The Russian Invasion Continues: Lens Test for Mir 24M and Jupiter-9

C

Chris Watson

Well-known member
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]Just did a test video and some side by side shots of my two new Russian lenses, the Mir 24 and Jupiter-9. Unfortunately Vimeo does something with the file that washes it out so seeing just how much contrast that Mir 24 has and the way it captures colors gets lost in translation. What you can see clearly is how sharp it is though. It might even be sharper than the sensor. The 720P file is there for download if you want to see something a little closer to what was captured in camera.

http://vimeo.com/11640891

The J-9 I'm starting to like the more I work with it. I wasn't crazy about it at first because of how it is outside wide open but stopped down to 2.8, it's starting to grow on me. Also, the bokeh is very, very nice. Another point in its favor is that it doesn't do that glowing effect indoors wide open so I'm really curious what kind of performance it will give me at a dark reception. I'll let you know after this Saturday's wedding with some still shots.

So to sum up: get the Mir 24 if you see it for sale. You want this lens. The J-9 on the other hand is one you might want to give some thought to and see if it's right for you. Its look might be something you like. For me, I think I'll start saving up for the Helios 40 as that fits more of the kind of look I want for our productions. Hope this is helpful!

Chris W
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how much did you pay for jupiter 9? Im shopping one right now, want to get it under $100 for sure.
 
Got mine from a private seller in Spain for $125 shipped. They usually retail on ebay for about that much before shipping. It's a nice lens once it's stopped down but I don't know how useful it is wide open. That glowing effect bugs me a little.

Chris W
 
funny,


I like the Jupiter lens better, something about the look of it looks amazing to me. On the other hand the MIR looks very sharp, but I think that can actually be a drawback when filming people because of anything on their skin would stand out.


Regardless great post!
 
In fairness, the Jupiter is a portrait lens and I have yet to shoot people with it so maybe I'm not seeing its full potential just yet. I do know that I keep coming back to it and finding new things I like about it. At f/2 it's not workable at least for me but after 2.8, it becomes quite a different (and better) lens. Do you shoot wide open with the lens or stop it down?

Chris W
 
Chris Watson said:
In fairness, the Jupiter is a portrait lens and I have yet to shoot people with it so maybe I'm not seeing its full potential just yet. I do know that I keep coming back to it and finding new things I like about it. At f/2 it's not workable at least for me but after 2.8, it becomes quite a different (and better) lens. Do you shoot wide open with the lens or stop it down?

Chris W
Click to expand...


I shoot wide open and stopped down. The problem is though that at 85mm it simply would not work for the kind of work I do. I mostly shoot wide , 16mm-24mm area and very seldom do I ever go further than 50mm.

At that price though ( $80-120 ) area it's definitely something good to have just in case.
 
I got the 85 since there are situations where one comes in handy in my line of work. It's especially useful when I want to film the close up camera for the first dance at a wedding reception without having to turn on the light. That's why I was a little bummed when I noticed the glowing effect wide open. I want to use this all the way open and still have it look somewhat normal. It's still a useful lens and the look it gives my footage makes it worthy of staying in my camera bag. It's just that I'll need to get maybe a Samyang 85 1.4 to cover low light events at the reception.
 
The Mir 24N which is the Nikon mount sells for around $99 from Russia plus shipping. The 24M which is an M42 mount and the one I have usually goes for $120-$150. I got mine for $109 shipped from a private seller in Chicago.

Russian lenses are the best of both worlds. They are not only incredible bargains (except for the Helios 40-2) but they also have excellent optics and that indefinable "Russian Mojo' going on for them. I'm very happy with the three I have so far and plan on getting more.

Chris W
 
I've had a Jupiter-9 kicking around at home for a year now, bought it when I first planned on getting a 5DII
I star tested it shortly after buying and found massive amounts of coma wide open and down to f/5.6 as I recall, which rather bummed me as I was planning to use it for astrophotography.
I think I posted something on here back then, it's probably buried deep in the pre-cambrian strata now!
Dave
 
Are all M42 to EOS adapters the same? I'm looking at a metal one on ebay for $8. It says it's equipped with a lock and stop pin...
 
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