Where have all the Good Jupiters Gone... Gone to RFF every one?

titrisol said:
I'm glad you like them!
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I thank you very much.

I like them very much, and will be doing a comparison soon between the KMZ J-3s and original wartime Sonnars.
THIS J-3 is one of the best ever made. The J-9- followed the Kiev Survival CLA Guide, smooth as butter.
 
I picked up this lens from a US seller a couple of weeks ago, it was attached to a Zorki 1b. Lens is in great shape. Camera and lens were $250 with free shipping. Not a bad price for a KMZ J-3 these days. Completed the one meter measuring tape test, and it focuses about a centimeter short. Close enough for mirrorless digital.
 
That looks like a good one. The 1951 KMZ lenses are German Glass, any most likely a Zeiss rear triplet at least.
The days of truly cheap Jupiters are long past.
 
To clarify, when you say German glass I assume that you mean lens blanks or other chunks of Schott glass taken from Jena that were ground and polished in the USSR, and also the possibility of completed lens elements or groups. Is this correct? Different than the ZKs, which are assembled at least in part from ground and polished lens elements/groups and assorted helicals and/or lens mounts from CZJ.
 
I believe the rear triplets on many of the J-3's through 1953 are Zeiss cut and finished. Just from looking at lots of them.

1950- I have two with Zeiss serial numbers. 1951- the fixtures do not have Zeiss numbers, but look very similar.
 
I have a 1950 ZK in Contax/Kiev mount, and another 1950 ZK in LTM. I have a couple of 1951 J-3s in LTM that have no CZJ serial numbers on the rear lens groups, but look similar to the ZK lenses when you take them outta the mount. I have not disassembled the helicals to look for CZJ serial numbers. I did a test last week of the two 1950 ZKs, a pair of 1949 ZKs in LTM, one 1951 J-3 in LTM and a Jupiter 3+. I mounted the lenses on Sony a7iii, used a tripod, and took pics at 1.5, 2.0, 2.8 and 4, distance about 4 feet, focused using the Sony viewfinder. I really like the wide-open rendering of the ZKs the best, OOF areas are smooth, the J-3 the second best. I thought that the very sharply defined spherical aberration of the J-3+ kinda harsh and distracting; the same circular "bokeh balls" are also there on the other lenses, but are pleasingly blurred out. I also included the Menopta 53/1.8 in Contax/Kiev mount in the test, and took pics at f1.8, 2.8 and 4, and thought it offered more "normal" OOF rendering that the rest of the pack. I should use the Menopta more.

I have a 1953 J-3 inbound from a US seller, should be here Oct 11.
 
I just checked for Zorki/Leica mount KMZ J3's and they have all but vanished from eBay. There are J3's from other FSU lens makers. I would rather reduce my risk by buying KMZ. Well, I will have to stop the GAS on J3's and get by on what I have of other lenses.
 
This one has been out there for a while, a 1956 KMZ in LTM. https://www.ebay.com/itm/16562820008...Bk9SR86MvK_4YA
There is also a seller outta Japan with a 1955 KMZ in LTM. https://www.ebay.com/itm/3253323232...MxOZUhh0drlyClDz8vOAEHaNo=|tkp:Bk9SR-KMiLL4YA
Lastly, there is this 1950 KMZ in Contax/Kiev mount. Interesting, but I am put off by the mismatched colors of the aperture ring and the lens mount, and also the aperture ring and nose look more worn that the lens body. Seller also wants $399 for it. https://www.ebay.com/itm/25564044554...Bk9SR8qh2K_4YA
 
The 1950 lens looks authentic. Usually when they look this good they have not been used because they need to be adjusted. Both my 1950 KMZ J-3's needed the focal length changed by moving the rear triplet. Worth the effort.
 
Strange that there can be seemingly so much variation in how well these lenses were assembled. Both of my 1950 ZKs are very close to the leica standard as far as focal length, luck of the draw I suppose. I think the lens-y bits look authentic, but thought that it may have been transferred to newer mount for some reason.
 
dexdog said:
This one has been out there for a while, a 1956 KMZ in LTM. https://www.ebay.com/itm/16562820008...Bk9SR86MvK_4YA
There is also a seller outta Japan with a 1955 KMZ in LTM. https://www.ebay.com/itm/3253323232...MxOZUhh0drlyClDz8vOAEHaNo=|tkp:Bk9SR-KMiLL4YA
Lastly, there is this 1950 KMZ in Contax/Kiev mount. Interesting, but I am put off by the mismatched colors of the aperture ring and the lens mount, and also the aperture ring and nose look more worn that the lens body. Seller also wants $399 for it. https://www.ebay.com/itm/25564044554...Bk9SR8qh2K_4YA
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Yes, I saw them but somehow was put off. I would rather get an earlier KMZ. This is even though I have a '57 J8 that is just great. And, come to think of it, if I have a really good J8, why would I need J3? Well, not today anyway. Maybe tomorrow. ;o)
 
My latest KMZ J-3. Glass is very nice, US eBay seller said he had lens professionally cleaned and adjusted. Takes good pics on my Sony, but have not tried infinity focus yet. Fails the tape measure test by the greatest amount that I have ever personally tested, about 50 millimeters of back-focus (not a typo, 2 inches). The lens has 6 shims in it totaling 2.43mm. One of the screws holding the helicals together is missing, the threaded hole it fits into was full of solidified grease. Methinks this lens was molested by someone that did not know quite what they were doing.

 
dexdog said:
My latest KMZ J-3. Glass is very nice, US eBay seller said he had lens professionally cleaned and adjusted. Takes good pics on my Sony, but have not tried infinity focus yet. Fails the tape measure test by the greatest amount that I have ever personally tested, about 50 millimeters of back-focus (not a typo, 2 inches). The lens has 6 shims in it totaling 2.43mm. One of the screws holding the helicals together is missing, the threaded hole it fits into was full of solidified grease. Methinks this lens was molested by someone that did not know quite what they were doing.
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I expect the helical is misassenbled. I had one with the main portion of the helical misthreaded. Another- the inner fine-thread portion of the helical can be off. I've seen one with a single guide screw holding the helical together because the slot for the second on was not cut correctly. I had to file it down for the guide screw to not hang up.
 
I swapped out a series of shims and found a combination that works on the one meter tape measure test. Lens distance scale agrees well with measured distances inside my house, although the farthest line of sight in my house is about 30 feet. I will take it out tomorrow to test at longer ranges. With regard to the Sonnar B statement in post #96, "I've seen one with a single guide screw holding the helical together because the slot for the second on was not cut correctly", i looked at the slot for the helical screw under magnification, and while the screw hole is there, it is partly occluded, maybe 15% or so, by the edge of the slot.

Lens has good resolution, does not appear to be decentered and actually works quite smoothly, helicals are not loose or wobbly. Only issue now is that the aperture ring needs to be rotated to port about an inch to line up with the index mark.
Maybe the people that molested this lens worked for KMZ. ;)I guess I was about due for a relative stinker of a J-3, I have bought a number of good ones the last couple of years.
 
> i looked at the slot for the helical screw under magnification, and while the screw hole is there, it is partly occluded, maybe 15% or so, by the edge of the slot.
Wow, that is not good! The screw hole is substantially smaller diameter than the guide screw that goes into it.
 
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