Shooting Tips
Although the 50mm focal length has long been revered as the favorite of street photographers, the New Jupiter 3+ Art Lens isn’t great for just one single discipline — it’s great for everything. Whether you’re looking to capture captivating portraits packed with mind-bogglingly smooth and creamy bokeh, or urban architecture at dawn, the New Jupiter 3+ Art Lens produces brilliant results. So, without further ado, here are 13 tips for achieving out-of-this-world photos with your New Jupiter 3+ Art Lens.
When shooting film, stop down to f/2 or even f/2.8 if your subject is within a close distance e.g. between 0.7m-1m. This will ensure your subject is perfectly focused.
When shooting at the maximum aperture of f/1.5, you can achieve a very smooth and soft-focused image and the defocused areas of your image will be drenched in a beautiful, creamy bokeh.
On the other hand, if you’d like your subject to be crisply sharp with nice and smooth bokeh in the defocused areas, shoot at f/2 to f/2.8.
Look for backgrounds with high contrast and textures. In particular, look for trees, woodlands, foliage, water, graffiti, busy street scenes — all of these will yield interesting and incredible images.
Set the focal point where you want it when shooting at large apertures. It doesn’t have to be in the center of your frame — it can be on the left, the right, the top or the bottom.
Become a macro madman and try the reverse lens technique. All you need is a ‘reverse ring’, which will allow you to mount the lens onto your camera backwards and capture super close up macro shots!
During your outdoor film shooting sessions, use a low ISO film for optimal results. And if you have one, try shooting with an ND (Neutral Density) filter attached to reduce incident light. This allows you to balance the direct and indirect light falling on your subject.
Take a step back in time with your historic lens and shoot a roll of black and white film if you’re using an analogue camera. Your images will evoke a feeling reminiscent of the time this lens first came into world.
Go close — as close as 0.7m with your New Jupiter 3+ Art Lens. The closer to your subject you are, the softer the bokeh will become and you’ll be taking full advantage of the outstandingly narrow depth of field of your lens.
Shoot with an aperture smaller than f/5.6 when capturing landscapes with your lens. Alternately, when you are shooting portraits or close-ups, choose a larger aperture.
Want your image to be extremely sharp overall? Then shoot at f/5.6 and f/8 and you will end up with a delightfully sharp focus across the frame.
Shooting digital at a larger aperture? Then adjust your camera to a low ISO setting and you can achieve the same results in your outdoor shooting sessions described in Tip No. 7.
If you’re shooting with a rangefinder camera, don't move forward or backward after you have focused. Always be sure to double check the rangefinder if the distance between the lens and the subject changes (even just a little) to ensure your image will be in focus.
