Taken in December, 2012 at a nearby Japanese restaurant. I’d recently acquired a Jupiter 9 lens and adapter for my Sony NEX 5N. It’s a great lens, a copy of a pre World War II Zeiss Sonnar 85mm f/2. There are several versions. Mine is black (rather than silver) and the serial number that indicates that it was built in 1968. I bought it with a Kiev 4am along with a Jupiter 12 (which I’m afraid to use because the protruding rear element looks very easy to damage) and a Helios-103, which I’ve used and is also an excellent lens. Some say it’s a copy of the Zeiss Biotar 58mm f2, but I have one of these and the results seem quite different. Others say it’s a modified version of a Jupiter 8 (itself a copy of the Zeiss Sonnar 50mm f2) and therefore a uniquely soviet design. I’ve also found people who think it’s a copy of a Leitz Summitar so who knows.

I really liked the results from this lens, but I haven’t used it all that much. Why? I think it’s probably because it’s quite large and heavy and of course the adapter makes it even larger and heavier. On the NEX it feels somewhat unbalanced because the body is so small and light.

I haven’t yet used it with the camera with which I bought it. The Kiev 4am is also fairly heavy so it may be that it will feel better on that body. I haven’t shot any film for a while. Maybe I’ll give it a try.