Soap Buuble bokeh


Here a small simple review of the Meyer Görlitz Trioplan 100mm f/2.8 lens

First some samples - made with a Canon EOS 5D - wide open at 2.8. Only with this aperture setting the very special soap bubbles / edge boosted bokeh is there.
Most or all images are linked to bigger versions - may have ~2 MB file size!


And here an image stopped down - the unique bokeh is away - but now the lens is sharper.



All images are processed in Adobe Lightroom, but no pixel harmed with Photoshop.

The better pictures are in my nature-gallery!



My lens is with M42 mount, aluminium version - with a simple M42-EF adapter it can be used with Canon EOS cameras - still reaching infinity.
Lens mostly used with hood. But sometimes I take the hood away, to get more flare.

Conclusion:

The Meyer Goerlitz Trioplan 100mm/2.8 lens is a lens that could make very special images - used wide open. But it lacks a bit contrast and sharpness, at least at 2.8. But without the 2.8 setting this lens would be a boring normal 100 mm lens - and not the lens for special effects.
One can use the lens very good with extension tubes - but for sharp contrasty macro images it is probably not the best choice.

Ebay-Sold-Pricing for chrome version:

6/2010 Europe: ~ 60 Euro for the M42 version

6/2012 Europe: ~140 Euro for a M42 version (not collector quality) seems normal, ~100 Euro for Exacta mount.

10/2012 Europe: 220 Euro for a M42 version (not collector quality) seems normal, ~160 Euro for Exacta mount.

7/2013 Europe: 300 Euro for a M42 version (not collector quality) seems normal, ~180 Euro for Exacta mount.

It seems this lens is "hype" now.

Original price back then was 105 Mark - which is about 205 Euro (year 2012) with inflation. This Trioplan 100 lenses have reached their original value now again, like some of the better old Zeiss or Leica lenses.
Praktina and Exacta mount versions are harder to adapt, this results in the higher price for the M42 version. Nice looking lenses reach somtimes 350-450 Euro on Ebay auctions.

Alternative Lens Setup:

I found that the Meyer Görlitz Diaplan 100mm f/2.8 gives the same image rendering and sharpness.
Furthermore the Pentacon 100mm f/2,8, the Pentacon AV 140mm f/3.5 needs more testing, not sure about that.
All these projection lenses are at the moment very cheap to get. But it is very helpfull to get a focus carrier for better DIY focus mounting. I used cheap manual extension tubes ad tube, and the original lens holder and lens - one for all three alternative lenses. With these alternative projection lenses even Nikon users could get a "Trioplan" with focus to infinity!

First: All three 100/2.8 lenses. The Pentacon 100/2.8 is still uncleaned as I bought it - for some test images.



And here more detailed pictures of the Trioplan sisters, and the 135/3.5 in my DIY mount for theses projection lenses, and right side my DIY mount with the Diaplan inside.
I use cheap manual extension tubes, there I glue the outer barrel of the projection lens.



Furthermore it seems, that the Meyer Görlitz Priomtar 135mm/3.5 has a more or less similar bokeh drawing - found on MFlenses.com.

For completly different bokeh drawing style visit my DIY Apodization page - that´s a smooth thing!

If you like to tinker, or repair your own photographic tools, visit my Photo DIY Directory, and my other own tinkering work.
Soap Bubble Bokeh Lens comparison - not all, but some of the more common and useful ones.

Further Meyer Trioplan 10.5cm f/2.8 information:

Meyer Optik dedicated site

Camerajunky´s Trioplan 100 site

Photo but More - Meyer Goerlitz lenses for Exacta (German page)