Meyer-Optik Görlitz Trioplan 100mm f/2.8

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A simple three-element Cooke triplet from 1950s–60s Görlitz whose under-corrected spherical aberration turns out-of-focus highlights into bright-rimmed 'soap bubbles' at f/2.8. The 15-blade preset iris keeps them round; stopped down the effect disappears and the lens becomes ordinarily sharp. Wide open it is low in contrast with a dreamy glow, which is exactly why it is used for stylised inserts and music videos. Made in M42 and Exakta (plus other period mounts); prices rose sharply once the bokeh became fashionable, and the brand later re-issued it as the Trioplan 100 II.

Key specs

Focal length

100 mm

Max aperture

f/2.8

Mount

M42 screw

Image circle

Full frame

Close focus

1 m

Filter thread

49 mm

Weight

270 g

Field of view by sensor

Full frame

20.4° horizontal · frames like 100 mm on full frame

Super 35

14.2° horizontal · frames like 144.6 mm on full frame

Micro Four Thirds

9.9° horizontal · frames like 208.1 mm on full frame

What it goes on

M42 copies adapt glasslessly to EF and mirrorless; Exakta copies need their own adapter. The preset aperture is stepless, but the bubble look only exists at or near f/2.8, so plan on ND rather than stopping down. Minimum focus is about 1 m, so extension tubes or a helicoid adapter are commonly used to get close to small light sources.

• Canon EF camerasWith adapterALEXA 265, ALEXA 35, ALEXA Mini LF, Pocket Cinema Camera 6K G2 +14 more

  M42-EOS flanged ring. Cheap and common. Pick a flanged ring that presses the auto-aperture pin. On full-frame EF DSLRs a few lenses (Helios 44-2, some Takumars) can catch the mirror at infinity.

• Sony E camerasWith adapterRonin 4D-6K, Ronin 4D-8K, Alpha 1 II, Alpha 7 IV +13 more

  Novoflex · K&F Concept · Fotodiox. 27.5 mm of room — a plain mechanical adapter. Manual focus and iris.

• Canon RF camerasWith adapterEOS C400, EOS C50, EOS C70, EOS C80 +10 more

  Novoflex · K&F Concept · Fotodiox. 25.5 mm of room — a plain mechanical adapter. Manual focus and iris.

• L-Mount camerasWith adapterCinema Camera 6K, PYXIS 12K, PYXIS 6K, Ronin 4D-6K +6 more

  Novoflex · K&F Concept · Fotodiox. 25.5 mm of room — a plain mechanical adapter. Manual focus and iris.

• Micro Four Thirds camerasWith adapterMicro Studio Camera 4K G2, Pocket Cinema Camera 4K, Lumix BGH1, Lumix GH6 +1 more

  Novoflex · K&F Concept · Fotodiox. 26.2 mm of room — a plain mechanical adapter. Manual focus and iris.

• Nikon Z camerasWith adapterKOMODO-X 6K S35, V-RAPTOR [X] 8K VV, V-RAPTOR XE

  Novoflex · K&F Concept · Fotodiox. 29.5 mm of room — a plain mechanical adapter. Manual focus and iris.

• Leica M camerasWith adapter· by flange mathsALEXA 265, ALEXA 35, ALEXA Mini LF, Ronin 4D-6K +1 more

  17.7 mm of room for a plain ring. Check rear-element and mirror clearance before buying.

• LPL camerasWith adapter· by flange mathsALEXA 265, ALEXA 35, ALEXA Mini LF, URSA Cine 17K 65

  1.5 mm of room for a plain ring. Check rear-element and mirror clearance before buying.

See every camera this lens fits →

Sources: allphotolenses.com, pentaxforums.com, meyer-optik-goerlitz.com