Format 135 lenses
Jupiter-9 2.0/85 MC (resized)
f2.0 - f2.8 - f5.6 - f11
Jupiter-9 2.0/85 MC (centre cropped)
f2.0 - f2.8 - f5.6 - f11
Conclusion
The Jupiter-9 carries some kind of myth on its shoulders. It is said to be a legendary portrait lens with M42-screwmount and it indeed has its own personality. Very soft when wide open, it almost resembles a soft focus lens, its sharpness increases rapidly when stopped down and peaks at f5.6 and f8. The "J9" produces a pleasant bokeh as long as no highlights disturb it. Also the bokeh is nicer when the lens is stopped down a little. This Russian gem is, especially when you consider the relatively low price you have to pay for it, a very recommendable portrait lens, unless you really need a very fast aperture.
Nikkor-H 1.8/85 MC (resized)
f1.8 - f2.8 - f5.6 - f11
Nikkor-H 1.8/85 MC (centre cropped)
f1.8 - f2.8 - f5.6 - f11
Conclusion
The classic Nikkor 1.8/85 (pre-AI) is a very sharp lens that renders with an extraordinarily high resolution - even at f1.8! The colours it produces are almost neutral, much cooler than the rather warm rendition of the Jupiter-9. If there is one thing to critizise, it's the tendency to cast CAs at high contrast edges. If you can live with that (and it's get better when stopped down), you will get a fascinating lens with this Nikkor - a lens that is fully usable when wide open, and with f1.8 it opens pretty wide.
Final verdict
Now, which of these five lenses is the "best" one and which one offers the best value for money?
Talking a "best" lenses is pretty difficult, since everybody demands different qualities in a lens. If we take all the "typical" lens characteristics such as sharpness, resolution, contrast, CAs, colour etc. into consideration, we might come up with this performance ranking:
- Carl Zeiss Hasselblad Planar 2.8/80 T*
- Nikkor-H Auto 1.8/85
- Volna-9 MC 2.8/80
- Exakta 2.8/80 MC
- Jupiter-9 2.0/85 MC
But fi we also put the average price of each lens into the calculations, the value ranking might look like this:
- Jupiter-9 2.0/85 MC
- Volna-9 MC 2.8/80
- Nikkor-H Auto 1.8/85
- Carl Zeiss Hasselblad Planar 2.8/80 T*
- Exakta 2.8/80 MC
So, whatever lens you decide for - there are many more excellent 80/85mm lenses in the wild - you will hardly be disappointed if you choose one of those here presented.