![]() Virtually all of today’s fast lenses with a medium field angle (50-100mm focal length with 35mm SLR cameras) are successors to the Biotar design, a worthy testament to the skills of Merté. All optical calculations were done by hand by teams of optical technicians. Creating such a fast lens prior to World War II was one of the greatest feats in the history of optics, especially true considering it was designed and built without the use of computers. Merté continued developing and experimenting with his Biotar lens design for years, and in 1938 the lens was reconfigured as a 35mm lens for the Kine Exakta camera. Furthermore, the two outer collecting lenses are each of a larger diameter than the two inner lens pairs. ![]() This asymmetry means that the front three-part lens group was larger overall than the group behind the diaphragm. Essentially an improvement on the Planar design from 1896, it abandoned the strict symmetry approach for the radii of curvature of the surfaces and the refractive indices of the glass materials, and therefore achieved additional correction parameters. The field correction and the speed are increased in comparison with more simple designs. It boasted a Double Gauss design with six elements in four groups, offering an improvement of the Triplet or Tessar designs which aim for higher performance. The Biotar lens formula was first created for Carl Zeiss by the famous lens designer Willy Merté in 1927, and was originally made for movie cameras. Move closer to our subject and find the right background and we get out-of-focus areas that look like a Monet oil painting, just dripping with smooth, creamy bokeh. Yes, we can make the swirly bokeh that many photographers seem to obsess over, but this lens can also do so much more. But it’s not a one trick pony like some other cult lenses. The Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 75mm f/1.5 has become renowned for swirly bokeh, center sharpness, and its ability to produce the famous and so-called “3D Pop,” whereby an object centered in the image seems to almost burst out from the background. During that long hunt I spent months researching the lens and speaking to as many experts as I could, and here I’ve compiled a detailed history of the lens that’s become my photographic muse. ![]() Whatever you call it, it’s a special lens.Īfter several years of dreaming and months of actively looking to buy, I’ve finally managed to get my hands on one. Others have affectionately called it The Big B, The King of Bokeh, and The Vortex King for its ability to render swirling whirlpools in the out-of-focus areas behind a subject. I’ve been shooting all sorts of classic lenses for many years, but for a long time I sought one legendary portrait lens above them all, the Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 75mm f/1.5. Zeiss originally dubbed this lens the “Night Lens” for its ability to shoot in low light situations. ![]()
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