C.P. Goerz launches a new Citograph 50mm f/2.8 lens on Kickstarter


C.P.Goerz launched a new Citograph 50mm f/2.8 lens on Kickstarter:

This is the second C.P. Goerz lens after the Citograph 35mm f/8 lens that was fully funded last year.

C.P.Goerz Citograph 50mm f/2.8 lens design and specifications:


Press release:

Citograph Familiy Keeps Growing

After successfully completing its first Kickstarter campaign with its hyperfocal Citograph 35 CP Goerz is back and present a full-fledged 50 mm standard and universal lens.

  • As with its Citograph 35 the Citograph 50 is a Tessar type lens, which was dubbed the Eagle’s Eye and is now part of the Citographie story
  • The pancake design does not need much room in the photographer’s bag
  • The lens is an ideal symbiosis of sharpness and bokeh like in no modern lens
  • The lens is manual
  • The aperture is positioned for a natural grip
  • Another lens inspired by a photographer instead of a optical engineer

Atlanta, March 8th, 2018 C.P. Goerz presents a very special new lens for photographers seeking the unusual. It is a combination of sharpness, bokeh and color rendition which is found seldom.

Like the Citograph 35 which was financed last summer via Kickstarter and is currently delivered, the Citograph 50 is a tessar type lens. As for the Citograph 35 there is a special edition for mirrorless cameras which keeps the length of the lens within closer boundaries to the measurements of the DSLR versions. This technological effort is not done by many lens manufacturers.

Tessar stands for timeless elegant simplicity, sharpness and bokeh

At the heart of the Citograph 50 is the optical construction consisting of four lenses in three groups. The Tessar construction was developed in 1902 by Paul Rudolph and has been sold since well over 100 million times. It was termed the eagle’s eye since like no other lens it combined sharpness, contrast and resolution in detail. This lens type was used for many legendary cameras as the first choice e.g. the Yashica “T” series.

Tessar comes from the greek term “tessares” (0 four) and points at the fact that tessar type lenses consist of four units of glass which are divide into two parts by the aperture. The lenses in the back part are cemented, the front lenses have an air gap.

Besides the unusual sharpness the tessar type also stands for an impressive type of bokeh.

The term comes from the Japanese word boke (暈け or ボケ), which means as much as “blur” or "haze". The tessar type Citograph 50 has an extremely pleasing type of bokeh and allows the photographer to create a background in harmony with the intention of his photographic creativity.

Thus the images have an impression of being enchanted. Opposite to ordinary tessar lenses the bokeh in the Citograph 50 has been refined. At open aperture the lens creates small precisely circular discs or circular bubbles with sharp edges.

Stopped down the bokeh becomes creamy and soft and gives room to a hint of detail.

12 Aperture Blades Create Circular but sharp edged bubbles

The aperture is the iris of a lens and during the design of the Citograph 50 it was very important to create this element with great detail. Most modern lenses have 6 to 9 aperture baldes which is not enough for photography with attention to detail. The aperture of the Citograph therefroe has 12 aperture blades so that it comes close to the human iris.

Precise sharpness thanks to manual focus

Contrary to the Citograph 35 which was a hyperfocal lens, the Citograph 50 has a manual focus control ring. It is designed to allow a very fine movement and due to its helical focusing mechanism allows precise and fast focusing. Even untrained newcomers to manual photography will find this lens easy to handle. The disadvantage of autofocus lenses of front or back focus does not happen with the Citograph but still focusing is easy to do.

Capture the world with 50mm

The Citograph 50 has a so called standard focal length as it resembles the human eye’s degree of view. So it is possible to control the image area without having the camera right in front of your eye. Just close one of your eyes and decide for the image area. Then go for the shot. Thanks to the simplicity and ease of the Citograph 50 manual photography is made easy again.

Flat and light for the small pocket

Cameras become smaller but lenses get bigger. We wanted to work against that trend. The Citograph 50 is like its smaller brother the Citograph 35 a flat, practically pancake version of a lens. Even the mirrorless version is relatively small despite the different flange that has to be taken into account. The Citograph 50 will fit right into any pocket.

Citographie – being part of the world around you, process life and just go for it

Spontaneity is what Citography is all about. CP Goerz Berlin has brought this element back into photography. We want to allow photographers to take note of the world around them in a spontaneous and create manner without technology or artificial tools in between them and their view on the world. With the Citograph 50 CP Goerz Berlin offers a new tool for spontaneous, creative photography by which the world can be conquered easily.

Benedikt Hartmann surprises again

The creative mind behind the Citograph 50 is again Benedikt Hartmann. He is working as a photographer and in the photo industry for more than 20 years and a renowned lecturer on all aspects around spontaneous photography.

Financing via Kickstarter

Just like the Citograph 35 the Citograph 50 is financed via the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter. This modern form of financing allows the realization of unusual projects like the Ciotgraph 50. Backers of a project are not buyers but take part in the development and the birth of an idea to become a product at the end.

Compatible with many mounts

The Citograph 50 will be available with the following mounts: Canon EF, Nikon F, Pentax K, Sony E, Leica M (no rangefinder coupling), Fuji X.

This entry was posted in C.P. Goerz and tagged . Bookmark the permalink. Trackbacks are closed, but you can post a comment.
  • FCC disclosure statement: this post may contain affiliate links or promotions that do not cost readers anything but help keep this website alive. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Thanks for your support!

  • Back to top