Meyer Optik making a come back

ma-ledezma · 12-11-2014, 12:37 AM

Anybody aware of this? I had not seen this posted in the forum, so I decide to share it.

Meyer-Optik Gorlitz Lenses Relaunched At Photokina 2014.
Willkommen bei Meyer Optik Görlitz

**arv** · 12-11-2014, 01:24 AM

Another Petzval? It's funny - as the technology goes further, people more and more wish for retro. But during that retro-time people wanted something better, and that wish was the dynamics for the industries progress...

Na Horuk · 12-11-2014, 02:18 AM

Whoa, interesting! I hope they make good products, and not poor products just using an old name to make sales.. I remember the pretty recent relaunch of Helios 40-2, where a lot of users claimed the new lenses were not as good as the film era originals. And they were relatively expensive.
I am still interested in that Lydith 30mm.. should have bought one when I was visiting Germany..

Think K-mount variants will be available?

Dave's clichés · 12-11-2014, 02:52 AM

These lenses were OK in there day on the famous Russian brand of Zenith cameras which were "super clunky" at best, but did produce decent images, however, the deal was they were "cheap". After the introduction of digital cameras Zenith were left twiddling their thumbs and the recent all brass reasonably priced (pledge start up) Petzval lens obviously has opened up possibilities of further lens production, the caveat is they are now super expensive, especially when there are millions of S/H copies still out there.

aurele · 12-11-2014, 03:40 AM

Many of the Meyer were triplets AFAIK.

Althought the Primoplan series are quite interesting in rendering.

LensBeginner · 12-11-2014, 03:45 AM

Originally posted by Dave's clichés

These lenses were OK in there day on the famous Russian brand of Zenith cameras which were "super clunky" at best, but did produce decent images, however, the deal was they were "cheap". After the introduction of digital cameras Zenith were left twiddling their thumbs and the recent all brass reasonably priced (pledge start up) Petzval lens obviously has opened up possibilities of further lens production, the caveat is they are now super expensive, especially when there are millions of S/H copies still out there.

Exactly...
Seems to me that there's this kinda paralogism/meaning transfer...
A brand is recognizable because has sold a lot because it was cheap, then time passes and the brand still is recognizable, but fewer people remember why just because they heard about it a lot, but out of context.
They now have all the good of being well-known without the bad of what made them well-known in the first place... and they can sell for a lot more just because of that.

This also applies to Holga and "lomo" cameras... I mean... 800E for a Zenit MF-1 camera? I can buy those on ebay for a quarter of the price or less... and it's still a scam... I could buy a Pentax LX in good conditions for 200E...

misomosi · 12-11-2014, 04:47 AM

Thanks for sharing! This is awesome news !

TaoMaas · 12-11-2014, 06:19 AM

Originally posted by aurele

Many of the Meyer were triplets AFAIK.

And some of those old triplets are bringing top dollar these days due to how they handle out of focus highlights. They give that "soap bubble look to them". Check out some of these images to see what I mean.
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=978&bi...UqxQY#imgdii=_

The prices for the 100mm Trioplan are crazy! I'd love it if this new Meyer venture were to recreate the old design at a reasonable price, but somehow I don't think that's going to happen.

aurele · 12-11-2014, 07:05 AM

Originally posted by TaoMaas

The prices for the 100mm Trioplan are crazy! I'd love it if this new Meyer venture were to recreate the old design at a reasonable price, but somehow I don't think that's going to happen.

Well, it will be a shame if we have to pay big dollars for such design : they are utterly easy to design and create.
With basics programs for calculation we could all design those lenses these days. I'm sure in some online optic shops, we could even find the proper glass elements.

Back to the primoplan : they are expensive because quite rare. Their optical spec are quite interesting thought : they are decently corrected in the center, and very bokeh-able on the side of the frame. The only drawback is the lack of modern coating (we can't ask the early days to have what we have in our days, i know ...), and the direct light (flare, ghosting).

I have good hope though.

6BQ5 · 12-11-2014, 03:42 PM

Very cool ... but \/\/ O \/\/, they are expensive!! I think I'd rather get a FA Limited for that much.

Mistral75 · 12-12-2014, 08:03 AM

Good news, there are pictures taken with the prototypes shown at Photokina.

Meyer-Optik Görlitz 85mm f/1.4 Somnium © Raffaele Horstmann

Click to enlarge

Meyer-Optik Görlitz 80mm f/1.8 Figmentum (on Nikon D700) © Firat Bagdu

Click to enlarge

Piece of news, since early November the 80mm f/1.8 Figmentum has become the 85mm f/2 Figmentum.

Good news, the price of the 85mm f/2 Figmentum is €599 whereas that of the 80mm f/1.8 Figmentum was €849.

Good news, a third Meyer-Optik Görlitz lens was simultaneously announced: the 35mm f/2 Figmentum (€599 too).

Made in Germany: Meyer-Optik-Görlitz Objektive auf Deutschland-Tour 2014 - Products - News - Globell B.V.

Very disappointing discovery, these two Meyer-Optik Görlitz Figmentums are rebadged Mitakons

Meyer-Optik Görlitz 85 mm f/2 Figmentum (€599, left) vs. Zhongyi Mitakon 85 mm f/2 Creator ($199, right):

Meyer-Optik Görlitz 35 mm f/2 Figmentum (€599, left) vs. Zhongyi Mitakon 35 mm f/2 Creator ($199, right):

"Made in Germany", they said...

LensBeginner · 12-12-2014, 08:29 AM

Originally posted by Mistral75

*snip*
"Made in Germany", they said...

LoL...
If it's true, they could actually be Mitakons made under license, but manufactured in Germany all the same, who knows?
I'd take a Mitakon, however, if forced to chose between the two...

Na Horuk · 12-12-2014, 09:54 AM

lol and there we go! Change the paint, slap on a "Made in Germany" and triple the price!
I've seen some reviews of those Mitakon lenses - they come in K mount as well, but are completely manual, the camera cannot even stop down the lens, and there is definitely no AF and A-setting on aperture ring. And the reviews said the lenses are not that great. You can pay just a little more and get a great legacy lens, or a new Samyang (which has great reviews, A-setting on aperture, but is still MF)

Mistral75 · 12-12-2014, 02:15 PM

And the Meyer-Optik Görlitz 85mm f/1.4 Somnium appears to be a rebadged Helios-40-2, still manufactured by Красногорский механический завод (Krasnogorsk Mechanical Works) a.k.a. KMZ.

Meyer-Optik Görlitz 85mm f/1.4 Somnium

Helios-40-2 85mm f/1.5

Helios 40-2 85mm f/1.5 (M42 to Pentax) - Review / Test Report

Review: Helios-40-2 85mm f1.5 (Nikon F-Mount) - The Phoblographer

Even the markings are the same, save for the "Made in Germany" and f/1.4 instead of f/1.5 (guess what the max. aperture of the production lens will be...

)

The main difference is the price:

Meyer-Optik Görlitz 85mm f/1.4 Somnium: €999 ($1,035)
Zenit Helios-40-2 85mm f/1.5: between $389 and $475 at Amazon.

6BQ5 · 12-12-2014, 02:34 PM

A German rebrand of a Chinese knock-off of Russian designs taken from the Germans probably to begin with. The circle is now complete.

12-11-2014, 12:37 AM	#1
ma-ledezma Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: Texas Posts: 108	Meyer Optik making a come back Anybody aware of this? I had not seen this posted in the forum, so I decide to share it. Meyer-Optik Gorlitz Lenses Relaunched At Photokina 2014. Willkommen bei Meyer Optik Görlitz

12-11-2014, 03:45 AM	#6
LensBeginner Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Photos: Albums Posts: 4,696	Originally posted by Dave's clichés These lenses were OK in there day on the famous Russian brand of Zenith cameras which were "super clunky" at best, but did produce decent images, however, the deal was they were "cheap". After the introduction of digital cameras Zenith were left twiddling their thumbs and the recent all brass reasonably priced (pledge start up) Petzval lens obviously has opened up possibilities of further lens production, the caveat is they are now super expensive, especially when there are millions of S/H copies still out there. Exactly... Seems to me that there's this kinda paralogism/meaning transfer... A brand is recognizable because has sold a lot because it was cheap, then time passes and the brand still is recognizable, but fewer people remember why just because they heard about it a lot, but out of context. They now have all the good of being well-known without the bad of what made them well-known in the first place... and they can sell for a lot more just because of that. This also applies to Holga and "lomo" cameras... I mean... 800E for a Zenit MF-1 camera? I can buy those on ebay for a quarter of the price or less... and it's still a scam... I could buy a Pentax LX in good conditions for 200E... Last edited by LensBeginner; 12-11-2014 at 04:05 AM.

12-12-2014, 08:03 AM	#11
Mistral75 Pentaxian Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Paris, France Posts: 7,527	Good news, there are pictures taken with the prototypes shown at Photokina. Meyer-Optik Görlitz 85mm f/1.4 Somnium © Raffaele Horstmann Click to enlarge Meyer-Optik Görlitz 80mm f/1.8 Figmentum (on Nikon D700) © Firat Bagdu Click to enlarge Piece of news, since early November the 80mm f/1.8 Figmentum has become the 85mm f/2 Figmentum. Good news, the price of the 85mm f/2 Figmentum is €599 whereas that of the 80mm f/1.8 Figmentum was €849. Good news, a third Meyer-Optik Görlitz lens was simultaneously announced: the 35mm f/2 Figmentum (€599 too). Made in Germany: Meyer-Optik-Görlitz Objektive auf Deutschland-Tour 2014 - Products - News - Globell B.V. Very disappointing discovery, these two Meyer-Optik Görlitz Figmentums are rebadged Mitakons Meyer-Optik Görlitz 85 mm f/2 Figmentum (€599, left) vs. Zhongyi Mitakon 85 mm f/2 Creator ($199, right): Meyer-Optik Görlitz 35 mm f/2 Figmentum (€599, left) vs. Zhongyi Mitakon 35 mm f/2 Creator ($199, right): "Made in Germany", they said... Last edited by Mistral75; 12-12-2014 at 08:10 AM.

12-12-2014, 02:15 PM	#14
Mistral75 Pentaxian Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Paris, France Posts: 7,527	And the Meyer-Optik Görlitz 85mm f/1.4 Somnium appears to be a rebadged Helios-40-2, still manufactured by Красногорский механический завод (Krasnogorsk Mechanical Works) a.k.a. KMZ. Meyer-Optik Görlitz 85mm f/1.4 Somnium Helios-40-2 85mm f/1.5 Helios 40-2 85mm f/1.5 (M42 to Pentax) - Review / Test Report Review: Helios-40-2 85mm f1.5 (Nikon F-Mount) - The Phoblographer Even the markings are the same, save for the "Made in Germany" and f/1.4 instead of f/1.5 (guess what the max. aperture of the production lens will be... ) The main difference is the price: Meyer-Optik Görlitz 85mm f/1.4 Somnium: €999 ($1,035) Zenit Helios-40-2 85mm f/1.5: between $389 and $475 at Amazon. Last edited by Mistral75; 12-12-2014 at 02:26 PM.

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12-11-2014, 01:24 AM	#2
arv Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2010 Photos: Albums Posts: 414	Another Petzval? It's funny - as the technology goes further, people more and more wish for retro. But during that retro-time people wanted something better, and that wish was the dynamics for the industries progress...

12-11-2014, 02:18 AM	#3
Na Horuk Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Slovenia, probably Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 11,186	Whoa, interesting! I hope they make good products, and not poor products just using an old name to make sales.. I remember the pretty recent relaunch of Helios 40-2, where a lot of users claimed the new lenses were not as good as the film era originals. And they were relatively expensive. I am still interested in that Lydith 30mm.. should have bought one when I was visiting Germany.. Think K-mount variants will be available?

12-11-2014, 02:52 AM	#4
Dave's clichés Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 98	These lenses were OK in there day on the famous Russian brand of Zenith cameras which were "super clunky" at best, but did produce decent images, however, the deal was they were "cheap". After the introduction of digital cameras Zenith were left twiddling their thumbs and the recent all brass reasonably priced (pledge start up) Petzval lens obviously has opened up possibilities of further lens production, the caveat is they are now super expensive, especially when there are millions of S/H copies still out there.

12-11-2014, 03:40 AM	#5
aurele Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Paris, France Photos: Albums Posts: 3,217	Many of the Meyer were triplets AFAIK. Althought the Primoplan series are quite interesting in rendering.

12-11-2014, 04:47 AM	#7
misomosi Senior Member Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 138	Thanks for sharing! This is awesome news !

12-11-2014, 06:19 AM	#8
TaoMaas Pentaxian Join Date: May 2007 Location: Oklahoma City Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,574	Originally posted by aurele Many of the Meyer were triplets AFAIK. And some of those old triplets are bringing top dollar these days due to how they handle out of focus highlights. They give that "soap bubble look to them". Check out some of these images to see what I mean. https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=978&bi...UqxQY#imgdii=_ The prices for the 100mm Trioplan are crazy! I'd love it if this new Meyer venture were to recreate the old design at a reasonable price, but somehow I don't think that's going to happen.

12-11-2014, 07:05 AM	#9
aurele Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Paris, France Photos: Albums Posts: 3,217	Originally posted by TaoMaas The prices for the 100mm Trioplan are crazy! I'd love it if this new Meyer venture were to recreate the old design at a reasonable price, but somehow I don't think that's going to happen. Well, it will be a shame if we have to pay big dollars for such design : they are utterly easy to design and create. With basics programs for calculation we could all design those lenses these days. I'm sure in some online optic shops, we could even find the proper glass elements. Back to the primoplan : they are expensive because quite rare. Their optical spec are quite interesting thought : they are decently corrected in the center, and very bokeh-able on the side of the frame. The only drawback is the lack of modern coating (we can't ask the early days to have what we have in our days, i know ...), and the direct light (flare, ghosting). I have good hope though.

12-11-2014, 03:42 PM	#10
6BQ5 Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Nevada, USA Photos: Albums Posts: 3,348	Very cool ... but \/\/ O \/\/, they are expensive!! I think I'd rather get a FA Limited for that much.

12-12-2014, 08:29 AM	#12
LensBeginner Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Photos: Albums Posts: 4,696	Originally posted by Mistral75 snip "Made in Germany", they said... LoL... If it's true, they could actually be Mitakons made under license, but manufactured in Germany all the same, who knows? I'd take a Mitakon, however, if forced to chose between the two...

12-12-2014, 09:54 AM	#13
Na Horuk Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Slovenia, probably Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 11,186	lol and there we go! Change the paint, slap on a "Made in Germany" and triple the price! I've seen some reviews of those Mitakon lenses - they come in K mount as well, but are completely manual, the camera cannot even stop down the lens, and there is definitely no AF and A-setting on aperture ring. And the reviews said the lenses are not that great. You can pay just a little more and get a great legacy lens, or a new Samyang (which has great reviews, A-setting on aperture, but is still MF)

12-12-2014, 02:34 PM	#15
6BQ5 Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Nevada, USA Photos: Albums Posts: 3,348	A German rebrand of a Chinese knock-off of Russian designs taken from the Germans probably to begin with. The circle is now complete.