If you’ve been following my instagram, you’ll know I’ve been into vintage and anamorphic lenses lately. I recently stumbled on a vintage 1963 Jupiter-9 85mm F/2 on eBay for a pretty good price. These lenses were made in the USSR after WWII, and they are essentially carbon copies of the Zeiss Sonnar 85mm 2.0. However, this lens was actually in Russia. Buying a lens from overseas is always a risk, these vintage lenses can have lots of problems and it’s not like I can really return it! But, the images and description of the lens looked good and I decided to take a chance. After a long wait, it arrived and I screwed it on my adaptor…which turned out to be the wrong version. The lens was the Rangefinder version and did not work correctly with my EF to RF mount. Another week and the right adaptor showed up.
Emily and I decided to take it on a walk to Farragut State Park, and as I brought Emily into focus, a huge rainbow flare streaked across my viewfinder. I’d never seen such an intense flare from a lens before. Perhaps the protective coating had been removed from the glass? Either way, it was a pleasant surprise, as I love unique quirks like this, and I spent our walk trying to use the flare in a creative way. Aside from the flare (which was only really an issue at F/2), the lens was very sharp, especially if stopped down a bit to say F/8 or F/11.
Traditionally, 85mm is not known as a landscape focal length, however I loved the compression and would consider throwing it in my bag on my next backpacking trip. Here’s a few abstract and landscape shots.
Feeling close to 60 degree weather in early April was quite the treat, and we sat and enjoyed the sun for a while. A bald eagle flew over and let out it’s prehistoric cackle, echoing through Buttonhook Bay. We took a few more photos before heading back home. Thanks for reading!
