Meyer Optik will soon start a Kickstarter funding campaign for another retro lens remake: APO Makro 105mm f/2.7. The price is expected to be $2,999 but you can expect discounts for the first orders. Shipping is scheduled for May 1, 2019. Here are the technical specifications:
Update: the funding campaign is now live on Kickstarter
- Focal length: 105mm Aperture: f2.7-f22
- Mounts: Fuji G , Hasselblad X1D, Canon, Fuji X, Leica M, Nikon, Sony E
- Angle of view: 12,5°, (22° medium format)
- Minimum focusing distance: 1,1m Filter diameter: 52mm
- Optical design: 6 Elemente in 5 Baugruppen
- Aperture blades: 52mm, 15, steel, special anti reflex coating
- Weight: ~ 350g
- Rangefinder Coupling: not supported
Sample photo taken with a prototype of the new Meyer Optik APO Makro 105mm f/2.7 lens:
Additional information:
Dr. Paul Rudolph was probably one of if not the greatest lens designer of all times. His work for Carl Zeiss and Hugo Meyer, Goerlitz, was legendary with lenses like the Pronar, Tessar or Kino Plasmat, the fastest lens of its time in 1925.
But his work culminated in his last development, the so called Makroplasmat. The term “Makro” is somewhat misleading as it has nothing to do with what we mean when we say macro or close up photography today but simply referred to the fact that this lens was designed for small or 35mm format film. In his own words he created a lens of a space like depth of field where the extension of this depth was enlarged and created a unique plasticity of the image. The images had their very unique brilliance and it seemed like photographers were able to breathe life into their images like the great painters of their times.
This one-of lens seemed to be lost for modern day photography except for a very few rare pieces that were still fit for use on modern gear and that would sell for as much as $ 37,150 on auctions.
Meyer-Optik is about to return the famous Plasmat 105 to the market through a Kickstarter campaign for all major mounts.
The lens design is supposed to be based on the original (!) documentation from Dr. Rudolph but the company intends to carefully reinvent the lens by using best of class glasses from Schott in order to improve the lens to a APO-Makro-105 f2.7 lens. Further developments within this line of Makroplasmat lenses are intended for the nearer future.
Meyer Optik lenses are sold at B&H and Adorama.
