Review of the Meopta Meostigmat 1,7 / 100 Ф82,5 projection lens from Rodion Eshmakov

Meopta Meostigmat 1,7 / 100 Ф82,5 lens material especially for Radozhiva prepared Rodion Eshmakov.

View of the lens block Meopta Meostigmat 100 / 1.7, installed in the behind-the-lens focusing mechanism.

View of the lens block Meopta Meostigmat 100 / 1.7, installed in the behind-the-lens focusing mechanism. increase.

Thank you for the lens provided for writing the review Andreeva Andrey.

Meopta Meostigmat is a line of Czech film projection lenses produced in the second half of the 35th century. In terms of its parameters, Meostigmat lenses are closest to the Soviet 35KP, as well as RO and Zh (for 2 mm film). Like Soviet counterparts, film projection Meostigmats are six-lens anastigmats, and lenses with a relative aperture of f / 6 are made according to the classic 4/1.7 scheme (“Planar”, “double Gauss”), and their faster aperture options (f / 1.9-f /6) - according to a more modern, but also planar-like scheme 6/62.5. Depending on the parameters (focal length and aperture), you can find lenses with a bore diameter of both 82.5 mm and XNUMX mm, which is reflected in the name.

This article focuses on the Meopta Meostigmat 100/1.7 82.5mm lens adapted for use with mirrorless cameras.

Specifications:

Optical design - 6 lenses in 6 groups, "double Gauss" type (figure not found);
Focal length - 100 mm;
Relative aperture - 1: 1.7;
Covered frame - 44×33 mm (not less than);
Rear focal length - ~60 mm (lens compatible with small format SLR cameras);
Working distance – ~58 mm;
Lens length - 80 mm;
Lens diameter - 82.5 mm;
Mass - 1100

Lens construction and adaptation

As a typical projection lens, Meopta 100/1.7 is made in a massive barrel-shaped aluminum body with a diameter of 82.5 mm. Soviet 35KP-1.8 / 100 has a less bulky body (300 g less weight) and a smaller bore diameter (62.5 mm), making the Soviet lens much easier to adapt and more pleasant to use. And the quality adaptation of the Meopta 100/1.7 requires an expensive 82.5 mm focusing mechanism, which, in addition, will further increase the mass of the lens.

Because of these difficulties, Meopta 100/1.7 and similar lenses are often only mounted on mirrorless cameras by adding a relatively small diameter focusing mechanism right behind the rear lens element. The copy given to me was remade in exactly the same way - the Chinese macrohelicoid M65-M65 25-55 mm was chosen as the focuser, and for attaching to the camera, the use of an adapter such as M65-GFX or, for example, M65-M42 + M42-NEX (thin) is implied. Among the disadvantages of this adaptation method, one can note the mass imbalance and the inconvenient location of the focus ring - it is too close to the camera mount and wide enough to interfere with the normal grip of the camera.

Also, an iris diaphragm was not installed in the lens transferred to me, although, apparently, there is a fundamental possibility of carrying out such work.
Below are photos of the appearance adapted for Meopta 100 / 1.7 mirrorless cameras.

Optical properties

The Meopta 100/1.7 produces an image that is quite sharp for its parameters, but I did not feel any superiority over the very affordable Soviet 35KP-1.8/100 with an archaic 6/4 optical scheme in the central region of the frame. Meopta 100/1.7, the cost of which is literally an order of magnitude higher than the cost of 35KP-1.8/100, still suffers from chromatic aberrations and is noticeably soft. However, probably, at the edges of the frame, the difference in favor of the Czech lens would be noticeable: unlike the 35KP-1.8 / 100, I did not notice a pronounced manifestation of field aberrations in the Meopta.

A direct comparison with the Soviet 35KP-1.8/120 (scheme 6/6) showed that Meopta 100/1.7 has a slightly worse image quality due to the greater manifestation of spherical aberrations.

Meostigmat 100/1.7 uses an amber AR coating on all lenses, resulting in a fairly neutral light transmission spectrum. However, enlightenment does not save pictures on a lens with 12 glass-to-air borders from glare and veil in the presence of powerful light sources in the frame or from the side. Meopta Meostigmat 100/1.7 is extremely harrier, the image often has a reduced contrast. These effects can sometimes be used for artistic purposes.

Meopta 100 / 1.7 - the owner of the classic "Planar" bokeh. The bokeh discs have a thin, light-colored border, colored green due to strong spherochromatism. Closer to the edges of the frame, the disks are cut off due to geometric vignetting to the characteristic “lemons” of the correct shape (lack of coma). In general, there is nothing unique and special in the picture of this lens, a huge variety of other lenses, even modern ones, can create a similar picture.

Below are examples of photos taken on a Sony A7s full-frame camera (shooting in RAW, correction in Lightroom).

All reviews of film projection and filming lenses:

  1. RO3-3M 2/50
  2. RO2-2M 75/2 (review from the reader)
  3. PO 500-1 F9 CM. 1: 2 P (review from the reader)
  4. LENKINAP RO500-1 F = 9cm 1: 2 P (review from the reader)
  5. ЛЭТИ-60/60М F=92 1:2 (review from the reader)
  6. 2/92
  7. F = 92 1: 2
  8. ОКП-6-70-1 F=70 1:1,8
  9. LENKINAP OKS1A-75-1 F=75 1:2 P (review from the reader)
  10. LOMO RO501-1 F = 100 1: 2 (+ materials from the reader)
  11. LOMO RO500-1 F = 90 1: 2
  12. 16KP-1,4 / 65 (review from the reader)
  13. 35KP-1,8 / 65 (review from the reader)
  14. 35KP-1,8 / 70
  15. 35KP-1,8 / 75 (review from the reader)
  16. 35KP-1,8 / 85
  17. 35KP-1.8 / 100 (review from the reader)
  18. 35KP-1.8 / 120 (review from the reader)
  19. 35KP-1,8 / 120 (with aperture, reader's review)
  20. LOMO P-5 F = 90 1: 2 (review from the reader)
  21. LOMO P-5 F = 100 1: 2 (review from the reader)
  22. LOMO OKS1-22-1 F = 22 1: 2.8 (review from the reader)
  23. ЛОМО ОКС1-40-1 40/2.5 (review from the reader)
  24. LOMO OKS1-300-1 F = 300 1: 3.5 (review from the reader)
  25. LOMO OKS11-35-1 F = 35 1: 2 (review from the reader)
  26. LOMO J-53 F = 75 1: 2 (review from the reader)
  27. LOMO J-54 F = 85 1: 2 (review from the reader)
  28. LOMO OKP4-80-1 F=80 1:1,8 (review from the reader)
  29. (review from the reader)
  30. Tair-41 50/2 (review from the reader)
  31. KO-120 1: 2,1 120mm
  32. KO-90 1: 1,9 F = 9cm (review from the reader)
  33. KO-120M 1: 1.8 F = 120mm (review from the reader)
  34. KO-120M 120 / 1.8 with a diaphragm and helicoid (review from the reader)
  35. KO-120 1: 2.1 F = 12cm (review from the reader)
  36. GOZ “KO-140” 1:2,2 F–14cm (review from the reader)
  37. MP RSFSR GLAVOCHTEKHPROM PLANT №6 ★ F=7.7cm ★ (review from the reader)
  38. MSO USSR SSD UPP-1 ★ KHARKIV ★ F-7 CM ★
  39. Schneider Super Cinelux 70/2
  40. Meopta Meostigmat 100/1.7
  41. Projection aplanates: "Petzvali" and "Richter"

The names of the lenses correspond to their exact spelling on the body.

Conclusions

Meopta Meostigmat 100/1.7 is a relatively high-quality film projection lens with a pleasant, but not at all unique picture. The experience of using this lens only confirmed my opinion that the Meostigmat f / 2-f / 1.7 line is overpriced: I expected better optical quality and / or a more interesting picture from the lens. There are many analogues of this Czech projector, which are at least slightly inferior optically, but more convenient to adapt and use. First of all, this is a common Soviet lens 35KP-1.8 / 100, aperture which can be increased to the same F / 1.7 with a simple adaptation. The owner of an interesting "vintage" picture is the Soviet projection LOMO RO501-1 100/2. Finally, there is a cheap modern autofocus Yong Nuo 100/2which can be bought new. And he certainly will not be worse than Meopta, and the lemons in the bokeh - profitable business.

You will find more reviews from readers of Radozhiva here.

Add a comment: Anatoly

 

 

Comments: 10, on the topic: Review of the Meopta Meostigmat 1,7 / 100 Ф82,5 projection lens by Rodion Eshmakov

  • Dmitro

    About the balance of the lens and camera. I have a LOMO 130/2 lens. I adapted it to Sony a6500 using adapters from RAF Camera. When shooting, there are inconveniences, as I hold the lens with one hand, and twist the helicoid with the other to focus, and for shooting, I need to move my hand to the trigger. It's easier with a tripod. I picked up a tripod ring with a diameter of 82 mm on Aliexpress.

  • Sergei

    The device is too heavy.
    But the bokeh is outstanding.

  • Anatoly

    Don’t tell me, Rodion, these Meopt 82,5mm still have a certain magic, and this can be seen from your photos.) The 35KP and RO have a more sterile picture. By the way, lenses of this diameter are quite comfortable to focus with the help of a tube.

    • Rodion

      Try Schneider Cinelux. The price is about the same, the picture will be sharper than the meopts, the bokeh is somewhat similar. Moreover, they are much lighter. Meopta, on the other hand, is not 35kp anymore, but not Schneider either, moreover, it is heavier and larger than both.

  • Anatoly

    Taking this opportunity, I want to express my deep gratitude to the author for high-quality reviews and interesting creative ideas! )

  • Dim

    The photos turned out beautiful, only on the last one something is wrong with the stone.

    • Rodion

      Everything is the same with the stone, this is the effect of the foliage in the foreground, which partially overlapped the front lens and, moreover, is not visible at all in the photo.

      • Dim

        Thank you, now everything is clear - I saw the foliage, after your hint.

  • Vyacheslav

    I advise you to look at the photo from this lens from Arseny Shapurov (he has a separate album on flickr, and my photos are on the network from him too, on soniclab for example)
    The lens is very nice and cool, in terms of bokeh and sharpness it is higher than Soviet 35kp glasses and our rosters (IMHO, of course, but I personally shot on all these lenses)
    Works very cool on FF and FUJI GFX, sharp almost throughout the frame, while it has adequate color reproduction
    The Boutique Lens is pricing it, adapted to fuji gfx, at $2,600, by the way.
    we can find this lens in the range of $ 150-200 + spend about $ 100 on adaptation (it can be done in several ways) - glass will please you all your life later.
    in sunlight, a hood is recommended during the day, but you can do without it, if the sun is opposite, then you can catch beautiful highlights
    You can put the aperture, but I personally don’t see the point, on the open fully working glass.
    The weight is tolerable quite by the way, I have a friend who shoots it and generally considers it her best art glass, and she tried a lot in her search.

    • Rodion

      Meopta, of course, is much better than PO501-1 100/2 in terms of optical quality. It would be strange if she merged the glass, calculated no matter how before the war.
      Compared to newer 6/4 lenses, the meopta will probably be noticeably better than the 35KP-1.8/100 in the field. I also agree about color reproduction: lenses of the 35KP series are usually green, but this lens is not. Although a good question is whether this is a problem or not.
      With all this, I don’t think that Meopta will suddenly be better than LOMO OKP4-110-1 110 / 1.8, for example. I have a 35KP-1.8/120 with a 6/6 optical design. Of course, 120 is not 100 when it comes to edge resolution. But with an equal shooting scale, the 35KP-1.8 / 120 at a portrait distance is ahead of the meopta both in the center and along the edge, and very noticeably - due to the low level of coma. Moreover, the picture of the Soviet projectors with the 6/6 scheme is excellent from an artistic point of view. With this scheme (besides 1.8/120) I also have OKP4-80-1 80/1.8, which draws just fine and has much less problems in the back than this meopta. The same scheme is used in the cinematic LOMO OKS6-75-1. How much does “The Boutique Lens” rate it?

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