The re-birth of the Meyer 100mm Trioplan lens, I don't get it.

xayraa33

xayraa33

rangefinder user and fancier
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This new venture is resurrecting a new version of the Hugo Meyer Trioplan 100mm f2.8 lens for a good hunk of cash.

I get the Lomo Petzval lens and what it is all about in the bokeh craze but the 100mm Trioplan is such a lukewarm lens, nothing really spectacular.

The Meyer/ Pentacon version of the 135mm f2.8 was fantastic in the bokelicous field and maybe their old 58mm Primoplan was an interesting lens, but not the 100mm Trioplan in my opinion.



http://petapixel.com/2015/07/10/tri...ll-bring-soap-bubble-bokeh-to-modern-cameras/
 
I have one of the originals.
It's a lens for special things and there it definitely shines (literally ... the glow at open is almost overwhelming).
These efforts should to re-produce a classic should be applauded even if it's for a very small market.
Thanks for posting the link :)
 
It has it's own unique character wide open, just as the Petzval.
Technically it's just a simple triplet that performs horribly wide open, standing out from the corrected modern lenses !
I had a silver one in m42 mount. Sold it because it's a one trick pony lens, appealing mostly to bokeh whores.
 
f16sunshine said:
I have one of the originals.
It's a lens for special things and there it definitely shines (literally ... the glow at open is almost overwhelming).
These efforts should to re-produce a classic should be applauded even if it's for a very small market.
Thanks for posting the link :)
Click to expand...

I also have one of the originals. Got mine before it became a cult item, so I was fortunate enough not to have paid much for mine.

Sample Trioplan 2.8 100 by Wigwam Jones, on Flickr

I did not know until recently when I decided to get my old camera gear out and start taking photos again that I discovered that I still had this lens, and that it had become so popular that they're recreating it. Well, it is a nice lens. I'm rather fond of it. I don't always use it as the 'bokeh machine' that some people seem to value it for.

imgp7891a.jpg by Wigwam Jones, on Flickr

imgp7895a.jpg by Wigwam Jones, on Flickr

Personally, I like what it does with portraits. Nice soft glowing skin tones.
 
littleearth said:
It has it's own unique character wide open, just as the Petzval.
Technically it's just a simple triplet that performs horribly wide open, standing out from the corrected modern lenses !
I had a silver one in m42 mount. Sold it because it's a one trick pony lens, appealing mostly to bokeh whores.
Click to expand...

Not as much as you might think. I like the way it is technically imprecise, for bokeh but also quite a bit more for skin tones in portraits. That 'glow' that some people attribute to Leica lenses, perhaps.

I do have a seriously bad (intentionally) lens of the sort you describe, the Spiratone 100/4 Portragon. That *is* a one-trick pony, but without the cool swirlies in the bokeh.

2009 Woodward Dream Cruise by Wigwam Jones, on Flickr

2009 Michigan Renaissance Festival by Wigwam Jones, on Flickr
 
bmattock said:
Not as much as you might think. I like the way it is technically imprecise, for bokeh but also quite a bit more for skin tones in portraits. That 'glow' that some people attribute to Leica lenses, perhaps.

I do have a seriously bad (intentionally) lens of the sort you describe, the Spiratone 100/4 Portragon. That *is* a one-trick pony, but without the cool swirlies in the bokeh.
Click to expand...

You can use it for portraits, but most people use it for nature shots ! I personally find it way to glowy for portraits.

The unique signature comes from the combination of glow and "soap bubble" bokeh circles (wide open only).

I still have some shots I took years ago. It was a really cheap lens.

trioplan.jpg

trioplan1.jpg
 
littleearth said:
You can use it for portraits, but most people use it for nature shots ! I personally find it way to glowy for portraits.

The unique signature comes from the combination of glow and "soap bubble" bokeh circles (wide open only).

I still have some shots I took years ago. It was a really cheap lens.

trioplan.jpg

trioplan1.jpg
Click to expand...

Your photos are not showing up, but I'd love to see them.

As to how best to use this (or any) lens, I absolutely understand what you are saying, but it's nice that in this world, we have many different tastes and ideas about what we like to make with regard to photographs, isn't it? One man's meat is another man's poison, and so on. :D
 
zuikologist said:
The OOF areas look similar to the Domiplan lens, another allegedly so, so performer.
Click to expand...

By jove, you are correct, the bubble OOF areas are very similar to that produced by that 50mm budget lens that often came with the meterless Praktica L.
 
Having looked over the photos, I'd say they closely resemble ones I took years ago after cleaning the lens on my YashicaMat. The reason being I'd assembled the rear lens element incorrectly !! I've kept those negatives 'çuz I rather enjoy them. Peter
 
I neither do understand that craze and hype about the Trioplan, never have.
I used to have one but never liked the results. That bubbly bokeh was in almost all the cases it was visible in my photos disturbing rather than pleasant. I defintely prefer a velvety, creamy bokeh.

The prices which are called for the used Trioplan lenses are downright crazy!
And the new version will sell for what? €1400,-?? You must be kidding me!!

For that amount you can get amazing lenses, I mean really amazing ones!
Gosh, I haven't paid that much money for any of my Leica M lenses!! And they all are in very good condition or even immaculate.

Well... I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as they say. But that special kind of "beauty" doen't meet my taste. ;)

BTW, I have contacted Meyer Optics to ask some things and they didn't even reply. :(
 
littleearth said:
It has it's own unique character wide open, just as the Petzval.
Technically it's just a simple triplet that performs horribly wide open, standing out from the corrected modern lenses !
I had a silver one in m42 mount. Sold it because it's a one trick pony lens, appealing mostly to bokeh whores.
Click to expand...

So if you like extreme bokeh, you're a 'whore'?

Harsh.
 
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