a Zeiss design as many Russian vintage lenses.
I was quite surprised that lens was able to make a sharp image on a modern digital sensor. But it seems so......
All images shot at f5.6. The corners are general not as sharp as center depending if corners are in foreground or not. Images where corner is in foreground seems sharper so maybe some field curvature?
It would probably help to stop further down. Lens seems free from CA.
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A 100% crop of DSC_1180 to evaluate sharpness.
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A few more images. It was quite cold to walk around......
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A 100% crop of last image.
I discovered a bird at top of mast of ship.
So lens is also good to capture birds........
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Thanks for this. I am toying with buying a used Z50 body, and images like these give me confidence about the camera.
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There is good information on the Jupiter 12 lens here: http://cameras.alfredklomp.com/jupiter12/ and on the commiecameras.com site. It is a copy of the pre-war Zeiss Biogon.
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Is that an L39 to Z adapter?
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The Megadap is a Leica M to Z autofocus adapter.
Then I adapted the M39 J12 to Leica M by using a very small M39 to M adapter.
The one I used is "Voigtländer" branded (non vintage).
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You can easily get Leica 39 thread to Z adapters.
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Yes, I have one of these also.
When I used the Megadap I had just got it and just wanted to test it.
The AF worked well even that it is easy to focus a 35mm using MF.
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I got the strange idea to convert most "foreign" lenses to Leica M so I only needed a Leica M to Z adapter on my Z-camera (seems M-adapters are available for many lens brands).
Now I just have double as many adapters.....as I did not follow my "strange idea" 100%.
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I got the strange idea to convert most "foreign" lenses to Leica M so I only needed a Leica M to Z adapter on my Z-camera (seems M-adapters are available for many lens brands).
Now I just have double as many adapters
Are you still happy with your Megedap ?
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Yes, still happy even that I have not used it that much.
Now I just realized that a new firmware is available so will install that.
https://megadap.net/mtz11-firmware/ (https://megadap.net/mtz11-firmware/)
It is accurate but a bit slow.
It is especially good for lenses where MF is not very user friendly or if the focus is stiff if lens is very old.
The adapter is made for Leica M lenses. When an additional adapter is used to adapt the lens to Leica M mount some adapters can't be mounted physical.
One example is my Prominent to M39. The Prominent adapter has a focus helicoid and this causes that it will not fit the Megadap via a M39 to M-adapter.
I wanted to use AF even that the adapter has a focus helicoid.
The Megadap makes it possible to focus closer which can be useful.
I often forget to do the special procedure to "dial in" the focal length so it is visible in EXIF. I probably ned to write down the procedure and make a small table of the f-stops vs focal length.
I think when using my DR 50/2 Summicon I will always use the Megadap. This lens is actually very good......even that it is a Leica :-)
Also I find a cropped sensor very good for vintage lenses as some appears to be almost perfect :-)
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The rendition of red color is impressive, especially the window frames in the first image. Is that part of the characteristic of the lens? The overall image quality on an APS-C format looks admirable.
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Now I got inspired and after upgrading the adapter with latest v. 3.0 firmware I put on the latest version of the 50/2.8 collapsible M Elmar. I forgot I had such a lens. Can't remember why I got it.
I think on a cropped sensor it may perform as good as the vintage DR Summicron. It can collapse without any damage of the body.
It it not that compact but maybe a bit lighter than the 50/2.
I made the usual test shot + a 100% crops in area where I focused. I used full aperture (2.8).
As you can see the focus adapter works and nice performance of lens.
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The rendition of red color is impressive, especially the window frames in the first image. Is that part of the characteristic of the lens? The overall image quality on an APS-C format looks admirable.
I was surprised by the red color as well. I did not make any color adjustments (as I remember).
The "crane image" also shows nice red color but not as pronounced as the other image.
So I think it may be a characteristic of the lens. I can look back and check if I did some color adjustments.
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Thanks for these useful info/advice.
This device seems to be very useful for street photography.
I am tempted to get one, but I bought recently a Nikon 500mm PF, so I try not to get a '' purchase addiction'' ! ;D.
Also I am very interested with the possibity to read exiffs about f/stops.
There's a big difference of price between different versions, tough.
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I was surprised by the red color as well. I did not make any color adjustments (as I remember).
The "crane image" also shows nice red color but not as pronounced as the other image.
So I think it may be a characteristic of the lens. I can look back and check if I did some color adjustments.
Thank you for the details. Yes, the red parts of the cranes look brilliant as well. You really found a nice lens for Z50. Congratulations! Hope you continue to enjoy the combo.
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The compo J12 and Z50 is very compact and with vintage MF lenses it is so much easier to use the AF adapter and AF focus points can be selected.
I found one more image of the red windows frames and only adjustment is for contrast sliding the right edge of histogram a bit the left to have "full spectrum".
Almost all my FSU lenses are from a person I knew which at that time was located in Kiev and he had a close relation to the Arsenal factory so I got nice lens samples.
Seems the J12 sample is nice. I also have an older version in "Contax" mount. Was told that the older "white" versions where the most consistent regarding quality of assembly.
But some black samples are good as well......
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And here a 100% crop now I have the image in NX-Studio.
NX-Studio works better after I upgraded to latest version.
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Now I got inspired and after upgrading the adapter with latest v. 3.0 firmware I put on the latest version of the 50/2.8 collapsible M Elmar. I forgot I had such a lens. Can't remember why I got it.
I think on a cropped sensor it may perform as good as the vintage DR Summicron. It can collapse without any damage of the body.
I have an important correction regarding if 50/2.8 Elmar can be collapsed without any damage. It can do damage!!
Not that I damaged anything but I re-checked and my Elmar can collapse more than I initially thought. So it can collapse so the rear part can touch the body. So don't do that!!
Don't know if Megadap warn about this now they have made the adapter for M-mount.
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I wonder how the PRONTO will perform, compared to the megadap.
https://nikonrumors.com/2021/11/05/fotodiox-pronto-lm-nkz-prn-autofocus-lens-adapter-now-available-leica-m-lens-→-nikon-z-mount-camera.aspx/
One thing is for sure - it's an ugly beast!
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I have an important correction regarding if 50/2.8 Elmar can be collapsed without any damage. It can do damage!!
Not that I damaged anything but I re-checked and my Elmar can collapse more than I initially thought. So it can collapse so the rear part can touch the body. So don't do that!!
Don't know if Megadap warn about this now they have made the adapter for M-mount.
Russian old lenses seem to suffer from huge sample variation. Yesterday I received the fourth sample of Industar-50, a tiny 50mm f3.5 lens. All three previous samples showed noticeable oblique optical axis or uneven field curvature. But the fourth one, advertised as "serviced" shows no unbalanced rendition over the entire full frame in my SIGMA fp. Finally I've got an f3.5 Tessar-type lens I had hoped for!
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I wonder how the PRONTO will perform, compared to the megadap.
https://nikonrumors.com/2021/11/05/fotodiox-pronto-lm-nkz-prn-autofocus-lens-adapter-now-available-leica-m-lens-→-nikon-z-mount-camera.aspx/
One thing is for sure - it's an ugly beast!
It seems the Pronto has a feature so the adapter can be set to closets focus distance so it is fixed in that position. Can be useful for close-ups and if native lens is also set to the near-limit the adapter will act like a small extender. It should be a matter of firmware upgrade to the Megadap to implement such a function if it is not already there.
But interesting to compare focus speed between the two adapters.
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Russian old lenses seem to suffer from huge sample variation. Yesterday I received the fourth sample of Industar-50, a tiny 50mm f3.5 lens. All three previous samples showed noticeable oblique optical axis or uneven field curvature. But the fourth one, advertised as "serviced" shows no unbalanced rendition over the entire full frame in my SIGMA fp. Finally I've got an f3.5 Tessar-type lens I had hoped for!
The good Russian lenses can be quite good. As I recall I don't see much CA using Russian lenses?
Some has a bit soft corners. Some of it is due to field curvature like the Jupiter-3 (50/1.5). It seems corners has focus closer if focus is at the center. So it may look worse then it is.
Here an example of the J-3 on Megadap. Focus is at center where it is quite sharp (100% crop). If I look at the corners then focus is a bit closer. So lens far from flat field. Think this lens is used to utilize a special Bokeh. First time I see how it performs but I assume I have got nice samples :-) .....this lens was for pure collection as it sits on a Kiev rangefinder. For general purpose I think a Jupiter-8 may be a better option.....if not for the special J-3 bokeh.
The J-3 was stopped down a bit (same aperture as can se seen in picture of the lens). At 1.5 center is still quite sharp but corners not in focus.
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The Jupiter-3 may have some justification for portraits wide open it seems. This test shot was shot at 1.5 and I think bokeh could be quite nice if "used for real".
The trick is to hit exact focus at the eye. Think I need smaller focus points or more light to achieve this.
Focus is a bit front of the eye. But trolls like to tease? ......it is probably a Norwegian troll.....
Think lens would be sharp enough at 1.5 for portraits.