M42 Lens Review: Jupiter 9 85mm f/2

This Russian lens is a direct copy of Carl Zeiss Sonnar 85mm f/2 with its specific European character. Many people call it "The Monster Of Bokeh" because its circular and beautiful bokeh it produces. This lens is suitable for taking portrait pictures for its "glowing" effects.

Now, I would like to show you, how this lens performs by conducting a test which is often called "sweet spot test". I took pictures of the same object at the same angle, 9:30AM in the morning, AWB and using ISO 200. I use all of the apertures available. I put the cropped pictures below the original one.

f/2

f/2.8

f/4

f/5.6

f/8





f/11





f/16

As you can see, the picture in the wide open f/2 is a little bit soft and glowing. The pictures getting sharper and sharper at f/2.8 onwards. In my opinion, the sweetest spot of this lens is at f/4 and f/5.6 if you want sharpness and blurry background. But, if you intend to take portraits, you can use the glowing effects of the lens at f/2 or f/2.8.

I took pictures of female models at f/2 to get the circular bokeh and the glowing effects:

The circular bokeh and the glowing models are so obvious in these pictures. That is why I recommend this lens to get the best of model photography, especially for those who want to use Manual Focus lens.

Look at those beautiful bokeh...

If you wish to see other review about this lens, please click here.