Meyer Optik Gorlitz

[d30gaijin]

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Anyone using Meyer Optik lenses, old or new?

[d30gaijin]

A couple of months ago I came across this beauty on eBay.  It's an LTM mount, rangefinder coupled, Meyer Optik 50mm f/2.9 Trioplan.  Not easy to find from my experience.  One has to like the way the Meyer Optik lenses render.  Regardless how much one stops down they never get sharp in the corners.  But the central 2/3rd are worth the price of admission.  Gorgeous colors, nice contrast, and excellent detail.  I bought this one after having purchased a brand new pair of Meyer Optik lenses in Leica M mount.  Their 58mm f/1.9 Primoplan and 30mm f/3.5 Lydith.  Sad thing is none of their (Meyer Optik) current lenses are rangefinder coupled.

 

 

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[d30gaijin]

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[Pyrogallol]

I bought a 150mm f5.5 in Leica screw, uncoupled. After that I found a 180mm and 250mm f5.5 in Exakta mount, which I can use with an Exakta to Leica screw adaptor I have.

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[jerzy]

vor 5 Stunden schrieb d30gaijin:

It's an LTM mount, rangefinder coupled

yes, it is using mount from FED/Industar so coupling shall be more or less accurate. Was it originally produced in Altix V mount? Someone who has Thiele list (Großes Fabrikationsbuch Meyer-Optik) could possibly check it based on serial number of the lens

[nwphil]

old - trioplan 100mm f2.8 red V. Known for the "soap bubble" bokeh highlights effect when wide open.

it's an exacta mount but I have adapter for lm and canon ef - have to find now a RF mount

Edited April 17, 2022 by nwphil

[d30gaijin]

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On 4/16/2022 at 1:58 AM, jerzy said:

yes, it is using mount from FED/Industar so coupling shall be more or less accurate. Was it originally produced in Altix V mount? Someone who has Thiele list (Großes Fabrikationsbuch Meyer-Optik) could possibly check it based on serial number of the lens

Of that I have no idea but suppose it could be a FED/Industar based lens.  All I know is it works and focuses perfectly so I reckon someone took a lot of time to do it right.  They spent a good deal of time making and installing a proper aperture scale and calibrating the focusing scale, not to mention installing the Meyer Optik lens in the lens mount assembly.  Whoever might have done it, well I am very grateful to them.  It's a beautiful lens in LTM.  Considering I paid less than US$200 I am very happy to have a Meyer Optik 50mm f/2.9 Red V lens in an LTM mount.  I wish you could have been more help to me but so it goes.

Edited April 19, 2022 by d30gaijin

[zeitz]

7 hours ago, d30gaijin said:

wish you could have been more help to me

What help are you looking for?  Apparently no one on the forum is using the lens.  The lens is rare in LTM mount because it is custom made as Jerzy said.  You might want to post pictures using this lens on the View through Older Glass thread in the Lens section of the forum.

7 hours ago, d30gaijin said:

calibrating the focusing scale

All lenses of a given focal length require the same focusing movement, regardless of manufacturer.  The focusing scale will also be the same.  So the lens assembly can be moved from one focusing mount to another as long as it is installed/shimmed properly for infinity.

[qqphot]

I have a 50mm f/2.9 Trioplan in the usual Exakta mount. In my opinion it is interesting mostly because it is bad in interesting ways, for instance the strange bokeh and overcorrected spherical aberration causing defocused point sources to become soap-bubbles.  I guess it would be interesting to play with in LTM mount but I mostly use it on digital.

I also have a 120mm Trioplan in Exakta mount, this shares very little of the shorter Trioplan's strangeness, it's a typical 30s longish lens, fairly well behaved.

Both are nice in being fairly easy to disassemble, though reassembling the 50mm's iris was not much fun, after a blade randomly came loose.

 

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Edited April 28, 2022 by qqphot

[d30gaijin]

On 4/19/2022 at 5:39 AM, zeitz said:

What help are you looking for?  

Anything that might be of help identifying this lens or its origination.

I hope you'll pardon me, but I an a 73 year old asshat that does recognize the uncalled for snark in your response.

Edited May 4, 2022 by d30gaijin

[zeitz]

4 hours ago, d30gaijin said:

Anything that might be of help identifying this lens or its origination.

Jerzy gave you the response regarding its provenance.  You likely have the only one in the world in this configuration.

I am sorry I came across a snarky, but I don't think there is any other information to be had.  And I reiterate that all 50mm lenses need the same movement to get from infinity to another distance, so the focusing mount wouldn't require any changes other than mounting the optics at the proper distance.  The focusing scale would also be unchanged.

[d30gaijin]

On 5/4/2022 at 8:16 PM, zeitz said:

Jerzy gave you the response regarding its provenance.  You likely have the only one in the world in this configuration.

I am sorry I came across a snarky, but I don't think there is any other information to be had.  And I reiterate that all 50mm lenses need the same movement to get from infinity to another distance, so the focusing mount wouldn't require any changes other than mounting the optics at the proper distance.  The focusing scale would also be unchanged.

I do not believe that to be true.  But thank you for your unhelpful reply.  No wonder newcomers feel the way they do about Leica.  Folks like you tend to make them unwelcome, as you have me.  And I have 25 years of Leica experience, thank you.

[rfaspen]

I'm reminded of that 80's country song ---

"Lookin for snark in all the wrong places"

Or something like that :). Honestly though, I don't see it.  Unfortunate.

I have a Meyer in exakta mount.  It has haze and possibly fungus, and heavy use wear.  I don't even remember the focal length, but I suspect its a 50.  Clearly, I don't use it.  I wouldn't mind some Meyer in LTM or M.  Always on the lookout...

[d30gaijin]

I give up.  Trying to provide/find info here seems of less importance than others berating others.

I'll go back to hard copy, sadly.

[JMF]

On 4/19/2022 at 12:48 AM, d30gaijin said:

Of that I have no idea but suppose it could be a FED/Industar based lens.  All I know is it works and focuses perfectly so I reckon someone took a lot of time to do it right.  They spent a good deal of time making and installing a proper aperture scale and calibrating the focusing scale, not to mention installing the Meyer Optik lens in the lens mount assembly.  Whoever might have done it, well I am very grateful to them.  It's a beautiful lens in LTM.  Considering I paid less than US$200 I am very happy to have a Meyer Optik 50mm f/2.9 Red V lens in an LTM mount.  I wish you could have been more help to me but so it goes.

Hi,

recently, some  photos  that might interest you were shared here on LUF , see links below.

They were taken with a Leica M converted 1957 Meyer-Optik Goerlitz Trioplan 50/2.9 V:

 

https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/268173-the-view-through-older-glass/page/457/#comment-4426205

 

and here:

https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/268173-the-view-through-older-glass/page/457/#comment-4426682

Best regards, JM

Edited May 7, 2022 by JMF

[Ecar]

I have a few of these vintage Meyer-Optik Görlitz lenses, and have been posting pictures (including those linked above by @JMF) from time to time in The View Through Older Glass thread.

They are far from being optical milestones (they are essentially triplets), but their rendering is indeed rather unique. As a general rule, the Primoplans are *better* (i.e., sharper, more corrected across the frame) lenses than the Trioplans.

Based on the serial number, the OP's lens was manufactured in 1953 or thereabouts.

AFAIK, the 50/2.9 Trioplan was always coated (this was initially indicated by the red "V", which was later dropped altogether, probably in the late 50's when all lenses became coated anyway) and came in Exakta or Altix mount. It is not too difficult to convert to LTM or M (there are actually a few for sale on eBay right now) by using a suitable helicoid. As suggested by @jerzy above, the OP's lens does indeed seem to have been adapted on the basis of a helicoid provided by a FED/Industar 50/3.5 donor lens. I have never seen one of these lenses in native LTM mount.

 Hope this helps.

[Anbaric]

Does anyone have a Domiplan? Back in the 80s, this was much maligned as the 'worst' lens ever tested by UK photography magazine Camera Weekly. Whenever they tested a new lens, it would be compared on a resolution chart to a Zeiss Planar 50/1.7 (the 'best') and the Domiplan. Perhaps they tested a bad example, or maybe the aberrations responsible for its poor reputation (resolution isn't everything) would today be valued for producing interesting rendering or bokeh? Or is it just not a good lens?

[pippy]

30 minutes ago, Anbaric said:

Does anyone have a Domiplan? Back in the 80s, this was much maligned as the 'worst' lens ever tested by UK photography magazine Camera Weekly......Perhaps they tested a bad example, or maybe the aberrations responsible for its poor reputation......Or is it just not a good lens?

I had a regular 'Holiday Job' working for a photographic dealership back then and, IMO, the 50mm f2.8 Domiplan did deserve its reputation. Resolution might not be everything but that of the Domiplan was so poor that it was nigh-on impossible to produce sharp images.

The majority of customers who bought a Praktica so-equipped brought the camera back as being 'useless'. Some were persuaded to upgrade to a superior-performing lens - usually the Pentacon 50mm f1.8 IIRC  - but many simply demanded a refund. The situation became so acute that, after a while, the dealership refused to stock the Domiplan comlpetely.

Philip.

[pedaes]

22 minutes ago, pippy said:

Praktica so-equipped, and upgraded the dom

I had a Practice Nova with a Domiplan lens as my first SLR and soon upgraded to the Zeiss Tessar . Happy days!

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Hallo,

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