Legend of the last century, the national lens - Jupiter 37A 3,5 / 135. He is called a small telephoto or a large portraiture, which is true. Jupiter 37-A takes first place in my vote on the best Soviet portrait lens in the range of 85-135mm.
Jupiter 37A Lens Overview
Jupiter-37A has interchangeable shank, which is marked on the lens with the letter "A". Replaceable shank allows you to change the "rear" part of the lens, which attaches it to the camera mount. Regarding the replaceable shank, it is necessary to erect a monument to domestic manufacturers for this ingenious move. With the help of an interchangeable shank, this lens can also be attached to cameras under the M42 thread or "H" mount.
Changing the size of the lens Jupiter-37A 3.5 135 when focusing from infinity to MDF
How to use with modern cameras?
'A' lenses with an interchangeable shank, such as the one in this review, are very easy to use on almost any modern digital camera (both DSLR and mirrorless), just select correct adapter. The replacement 'A' shank usually has an external M42 thread and an 'H' mount (similar to Nikon F). For use on modern cameras, the easiest way is to add the required adapter from M42 to the desired system or from Nikon F to the desired system to this shank.
Jupiter-37A on the ZK
In times of mass use, version with MS was twice as expensive as usual, which actually affects the quality of work. Nevertheless, a lens without an MC feels great with the hood installed. The lens hood can be worn backwards, the hood has special grooves that allow it to be screwed in the opposite state into the thread for the light filter. I know of only one Soviet lens that allows you to put on the hood backwards - and that is Jupiter-37A.
Enlightenment of the lens Jupiter-37A 3.5 135
Most likely, Jupiter 37A became a copy Carl Zeiss Jena DDR MC Sonnar 3,5 / 135 (Sonnara / Zonnara). Both lenses are pretty good, but narrowly focused experts say that the Sonnars are nevertheless better assembled and give a slightly sharper image.
Enlightenment of the rear lens of the Jupiter-37A 3.5 135 lens and the view of the aperture blades
Positive aspects and their brief description:
1. Cheap. Of course, in our time it can be obtained at a fairly low price. This is due to its mass production. This allows novice photographer to get a great picture for low cost.
Interchangeable shank and lens Jupiter-37A
2. Normal enlightenment. But even such enlightenment avoids unnecessary glare, Zaitsev. Removes fear of back and side light. But nevertheless, Jupiter-37A is a little afraid of flare and gives a light veil in the generated image.
Hood on Jupiter-37A dressed back to front and in normal position
3. The lens came with a wonderful case with the emblem of the 80s Olympiad. The lens hood and lens hood are conveniently placed in the case. You can see how the lens cases look here и here.
Difference in enlightenment MS and not the MC version of the lens Jupiter-37A 3.5 135
4. Lens hood in delivery. The metal hood is quite long. It sits very well on the lens. But here is one minus of the lens hood that it is metal, it adds extra weight and when screwing the metal into the metal, the lens hood wedges and then it takes a lot of effort to unscrew it back. So I do not advise tightening it up much.
5. With interchangeable shank. I wrote about this at the beginning of the article. Allows you to use photo systems with different working lengths.
6. As many as 12 aperture blades. Therefore, it can act as an excellent portrait lens with smooth circles to blur the background (it has good bokeh).
7. Non-fixed stroke of the iris ring. Let me explain - the ring does not have fixed aperture values of type 4.5, 5.6, 8, but has a continuous stroke ring. This is very useful when shooting video, when you can smoothly close and open the aperture (and not jerkily at fixed values)
8. The large stroke of the diaphragm F3.5-F22. Pretty maneuverable lens. Jupiter-37A has a function of preset diaphragm... To use this function, you need to strangle the aperture ring towards the camera and release it at the desired aperture value. After that, the diaphragm will close only to the specified value. This is quite convenient when working with manual optics - to focus on a fully open aperture, quickly close to the desired value and shoot.
9. Metal case... As they say - give the people bread and circuses, and here - give glass and metal.
10. It works in minus 15 to plus 45 ° C, it is nice to read about it in the instructions before going on a winter photo walk.
Features and their brief descriptions:
- The weight. Over 400 grams, makes you feel all the "power" of the telephoto. But still heavy.
- The location of the diaphragm ring itself is rather inconvenient.
- Close focusing from 1.2 meters, you can forget about macro. The focus ring rotates 270 degrees.
- The thread of the filter is 52 mm, which is a fairly popular diameter.
- The lens has 4 lenses in 3 groups
On the fully open F3.5 aperture, you get slightly soft excellent portraits, but if you close it, then the sharpness is enough with the head for almost all tasks. What does my copy without MS, 1980.
From personal experience using:
I shoot on Jupiter-37A, even when there is very little time to set the sharpness. The picture is excellent. I really like its contrast, although sometimes it seems dull, in the editor it can be made simply incredible. At aperture of 3.5, you can shoot portraits without fear for the soapiness of the glass. Impressions are pretty positive. Here's another interesting comparison of Jupiter-37A and Kaleinar-5N. Jupiter was slightly better.
But if you need to shoot at least slightly moving scenes, then I would prefer any autofocus telephoto, even if it is a zoom and even if it is very dark (does not have enough aperture) and even if from the manufacturer’s know-how, for example, similar to very cheap Quantaray 70-300mm 1: 4-5.6 D LDO MACRO.
Sample photos on crop (APS-C, Nikon DX)
All photos in the gallery below were shot on the APS-C Nikon DX, crop 1.5x. No processing. Reduced size to 2MP, imprinted data from EXIF.
Sample photos on crop (Canon APS-C)
All photos in the gallery below are shot on APS-C Canon 350D, crop 1.6x. No processing. Reduced size to 2MP, imprinted data from EXIF.
Full-frame sample photos (FF, Nikon FX)
All photos in the gallery below are shot on APS Nikon D700 FX Without processing, in JPEG L, VI mode, the size is reduced to 3MP, data from EXIF.
All photos in the gallery below, too, were shot on APS Nikon D700 FX Without processing, in JPEG L, VI mode, the size is reduced to 3 MP, data from EXIF.
UPDATED
Photographer shared examples of photos on Jupiter 37A 3,5 / 135 with readers of Radozhiva Lilia Nemykina:
UPDATE 2
Examples of photos on Jupiter 37A 3,5 / 135 (This one) and the camera Pentax K10D a photographer shared with readers of Radozhiva Yuri Leo.
UPDATE 3
More sample photos on Canon 600D and Jupiter 37A 3,5 / 135 for Radozhiva kindly provided Alexander Frolov.
There are several modifications of JUPITER-37, produced at different times:
- MS Jupiter-37AM 3,5 / 135, 1990-2002 (prefix 'MC' is placed before the lens name)
- Jupiter-37A 3,5 / 135 МС, 1983-1986 (the prefix 'MC' is placed after the lens name)
- MC Jupiter-37A 3,5 / 135, 1986-1989 (prefix 'MC' is placed before the lens name)
- Jupiter-37A MS-N-30 3.5 / 135, 1983-1984, very rare
- Jupiter-37A 3,5 / 135since 1978
- Юпитер-37AМ 3,5/135, 1990-2002
- MC Yu-37A 3,5 / 135, from about 1978
- U-37AM 3,5 / 135 MS
Catalog modern brand lenses 'Zenitar' и 'Helios' can look at this link.
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Hack and predictor Aviator
Jupiter 37A 3,5 / 135 - good lens. The lens has a pleasant background blur and excellent sharpness starting at its widest aperture. Jupiter-37A is one of the best Soviet portrait lensesIt is easy to install on modern DSLR cameras with an interchangeable shank system.
Material prepared Arkady Shapoval. Training/Consultations | Youtube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Telegram
Arkady, is there any point in buying Jupiter 200a for 37g if there is an 18-105nikon d3100? Thank you.
18-105 can be dispensed with, but Jupiter may come in handy.
What do you advise-Jupiter 21m or 37a for Nikon D3000?
Yu-37A, it is easier to use
Thank you. I read your reviews with great benefit for myself.
Please tell me, the adapter for Nikon M-42 with an infinity lens is used with all lenses with removable fostoviks, or are there any for which the lens is not needed7
You have not read it carefully. Pay your attention to KP-A \ N in the Soviet lenses section.
Sorry, I asked the wrong question. For all lenses with thread 42, do I need an adapter with a lens or are there any lenses for which I do not need?
Yes I need it. All information in the Soviet lenses section is enough to carefully read once.
Privit!
Nikon D7000 camera. “Dandelion Lushnikov” is dumb.
Is the scale of the exposure of the exhibition at all diaphragms?
Yes it will. More details in the section Soviet lenses.
I will sell MS Jupiter 37 A
announcement link
http://cherkassy.chk.slando.ua/obyavlenie/prodam-obektiv-ms-yupiter-37a-3-5-135-na-nikon-ID54CUH.html
Can you tell me the “red price” for this lens with a 4/4 + condition?
I have a si37a ms beautiful optics shoot portraits nature quality amazing lack of lubrication came out on the rear lens just replacing it with helm grease exchange with senite em I want to try shooting with a canon and still a very good resolution can be stunned by rings
will give your ss37a ms I won’t sell for any price, I just won’t find the best
you want to take great pictures take the optics of the ussr - ms it is blue green in the light of helios44-3 u37 I do not recommend tair hard for a portrait u6 zenitars are good even dirty easy to clean 50 alcohol 50 ether disassembly assembly does not present any difficulties so that there is no oil on the diaph I can use a gel lubricant I can recommend like this make your own bayonet drawings and how to focus for inmark
good day. on which diaphragm are this sharp Jupiter itself?
I'm not complaining about 5.6.
Greetings Arkady.
Yesterday I compared 55-200 and Jupiter 37a, photographed the moon from a tripod. And I was struck by the fact that Jupiter showed a sharper picture than a telephoto at 200 (shot on a crop). Does this mean that Jupiter on a crop is reduced to the center?
any lens on the crop only works in the central area
The ordered copy will arrive on Monday. What to look for? Is MC different from his brother visually? (color of enlightenment), or just an abbreviation in front? Issue 91 ... this is good or bad (I think this is one of the last copies during the disintegration ... can the glasses differ in x-kami? ... 91 and 88 years? Should be new ... lying at home ... hopefully not on the balcony for growing fungi. Can it be disassembled - cleaned? Thanks.
MC has a slightly different lens flare. 91 is neither good nor bad. Because of their age, one must watch the immediate instance. If you can disassemble it, disassemble it.
Thanks for the reply.
Another reflection, what color should the MS be?
Words are hard to explain; look at examples on the Internet.
I have not met it anywhere. Well, figuratively, you can? For example: bluish on Ms and reddish on plain ... or really?
I work on Pentax ... there were no problems with Helios 40, is it still the same? I read that with Kleinar you need a dandelion, but with this? Thanks.
With that too.
ms version is more violet-blue-lilac
Got it. Thank.
And here's another question .. on one of my lenses there are dots on the sides, the impression is that of dust, but there is no dust inside ... could it be damage to the enlightenment or fungus?
Maybe both of them, but, most likely, this is a poor polishing of the lenses. It is found even on modern lenses.
I get it. Thanks for answers.
I ordered myself with Olympic symbols. That's just no hood. Who knows where to buy it? Can someone sell? Thanks.
If you are in Kiev you can…. http://fotomag.com.ua/marumi-rubber-lens-hood-52mm-info.html
You can use a rubber hood not native.
Greetings Arkady! I am faced with the choice of Jupiter-37a or Kaleinar-5n. I plan to photograph my family, portraits and all kinds of artistic differences: -D. The speed of shooting is not important, quality and usability are of interest. Will Jupiter on Crop Be Too Long? I'll try to agree on testing both instances.
I will be very grateful for the advice;) !!!
They are both quite short on the crop. Kaleinar is good enough and Jupiter is not a miss.
My test: https://picasaweb.google.com/115262918420027354916/K5NJU37A... The lenses - Kaleinar-5N and Jupiter-37A - are practically equal at close shooting distances: on images of the same scale, the image quality is practically the same. Kalainar's advantage is a wider field of view. At infinity, Jupiter-37A is noticeably sharper. It has better chromatic aberration corrected. Kaleinar's image tone is colder than Jupiter's.
Valentine, in the review I put a link to your test. Thanks.
The test does not have this comment.
on the Nikon D5000 which lens is better to take: this one or Helios-81 N?
These are completely different lenses. For what purposes do you need a lens?
like a portrait
As a portrait I recommend Yu-37A.
Hello Arkady!
I bought yu37, at home I discovered an unpleasant feature of my copy. The inner lenses are covered over the entire area with small transparent dots ... It doesn't seem to affect the photo, but maybe there are some not quite obvious consequences? Your thoughts on the matter.
if the dots are transparent, then these may be bubbles. The instructions for the lens say that bubbles are acceptable and have little or no effect on image quality.
Doesn't it say about some single bubbles? After all, I get a lot of them then ...
In any case, does this lead to a decrease in aperture / resolution (I'm talking about some significant changes)?
“Craters” are also visible on the circles of light in the defocusing zone, do I understand correctly that all this is due to the state of the lenses? In your review of helios 40, you can also see some artifacts in these circles (in the form of two connected lines).
These are the bubbles and poorly polished lenses. If you are satisfied with the finished image from the lens, then do not worry about it.
Bubbles in the lenses indicate high-quality glass melting, in other words, it is high-quality glass. Another thing is that the size and number of bubbles is strictly regulated. Of course, it's better when they are not. They are found in quality lenses of world brands (even in a watering can). So don't worry.
Thanks for the help!
Arkady, if you choose between Tair-11A and Jupiter-37A, which lens would you personally prefer and why?
Jupiter-37A - lighter, more compact, cheaper, sharper.
Thank you!