[Leica] Jupiter-3 50/1,5 - first impressions

[William Gower <w.gower@home.com>]

Caveat: If you are only interested in lenses worth > $1000, skip this
posting.

Caveat 2: I'm not out gunning for Erwin. He's an expert, I'm not.

I picked up a Jupiter-3 50mm f1,5 on the weekend for 60 bucks. I figured
what the hell. After being stunned by the performance of my non-coated 90/4
Elmar, I'm hooked on cheap LTM's.

It's a early Jupiter (serial number 5902210), overall not in bad shape (save
for "cleaning marks")

I ran some shots and just got the prints back today (Kodak TCN400 and my
local (and decent) 1hr. lab). My findings (all done handheld):

wide open there is decent center sharpness, but nothing to write home to
mother about. Contrast is on the low side of average, and well below my old
Nikkor 1,4 wide open (non-AI). Bokeh is nauseating.

Center sharpness picks up at f2, but contrast is still low. Bokeh still
nauseating.

All of a sudden at 2,8 - ka-pow. Contrast and sharpness equal to my f1,4 and
f2 Nikkors. It's like night and day. Bokeh remains unpleasant.

From apertures 2,8 to 8 it's a decent performer. Doesn't hold up to my 50
Summicron, but it's as good as my F mount Nikkors (which are very good).

My question is:

Is this consistent with what others have experienced with the Jupiter-3, or
is the wide open performance of my sample below average. For some reason,
the lens seems to perform much better wide open at 1 to 1.5m than it does at
2.5 to 5m. Anyone care to explain ?

I don't know what I was expecting, but in the archives there was a posting
that one individual stated that the difference in performance of the
Jupiter-3 and Noct was not perceptible in some slides shot handheld.

Which leaves me wondering, that:

A. My Jupiter-3 must be really crappy.

B. The lenscap on the Noct was left on.


Regards

William