[bladerunner6]

https://www.diyphotography.net/meyer-optik-gorlitz-trioplan-35mm-f-2-8-ii-an...ferent-mounts/

Just an FYI. Moderator please delete if already posted.

[hcc]

It is refreshing to see a brand selling K-mount lenses, even if there is no coupling between the camera and lenses.
This company manufacture a number of lenses which seem to have some unusual optical features, not necessarily well-known to most folks. I wonder if it would be possible to read more about these lenses in the Forum. Thank you in advance for any input/advice.comments.

[TwoUptons]

The price is double the FA 35mm f2.0, so it will likely have some challenges in the marketplace, but good on them for giving it a go.

-Eric

[clackers]

Just remember everyone, this is not a competitor to anyone's normal 35mm lens. It's a boutique, retro product that produces distinctive 'soap bubble' bokeh, an extra club in the golf bag or however you want to think of it.

[BigMackCam]

Nice... but expensive. It's probably the kind of lens I'd enjoy, but not for that kind of dough... and I just can't get past what happened with all those folks who lost their crowdfunding investments on the earlier models - though perhaps it's an entirely different brand owner now, so who knows...

[TwoUptons]

Nice... but expensive. It's probably the kind of lens I'd enjoy, but not for that kind of dough... and I just can't get past what happened with all those folks who lost their crowdfunding investments on the earlier models - though perhaps it's an entirely different brand owner now, so who knows...

I think it is a completely different group of folks running the company (owning the brand name...)

And definitely different, sure, but is it different enough in the right ways for $899...
Most of my brain thinks that's a lot to ask for a vintage optical look and no aperture control from the body, but then I think I read about a $1,600 35mm f2.8 for Leica screw mount the other day, so maybe my brain needs a CLA...

I like to think the price is a part of the company at least intending to be legitimate and delivering on what they say they have (instead of the mess from the last company with the name).

-Eric

[BigMackCam]

I think it is a completely different group of folks running the company (owning the brand name...)

And definitely different, sure, but is it different enough in the right ways for $899...
Most of my brain thinks that's a lot to ask for a vintage optical look and no aperture control from the body, but then I think I read about a $1,600 35mm f2.8 for Leica screw mount the other day, so maybe my brain needs a CLA...

I like to think the price is a part of the company at least intending to be legitimate and delivering on what they say they have (instead of the mess from the last company with the name).

I like that it's a triplet, and I like the concept of "vintage rendering" (as broad and non-specific as that may be). I can even accept that a small-scale manufacturer with less buying power for materials and 100% hand assembly will mean higher pricing. But twice the price of an HD DA35/2.8 Macro Limited, or more than twice the price of an HD FA35/2... that's a lot to ask for a manual focus lens with low glass count, however novel the rendering. Still, so far as I'm aware it's the only 35mm triplet in K-mount - so I guess it will attract a few buyers

[zapp]

This is your only chance to get a vintage lens made new in small batches. Is it worth it? Why bother? They cannot jump the 1000€/$/£ hurdle and for anything less, you cannot get a decent lens like it. Even Pentax glass will outnumber the Meyer 35 by a factor of 100 and more. Maybe we should just appreciate what Pentax has to offer for half the price. Besides that, it is an interesting idea, special glass with new warranty… made by a company located in Bad Kreuznach (Schneider Optics) quite far away from Görlitz. You buy a name, a feeling and only future will tell whether the lens gets enough friends.

[Mistral75]

(...) I just can't get past what happened with all those folks who lost their crowdfunding investments on the earlier models - though perhaps it's an entirely different brand owner now, so who knows...

I think it is a completely different group of folks running the company (owning the brand name...)

(...)

Yes it is.

Together with Oprema Jena, Emil Busch A.G. Rathenow, C.P. Goerz, Ihagee, A. Schacht and more, Meyer Optik Görlitz was one of the brands revived by a (then listed) group named net SE, headquartered in Koblenz, controlled and managed by the Immes family (Stefan Immes and his wife Regina).

SEMI Verwaltung GbmH, the family holding company (Immes --> Imes --> Semi), hold a majority stake in net SE. Stefan Immes was the CEO of net SE. Regina Immes still is the Geschäftsführer (managing director / general manager / CEO) of SEMI Verwaltung GmbH.

net SE went bankrupt and was liquidated in 2018. The Immes family had been clever enough to locate the rights to most of the trademarks at SEMI's level, not net SE's, therefore they were able to squeeze an additional €250,000 from the sale of the portfolio of rights to photo-related trademarks, including Meyer-Optik-Görlitz (sold €197,000), Trioplan (sold €2,500), Lydith (sold €3,000) and Biotar (sold €6,000).

The acquirer of this portfolio was OPC Optical Precision Components Europe GmbH a.k.a. OPC Optics GmbH, a small company headquartered in Bad Kreuznach (There is a whole optical ecosystem in Bad Kreuznach around Jos. Schneider Optische Werke a.k.a. Schneider Kreuznach.) OPC Optics are a manufacturer of lens elements, in particular aspherical ones.

OPC Optics were a supplier of lens elements to net SE, therefore they get burnt in the net SE debacle too. They thought it was interesting to diversify downstream, therefore they purchased the portfolio of rights from the Immes family at the end of 2018 to launch a BtoC activity under the Meyer Optik Görlitz umbrella. Since then they have also become the exclusive representative of RICOM products in Europe, RICOM being a Chinese company specialising in industrial lenses (surveillance, vehicle, infrared, automation and laser TV lenses).

In August 2021, following several acquisitions, OPC Optics decided to reorganise their structure. In particular the BtoC lens business was incorporated into a new company, Meyer Optik Görlitz GmbH, headquartered in Bad Kreuznach. Alongside its sister companies OPC Optics GmbH and PPO Pfeiffer Präzisionsoptik GmbH, Meyer Optik Görlitz GmbH is under the umbrella of a common parent company.

Meyer Optik Görlitz GmbH opened their own manufactory in Hamburg in November 2021 to deal with final assembly.

Should you have a grudge against the Immes family and their Ponzi scheme, I would rather suggest your refraining from buying Oberwerth products. Indeed, it so happens that B & F Oberwerth GmbH & Co. KG is headquartered in Koblenz too and belongs to SEMI Verwaltung. Regina Immes is the Geschäftsführer of B & F Oberwerth GmbH & Co. KG.

[gatorguy]

I like that it's a triplet, and I like the concept of "vintage rendering" (as broad and non-specific as that may be). I can even accept that a small-scale manufacturer with less buying power for materials and 100% hand assembly will mean higher pricing. But twice the price of an HD DA35/2.8 Macro Limited, or more than twice the price of an HD FA35/2... that's a lot to ask for a manual focus lens with low glass count, however novel the rendering. Still, so far as I'm aware it's the only 35mm triplet in K-mount - so I guess it will attract a few buyers

It IS a lot of money, even for a hand-crafted lens. For myself I ordered a Trioplan-modified Helios 44M for Pentax via eBay last week, so we'll see if it was wasted money. At least it's only $100 to find out, assuming it even makes its way out of the Ukraine but that's beyond my control. The new Meyer 35 is just a tad more (!) than I'm willing to sink into unique but special-purpose bokeh. At the same time kudos to the company for recognizing Pentax.

[BarneyL]

Afaik this lens is not a triplet, but has 5 elements. And also no soap bokeh, but a swirl like in a 20$ Helios 44.

[BigMackCam]

Afaik this lens is not a triplet, but has 5 elements. And also no soap bokeh, but a swirl like in a 20$ Helios 44.

That's odd. The clue being the name "Trioplan" (trio - three). As a derivation of a Cooke triplet (as I believe it is), it would likely produce the (in)famous soap bubble bokeh, but - as with swirl in a $20 Helios-44 2/58 (or $400 brand new Helios-40-2 1.5/85 ) - only under certain conditions including subject-to-lens and background-to-lens distances, background content, and aperture setting...

[luftfluss]

That's odd. The clue being the name "Trioplan" (trio - three). As a derivation of a Cooke triplet (as I believe it is), it would likely produce the (in)famous soap bubble bokeh, but - as with swirl in a $20 Helios-44 2/58 (or $400 brand new Helios-40-2 1.5/85 ) - only under certain conditions including subject-to-lens and subject-to-background distance, background content, and aperture setting...

In a world where a camera company whose name is inspired by a pentaprism would actually produce cameras without one, anything is possible...

[lytrytyr]

That's odd. The clue being the name "Trioplan" (trio - three).

The name also includes "Goerlitz", but it's not made there either. Methinks these folk have already blown their credibility.

[lytrytyr]

In a world where a camera company whose name is inspired by a pentaprism would actually produce cameras without one, anything is possible...

Leica (Leitz Camera) make more than just cameras. Let's at least cut Pentax a little slack here.