The Germany company Meyer-Optik-Görlitz took the Chinese Zy Optics f/0.95 lenses and “upgraded” them. UPDATE: Meyer-Optik-Görlitz contacted me to share the following info:
“Components for Meyer-Optik-Görtlitz lenses are :
* sourced internationally
* assembled, adjusted, tested and therefore made in Germany
* shipped with a 5 year guarantee from a German manufacturer”
* Our lenses are improved in terms of material characteristic and mechanical quality
* To name a few: We use alternative components, eg. use materials supplied by a supplier of the German Avionic industry to guarantee precision
* we apply high-tech oils to improve slide ways and adjusting ranges
* special focus is assigned to quality assurance and minimization of the serial spread. Thus our QA testing and adjustment for each lens takes up to 3,5 h and 2 h on average.
* Our close quality tolerances currently lead to a reject rate of 50% for core components
This means they add a serious quality control on the Zy Optics lenses.
Their Nocturnus 35mm f/0.95 E-mount lens is priced at 1.999 Euro and has the exact specs of the 2-3 times cheaper [shoplink 33793 ebay]Zy Optics 35mm f/0.95 lens you can find on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. The same lens also can be found under the [shoplink 33798 ebay]Mitakon brand name (Click here)[/shoplink].
Their Nocturnus 50mm f/0.95 E-mount lens is priced at 1.999 Euro and has the exact specs of the 2 times cheaper [shoplink 33795 ebay]Zy Optics 35mm f/0.95 lens you can find on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. The same lens also can be found under the [shoplink 33799 ebay]Mitakon brand name (Click here)[/shoplink].
86 Responses
Lol this is actually very funny.
What’s wrong with you guys, Germans?
They started two world wars and lost both of them. What do you expect?
That’s a way ridiculous, fucking answer Bob!
None of the people currently living in Germany started any world wars. But they elected a Russian agent as their chancellor. Remember Schroeder, now, as back then, on Putin’s payroll? 🙂
You don’t really need Putin to make bad things happen, Europe is turning Muslim and leaders are ignoring it.
Even France is just 2% Muslim, and most of them are normal people, not fanatics.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_France#Religious_membership_statistics
Putin’s agents destroying German nuclear power industry and making it dependent on Russian gas is surely much more destructive and have already cost Germany hundreds of billions of USD.
You are cherrypicking the lowest estimate.
Most muslims are not terrorist, the difference is that “normal” Musims will quetly watch when the terrorists are trying to kill you.
Putin will die some day and gas contracts may be terminated, but Muslims are multiplying and you won’t be able to do something when it’s too late.
Most Muslims in the US (and I am sure in Europe) are normal people and would react just like any other normal people. Many Russians though turned hardline fanatics by incessant propaganda of the last 15 years, and support crimes like wars and annexations. And it is not going to pass until many of them are dead, just like many Russians supported Stalin until they died (and still some do). And Putin is young enough, he can be in power another 20 years, becoming more and more deranged every year and by overwhelming 24/7 propaganda turning 90% of Russians into his deranged marionettes (they already are), like Hitler did to Germans in the 30s.
get over it
or should we hold you accountable for all the sins of your forefathers?
help save the universe…don’t reproduce
So, how is it related to this silliness when some German products are great?
Like V W ?
no need to be racist. There are endlessly stupid things done by Germans, Americans, Chinese, Russians, Swedes, Japaneses, you name it.
Germany has mass genocide to a tea
And so does America, China and Russia. Japan is also not exactly innocent…
I don’t think Germans are a race anymore than Americans are a race.
I am not sure why you interpret my statement as ‘racist’ the fact here is that a German company allegedly does a very silly thing. So what’s wrong with calling ‘Germans’? I didn’t discredit them or any sort of that.
It just sounded like that. Sorry, if I got this wrong. Maybe I’m overreacting.
Hehe that’s OK… Cheers
If you Click the Link you See made in Germany.
I remember a long long time ago there was a company in Japan that sold its stuff with a label that said, “made in USA” which was true in a sense because it was made in a town in Japan called Usa… makes me wonder, is it possible there is some town in China called Germany? Although in the United States that type of labelling is now illegal but I have no clue about what happens in Germany.
Ideal for Hasselblad camera!!
Price Price Price. Thieves! The electronic and photo-optic equipment real component price is under 1000$. For example a A7S will cost 500$ correct price
The sensor alone might cost that much, after all it is a low-volume item, R&D and tooling will be spread between very few of them.
If this is true, Meyer Görlitz is in for some legal trouble, since they claim/promise on their website, that every single copy of any of their lenses is “Made in Germany”. Possible legal trouble from at least 2 angles: purchasers of the lenses could sue them, if this is not true – since it is an important property missing compared to what was promised by the seller for the item purchased.
2) the “Made in Germany” is a legally protected designation. Basic reuqirement is a certain amount of “value add” in Germany. Jacking up the sales price times 3 does not qualify per se as “value add”.
Well maybe they really made it in Germany. Maybe they buy the single parts and than assemble it in Germany. Don’t knwo if that’s enough to claim a “made in germany”
You better go ask them before their lawyers start calling your home phone number.
During the Bush administration they wanted to show better stats for America manufacturing by stating that McDonald’s hamburgers were made and assembled in America.
The “Made in Germany” motto doesn’t mean much, see for instance:
http://www.thelocal.de/20120116/40137
“Until now, the deciding factor in where a product can be labelled as coming from has been where the last process in production is carried out.
But the European Commission plans to limit claims of origin to products of which at least 45 percent of the value was created in Germany.
Current rules mean that products can be labelled as “Made in Germany” even if more than 90 percent of the work in making them takes place in other countries.“
Jacking price by the factor of 3 and packaging into a carton with “Made in Germany” printed on it creates 66.6% of the value, hence satisfies the requirements of the new EU regulation too.
What’s the big deal? Leica has been doing it with Panasonic cameras for years.
The same stupid comments like when the Sonyblad came out. It is NOT the same. Leica has NOT tripled the price without adding any value! They have a modified firmware and an extended warranty and different software package (mostly Lightroom) and a slightly modified exterior design. They charge 20-30% more than Panasonic for that. Nothing to complain about.
What Hasselblad and Meyer Optik do, is in a whole different ball park. It is just plain embarrassing.
I was sure that leicas were priced at 2.5x of pana, it this case extended warranty isn’t worth to fuss
is leica firmware better than panasonic? do they have e.g. focus bracketing or focus stacking?
It’s possible, look at crapasonic or Olympus “pro” junk. Anyway, made in Germany is overrated.
perhaps they bought the license for the design and now they produce the exact same thing in Germany? anyway the whole thing is ridiculous…
I was also hoping that, Schneider just bought the lens design and uses
in manufacture glass and coatings that
make also B+W filters expensive. But there’s also remark in Wikipedia that production is now outsourced to South Korea. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentacon
Does this mean that “Made in China” is finally regaining some popularity, at least from German lens makers?
I allow them to do it.
People just want to blieve~
The only ‘Really?’ needed here was to question the article heading!
It is not new, it’s not unusual and, depending upon the details, probably not illegal. As has been pointed out, Hasselblad on Sony and Leica on Panasonic for cameras. But, for example, does anyone think Armani, or Hugo Boss, ‘manufacture’ watches? They are just very ordinary items, to a superficial design, and have a name slapped on them. Hey presto! Big bucks!!
There will be many, however, who fall for it, one way or another.
Or maybe what’s happening is the glass is actually German made and the lenses are assembled in China? Does anyone know where ZY actually sources their glass elements from?
Soneone finally catching on the Hasslebald’s marketing plan
More likely a Chinese billionaire bought the rights to this essentially defunct German brand. This has happened already to many Swiss watch brands.
Like IBM’s Thinkpad.
This is a common game for many companies; its called “adding value” especially with food!
Meyer-Optik-Görlitz is not a company anymore but a mere brand.
The Meyer-Optik Görlitz brand was resurrected in 2014 by Globell Deutschland, a subsidiary of a Koblenz-based publishing and software distribution group named ‘net SE’.
Globell are known for their high-end ‘Oberwerth’ camera bags and ‘Silvec’ wooden tripods. They also distribute the ‘Clik Elite’ backpacks.
people getting lazy and greed for money
How about you contact them first before turning this rumour site into a nasty gossip column?
By the way, the two ‘Nocturnus’ lenses are not the only third-party lenses rebadged with the Meyer-Optik-Görlitz brand name and presented as ‘Made in Germany’:
– Their ‘Figmentum 35mm f/2.0’ (€599) is a rebadged Zhongyi Mitakon 35mm f2 Creator ($199)
– Their ‘Figmentum 85mm f/2.0’ (€599) is a rebadged Zhongyi Mitakon 85mm f2 Creator ($199)
– Their ‘Somnium 85mm f/1.5’ (€999) is a rebadged Helios-40-2 85mm f/1.5 (€265), a Russian lens which itself derives from Carl Zeiss Biotar 75mm f/1.5 (an optical formula patented in 1938).
Anyway, it’s a shame since Meyer-Optik once was such a great company.
Founded in 1896 in Görlitz (Saxony, along the Neiße river, which today forms the border between Germany and Poland – the city was cut in half in 1945, the part located on the right bank becoming Polish and taking the name of Zgorzelec)
by Hugo Meyer, an optical engineer, and his partner Heinrich Schätze, a merchant, under the name of Optisch-Mechanische Industrie-Anstalt Hugo Meyer & Co., Meyer-Optik was a famous German lens manufacturer during the first half of the twentieth century.
We owe them the Aristostigmat (1900 and 1911 as wide angle), the Anastigmat (1908) and the Plasmat in collaboration with Paul Rudolph (formerly working at Zeiss, designer of Protar, Planar and Tessar). The ‘30s saw the beginning of a fruitful collaboration with Ihagee (Dresden), Meyer-Optik providing many lenses for the Exakta camera, including the famous Primoplan and Telemegor.
After WWII, in 1946, Meyer-Optik was renamed VEB Optisch-Feinmechanische Werke Görlitz (= optical and precision mechanics workshops Görlitz).
In the ‘50s, some Meyer-Optik lenses were among the most famous from the GDR, equipping in particular Exakta Varex, Contax and Praktica, although Meyer-Optik also produced simple, three-element formulas (Trioplan) for Welta, Balda, Beier and Altissa (all four of them based in Dresden).
VEB Optisch-Feinmechanische Werke Görlitz was merged in 1968 with Pentacon (Dresden) and Ihagee (Dresden) to form the VEB Pentacon Dresden Kombinat, itself taken over by the VEB Carl Zeiss Jena Kombinat in 1985. Due to these mergers and the manufacturing of more and more basic lenses, the historical expertise of Meyer-Optik was increasingly diluted.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dismantling of VEB Carl Zeiss Jena, the small company Feinoptisches Werk Görlitz GmbH reused the ‘Meyer-Optik’ marking on their lenses in M42 screw mount or Praktica bayonet mount. The adventure was short-lived and ended June 30, 1991 for lack of competitive products.
They’re just jumping on the bandwagon. Why shouldn’t they? Sony is selling hugely overpriced, mediocre lenses under the Zeiss badge and people are actually asking for more…
Sony does not sell the same lens for two different prices with different labels.
http://www.meyer-optik-goerlitz.de/de/nocturnus-f095-50mm/
I have the Mitakon 50mm f0.95 pro and it’s 100% the same. Meyer optic are like mitakon for rich hypster photographer.
What would happen if I use the SpeedMaster 50mm f/0.95 with a SpeedBooster that adds +1 stop of light?
Will the bokeh stay the same? Will it stay the same and just be brighter?
you cant put a speedbooster behind an e-mount lens
Ok I fail in thinking lol. ty!
The speedboosters also cause some distorion of the bokeh when you shoot wide open with a fast lens… so even if they made one that would work with this lense which as Merlin points out they don’t, the bokeh wouldn’t be normal in my experience what should have been circles of light became ovals of light.
Speedboosters don’t add light, they just shrink the image circle. Also, you can’t with a native lens.
So it is OK for japanese Sony to label their lenses Zeiss
for japanese Cosina to call theirs Voigtlander
Why not for chinese Zy Optics to label theirs Meyer Optic?
What about korean Samsung labeling rebranded japanese Pentax lenses Schneider Optics (before NX)?
Panasonic Leicas?
What about current Kodak, Practica and probably many more other brands …
I don’t know why Sony put Zeiss name on their lenses. Their new FE 35 and 55 are great lenses.
Because it’s designed by Zeiss guys, and manufactured using Zeiss equipment, coatings, and QA.
i have a screwdriver from BMW… can i call all my creations BMW now?
If your creations were designed by BMW, using BMW parts, and they gave you permission to slap a BMW label on it, sure!
Nothing about the ZAs and ZEs are actually Zeiss, except for that label. Can’t believe people still believe that crap.
But none of your examples sell the same product for two such wildly differing prices. Leica adds maybe 30 to 40%. That is premium but tripling the price is a total ripoff.
And most of your examples don’t sell their product under two different labels, Sony doesn’t do so, Cosina doesn’t do so, Panasonic doesn’t do so for the lenses. I also haven’t seen the Kodak cameras sold in identical form under a different name.
Don’t forget about VAT, transport, import duty, euro warranty (min. 2 years) and some profit margin.
speaking of fast MF lenses..the IBELUX 40mm f/0.85 is 1199 at b&h now.. but theres still no image pools..FK it..im buying it. tired of looking at it and wondering.
you can read on their website that they buy the components over the world , assembles and fine tune the lenses in Germany .
that would at least mean proper quality managment if true…
nice buisness =)
“Their Nocturnus 35mm f/0.95 E-mount lens is priced at 1.999 Euro and has the exact specs of the 2-3 times cheaper Zy Optics 35mm f/0.95 lens you can find on eBay (Click here).”
OK, I clicked. There is no “Zy Optics 35mm f/0.95 lens” for E-mount in your link. The 1st item is:
“NEW MITAKON 42.5MM F/1.2 LENS M43 MFT MOUNT OMD GH4 MIRRORLESS ZY OPTICS ZHONGY”,
2nd “Vintage Bundle Sears No. 6219 7x35mm Coated Optics Binoculars W/ Case” etc.
seriously? you can now get sued for hypothesis that someone rebrands some products?
They’re just following Hasselblad’s example. Hassy took Sony cameras, bolted a couple of pieces of wood onto the body, rebranded it, and quadrupled the price. If someone is stupid enough to buy this thing, it’s not my problem.
These stupid ppl are quite smart when making money. Unlike most of us who are smart at saving money but stupid at earning it. 😉
Good point !
Suing you would be another clue of an expensive rebranding;)… therefore Canon could sue you for rumors of Sony sensor in the Canon EOS 5Ds
So, they pulled off a Hasselblad?
Those announcement of the newly-founded Meyer Goerlitz seem really a joke to me for now, apart for the re-edition of the Trioplan we only saw chinese re-badged lenses with apparently NO improvements but with a double or triple MSRP (good luck with that..). They even haven’t bothered to change at least the external appearance of the lenses to give them an “historical Meyer feeling” (maybe with the exception of the Somnium). Given the trend so far, I’m not holding my breath for the new Trioplan, for sure it will be ridicously overpriced..
Somnium is rebagded Helios-40-2 which is an old design so why it looks like “historical Meyer”
Now it’s “made in germany”, so triple price 😉 Like Leica’s compact models, rebadged panasonics)
No you’re wrong, Leica compacts are simply rebadged Panasonics, not rebadged and made in Germany. At least those made in Germany don’t have Panasonic equivalents.
when it works.. as long as there are idiots who ill buy it.
sony lenses suck .. but most people think because some have zeiss formulars all sony optics are good.
sony lenses are often decentered, quality managment is not up to zeiss standards, built quality is not up to zeiss standards.
same game….
You claim that this is the “same game …”
.
IF that would be true, many of us certainly would be very happy! Because that implies we are able to buy Zeiss/Sony-lenses for one third of the price, just with a different name label.
Please point us to the name of these bargain priced Zeiss/Sony equivalents! Because those of us who actually happen to have one or a few Zeiss/Sony lenses, haven’t found these to “suck”, as you imply (there are good reasons to assume that you don’t own any Zeiss/Sony lenses yourself).
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It became normal even in domain of professional products. Agilent sells Rigol oscilloscopes for 2,5x price. You can see them together in many online shops.
Why are you replying to a very old post?