Buying a Jupiter-9 from LZOS

Michel Hardy-Vallée · Apr 28, 2006

After a few weeks of pondering and searching, I've decided that a J9 would be my gift to myself for finishing my first MA year of university, and so I've been looking around classifieds and auctions.

Eventually I found out that J9 are still manufactured by the LZOS plant in Russia, and that the price of a new one, including shipping to Canada, wasn't much different from buying used from the various Russian eBay sellers. It looks like those digital toys have kept the prices up, so I am thinking: isn't this safer than to risk getting a turkey?

Or is it? I found an old post by Zhenya saying that this plant was a place where the left hand didn't know what the right hand was doing, and it stopped me for a while. That and the fact that LZOS takes only Western Union transfers or e-gold.

So how is the quality on the new J9 coming from the LZOS plant? How good is their customer service when buying direct? How reliable are they?

srs5694 · Apr 28, 2006

What mount do you want? RuGift is a Russian mail-order outfit that sells the Jupiter 9 in several mounts, including M42, Canon EOS, and Nikon. I don't see any listings for LTM39-mount lenses, though, if that's what you want. Still, you could try e-mailing them; if they're still produced in LTM39 mount, RuGift might be able to get one for you.

I've dealt with RuGift before and they seem to be reliable, albeit slow -- shipping to the US takes about a month, and I imagine it'd be similar to Canada. This can be frustrating if you need to return something, but they do process the returns promptly, within the limits of the mail delays. They accept credit cards, PayPal, and various other payment types.

Michel Hardy-Vallée · Apr 28, 2006

I'm looking for M42 mount to use on my Spotmatic, and gave a look at Rugift. My only qualm with them was that it cost me an extra 40 CDN$ to buy from them, and that's a saving I wouldn't mind doing.

Nick Zentena · Apr 28, 2006

How much does LZOS charge for shipping?

Tom Hoskinson · Apr 28, 2006

I've looked at RUGift and it looks to me like a very pricey middleman/broker type operation.

I have also attempted to deal directly with LZOS in the past - good luck!!

The LZOS (and other) Jupiter 9 (f2 85mm) lenses in 42mm mount occasionally show up on eBay. I have a multicoated example (in new condition) that I bought 2-3 years ago. I have used it on my new Voigtlander/Cosina Bessaflex - it works fine.

I would suggest that you also take a look at the new M42 mount SL series Voigtlander lenses on http://www.cameraquest.com

90/3.5 APO Lanthar, 125/2.5 APO Lanthar, 75/2.5 Color Heliar

Michel Hardy-Vallée · Apr 28, 2006

Nick Zentena said:
How much does LZOS charge for shipping?

From their quote:

Unit price of Jupiter-9 lens is US $67.50;

Delivery to Canada through International Air Mail + insurance to your postal address + customs clearance fees is US $26.00.

Discount for Western Union payment mean choose is US $10.00.

Thus total cost for payment is US $83.50.

Michel Hardy-Vallée · Apr 28, 2006

Tom Hoskinson said:
I have also attempted to deal directly with LZOS in the past - good luck!!

Can you detail your experience a bit? Was it awful or just slow?

Tom Hoskinson said:
I would suggest that you also take a look at the new M42 mount SL series Voigtlander lenses on http://www.cameraquest.com

90/3.5 APO-Lanthar: $295, hood $39. Ouch! I'd rather spend that money on a nice MF set like a Mamiya TLR.

Nick Zentena · Apr 28, 2006

mhv said:
From their quote:

Thus total cost for payment is US $83.50.

Plus whatever Western Union charges you for the payment. So close to $90US.

DBP · Apr 28, 2006

I'd go with one of the better dealers on the auction site. I've had escpecially good results with alex-photo and grizzly33bear, and have heard good things about Fedka.

Uncle Bill · Apr 28, 2006

Michel,

I purchased a Jupiter 9 in a Kiev/contax mount off Ebay from Surovov_v with his ebay store Cameras from Russia and I have been happy with the lens. I am curious how to try out an M-42 version as I have 5 M-42 Pentaxes and I don't feel like paying close to $500 us for a 85 f1.8 Takumar.

Bill
(a former Montrealer)

Tom Hoskinson · Apr 28, 2006

mhv said:
Can you detail your experience a bit? Was it awful or just slow?

Very slow and unresponsive - like they didn't want to be bothered.

90/3.5 APO-Lanthar: $295, hood $39. Ouch! I'd rather spend that money on a nice MF set like a Mamiya TLR.

The 90/3.5 Apo-Lanthar is a super lens! and so is the 75mm/2.5 Color Heliar - I have both lenses (yeah, I'm a nut!)! And yes, these Voigtlander lens are a bit pricey, but IMO well worth it!

Look for an LZOS (or other FSU factory) Jupiter 9 on eBay or at the FSU websites. You could also post an APUG classified want ad.

srs5694 · Apr 28, 2006

mhv said:
I'm looking for M42 mount to use on my Spotmatic, and gave a look at Rugift. My only qualm with them was that it cost me an extra 40 CDN$ to buy from them, and that's a saving I wouldn't mind doing.

I certainly understand that, and if you hear that dealing directly with LZOS is likely to be reliable, I can't make a good case for going through RuGift instead.

Another option is, as others suggest, eBay. You could try e-mailing some of the bigger FSU camera sellers there and ask about a new (as opposed to used) Jupiter-9. Sometimes new lenses crop up, and if sellers know you're looking for a particular item, they may be able to find it locally and sell it to you. I got a (claimed to be) new Vega-11U enlarger lens via eBay a while ago for less than LZOS sets as their selling price. It's got a serial number indicating it was made in 1985, IIRC, so it's clearly new-old-stock (NOS) -- either that or it was actually used but in pristine condition. The point being that new Russian optics do sometimes crop up on eBay for excellent prices.

Tom Hoskinson · Apr 28, 2006

http://cgi.ebay.com/JUPITER-9-portr...oryZ4688QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I don't know anything about this seller, but this is an 42mm mount LZOS Jupiter 9 with a Buy-It-Now price of $70.00

Michel Hardy-Vallée · Apr 28, 2006

I've checked around ebay a bit today, and I must concur with Tom and Bill that these sellers may be more convenient. I didn't think about the WU fee. I think I'll give them a ride when my budget is back on track.

Buying a Jupiter-9 from LZOS

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