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Posts Tagged ‘Oprema’

Oprema Jena revives Biotar 58mm F2 lens with record-setting 17 aperture blades

21 Sep

After successfully funding the ‘legendary’ Biotar 78mm F1.5 lens through Kickstarter, newly-minted company Oprema Jena is trying to pull off yet another resurrection. This time the crowdfunding platform is Indiegogo, and the lens they’re bringing back is the Biotar 58mm F2: the world’s only lens with a ‘historic’ 17-blade aperture.

Oprema isn’t holding back when it comes to describing this lens in the most epic of terms:

Reengineered to its true historic 17 aperture blade version it will change how you feel about photography. With its unique design the Biotar 58 balances the need for sharpness and bokeh in one lens like no other. It is truly an enchanting miracle bokeh wonder lens for all your photographic situations.

“Miracle bokeh wonder lens” …. there’s a tagline for you. And if that’s not enough, here’s an overly-dramatic introduction to this lens complete with inspiring music and over-zealous presenter voice:

Joking aside, people seem very excited about this old lens coming back. The original design dates back to 1927, and it was introduced to the public around 1937. Unfortunately, due to the war, the original Biotar 58 was only produced in small numbers, and later versions never quite recaptured the original’s flare for dramatic bokeh.

Until (at least according to Oprema Jena) now.

Oprema identified the models that were “most outstanding” from the Biotar’s history, and recreated those while adding in some modern conveniences like rangefinder coupling for Leica users, and modern-day lens mounts for everyone else. Here are some web resolution sample photos so you can judge for yourself if they succeeded in creating a lens worth dropping a grand on:

$ (document).ready(function() { SampleGalleryV2({“containerId”:”embeddedSampleGallery_8023124066″,”galleryId”:”8023124066″,”isEmbeddedWidget”:true,”standalone”:false,”selectedImageIndex”:0,”startInCommentsView”:false,”isMobile”:false}) });

Already over 150% funded, it looks like the Biotar 58mm F2 will come to be whether or not anybody else decides to pledge their money and pick one up. But if you want to learn more about this lens and/or drop the $ 950 it’ll take to buy one in either Silver or Black (Super Early Bird level, still 180 available), head over to the Indiegogo campaign by clicking here.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Oprema Jena is also resurrecting the Biotar 58mm F2.0 lens, will cost $2,000

24 Aug

In addition to bringing back the legendary Biotar 75mm F1.5 lens via its new Kickstarter campaign, company Oprema has also announced plans to resurrect the Biotar 58mm F2.0 lens originally made by Carl Zeiss. Though the company doesn’t anticipate launching the Biotar 58 lens until late 2018, the company is offering pre-production models of the 58 in bundles with the Biotar 75mm lens via the latter’s Kickstarter campaign.

Originally reported by PhotoRumors, and later confirmed in an official announcement, the special pre-production Biotar 58 lenses will feature serial numbers ranging from 1 to 58. The two-lens bundle will require a pledge of $ 2,000 USD, which is a whopping $ 2,500 USD lower than the planned retail cost of the two lenses combined. Not bad for a Kickstarter discount.

Assuming everything goes according to plan, Oprema plans to launch the Biotar 75 lens next summer at a retail cost of $ 2,500 USD, whereas the Biotar 58 will arrive a few months later at a lower $ 2,000 USD.

The Biotar 58mm lens will be offered in Nikon, Canon, Leica M, Fuji X, Sony E, and M42 mounts, and represents Oprema’s second foray into the market of remaking classic lenses.

To find out more or put down a pledge, head over to the Biotar Kickstarter campaign. There are still 49 Biotar bundles left as of this writing.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Oprema Jena seeks to resurrect the legendary Zeiss Biotar 75mm F1.5

16 Aug

The company behind the new Meyer Optik Goerlitz lens manufacturing business has formed a new brand to bring back the Biotar 75mm F1.5 that was made by Carl Zeiss Jena in the 1940s and 50s. Many of the original examples were made in East Germany after WWll and in quite low volumes, so they command high prices for their rarity, but also the extraordinary swirling they create when used at wide apertures.

The new version is being redesigned by the company that owns the Meyer Optik Goerlitz brand, but as it will not be made in Germany this time a new name has been conceived—Oprema Jena, in recognition of the location of the original factory. The attempted lens resurrection launched this morning on Kickstarter:

As the Kickstarter describes, this lens is a rarity:

The Biotar 75/1.5 is probably the most legendary lens ever produced in Jena, Germany.

It is a six lens gauss type optical scheme whose design dates back to the year 1927 when famous lens designer Willi Merté developed his first Biotar which was designed for cinematography.

In the 1930th Merté continued to improve the Biotar lenses among which the 75mm/1.5 reached legendary status. The Biotar 75/1.5 was first introduced in 1938, sales began to pick up with a presentation at the Leipzig Spring Fair in 1940.

But due to second world war and to its high price at the time it remained a very special lens for the selected few. Until today it has become one of the most expensive vintage lenses easily selling for over a thousand dollars – if you get a usable one.

The original Biotar (left) next to the Oprema Jena version (right) currently being funded on Kickstarter.

The lens is being designed by Dr Prenzel who works with Meyer Optik on its reinvented lenses, and by Andre de Winter, a former Leica engineer. All the manufacturing will be done in Japan by Tokina, so that this new line doesn’t interfere with production of the Meyer lenses.

The company’s goal is to “maintain the exact Biotar characteristics while carefully improving the mechanical aspects and making it feasible for modern camera equipment and different mounts.” That means a tack-sharp center with “dramatic but not overly-aggressive” swirly bokeh when shot wide-open.

Thanks to new lens technologies, high-quality glass, advanced coatings and more, Oprema Jena is confident they’ve avoided some of the disadvantages of the classic Biotar without sacrificing any of the lens’ advantages.

Launched on Kickstarter this morning, the lens is already fully-funded and the total funding ($ 107,000 as of this writing) goes up with every page reload. Fortunately, there are still some great deals to be had if you hurry over to the Kickstarter page now.

The ‘Crazy Deal’ earlybird special will snag you a Biotar 75mm F1.5 in any mount for $ 950. Once those are gone, Super Early Bird deals are $ 1,000, Early Bird are $ 1,050, and the regular Kickstarter price is $ 1,100. The lens is available in Canon, Nikon, Sony-E, Leica-M (rangefinder coupling supported), Fuji X, and M42 mounts.

To learn more or put down a pledge and claim your own Biotar, head over to the Kickstarter page.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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