Hugo Meyer/Dr. Rudolph Double Plasmat

[wfwhitaker]

Can anyone provide any background on this lens? Marked Pat. Dr. Rudolph Hugo Meyer & Co - Goerlitz & New York. Double Plasmat. Any information would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[acroell]

This is the forerunner of most modern LF lenses, such as Schneiders Symmar (from 1952 on), Symmar-S, Apo-Symmar, Apo Symmar L, Rodenstocks Sironar and Apo-Sironar series the Nikkor-W series, the Fujinon W, and others. You will often see the term "Plasmat-type" when talking about these lenses, and this is the one that gave it the name, with 6 lens elements in 4 groups, the twom outer lens elements on each side being cemented.
The Plasmat was made by the company Hugo Meyer in Görlitz (Görlitz is now located at the German-Polish border) between the two World Wars. It is therefore not coated. It was designed by the famous Dr. Rudolph who had worked for Zeiss before WW I, where he designed the Protar, Planar, and Tessar lenses, among others. Hugo Meyer was an old company, other lenses were the Trioplan ( a triplet for portraits) and the wide angle Aristostigmat. After WW II, they were nationalized by the GDR and later absorbed ito the communist VEB Pentacon conglomerate. They continued making LF lenses into the 1950's, but not the Plasmat. The Plasmat production ended with WW II. The company ceased to exist in 1991, following the German unification.
There were different series of plasmats available, some convertible, some not. I have a copy of a Meyer brochure from the 1930's at home and will check on this specific lens (coverage).

 

[wfwhitaker]

Thanks; that's an interesting account. It is curious to me that the lens is an f/4 design suggesting, perhaps, portraiture. At any rate, I look forward to seeing what results it produces on 5x7.

 

[Seele]

More about Meyer

I have always had a taste for Meyer lenses, from the early ones to the last ones made by the company. Before it was taken over by KW in 1964 to form Pentacon, Meyer bought out Curt Bentzin, famous for its Primarflex cameras which inspired the Hasselblad. Globica, also of Gorlitz, appeared to have remained independent. After the sale of Pentacon to the Schneider group, for a brief period lenses for the B-series Prakticas were marked Meyer again which brought me a smile indeed.

However, in the 1991 PMA show in Las Vegas, Hugo Meyer reappeared and exhibited the Globica II camera, but afterwards nothing more was heard from it; perhaps it just faded out somehow; whoever was behind the Meyer revival obviously did not follow through.

 

[acroell]

Will, your f/4 270mm Double Plasmat was advertised as a "universal anastigmat" by Meyer, for portraits, sports and children photography etc. Wide open it covers 16x21cm, stopped down 27x36cm. This translates into a coverage of 52° wide open and 80° stopped down. Meyer claims that the cells can be used on their own behind the shutter, the single cell (each one) is a 440mm f/8. I would certainly stop down when using it that way. The price in Germany (in the 1930's) was 400 Reichsmark for this lens.

 

[acroell]

Seele, after the reunification of Germany in October 1990, the Hugo Meyer plant tried to continue independently, under the name “Feinoptisches Werk Görlitz”, but was finally closed sometime in 1991.The Globica II was a last effort - the lenses coming with it, although labeled Meyer-Optik, were actually Zeiss Jena Tessars. They even have the serial numbers from the Saalfeld plant of Zeiss, that soon after became a part of Docter Optic and is now abandoned.

 

[wfwhitaker]

...The price in Germany (in the 1930's) was 400 Reichsmark for this lens.

I don't know how to equate that value to anything modern, but it's obviously a nice, well-made lens. If weight means anything, it's a very nice lens as it's quite heavy (which is not surprising for a six-element, f/4 lens in a shutter). This one came with a nice old Agfa 5x7 and was obviously someone's working kit, albeit a well-cared-for one.

 

[Seele]

Seele, after the reunification of Germany in October 1990, the Hugo Meyer plant tried to continue independently, under the name “Feinoptisches Werk Görlitz”, but was finally closed sometime in 1991.The Globica II was a last effort - the lenses coming with it, although labeled Meyer-Optik, were actually Zeiss Jena Tessars. They even have the serial numbers from the Saalfeld plant of Zeiss, that soon after became a part of Docter Optic and is now abandoned.

acroell,

Thanks for filling in the gap of the story of Hugo Meyer's demise. Sad that the Meyer story was one of opportunities lost; back in the early 1980s, for my own amusement, I was toying with the thought of, what if Meyer pulls all the plug out and does what it can? I came up with the idea that it could revise and reissue some of the grand lenses of the past, mounted for 35mm SLR cameras, with all the trimmings like barrels with an updated classic look, facsimile of Paul Rudolph's signature etc. The exchange rate would be quite advantageous and should be quite attractive too. Now Cosina/Voigtlander is doing much the same thing with its range of SLR lenses and is doing very well indeed. Alas they are not to be!

 

[Struan Gray]

By coincidence, one of the late Meyer lenses is up for auction on eBay.de right now - item No. 7514512723 . A serious-looking 300 mm f4.5 in barrel with a serial number of 0004. I dread to think what it weighs.

 

[Ole]

Well more than a kilo, I'd guess. It looks heavier than the 300/4.5 Xenar in shutter, too...

 

[acroell]

By coincidence, one of the late Meyer lenses is up for auction on eBay.de right now - item No. 7514512723 . A serious-looking 300 mm f4.5 in barrel with a serial number of 0004. I dread to think what it weighs.

That actually is one of those Zeiss Jena Tessars made for Meyer in 1990 or early 1991. The Tessar weighs 1270g in the regular aluminum barrel, the same as the one shown. It will be heavier in the shiny brass version made for the mahogany Globica II.

 

[Struan Gray]

Do I get a finder's fee?

 

[acroell]

Struan, on the contrary, I had it on my check list before this thread, so I was more concerned about competition....

;-)