Meyer Optik Görlitz Lenses

Est. 1896 · Görlitz, Germany; modern revival associated with OPC Optics in Bad Kreuznach and Hamburg · 3 lenses

Meyer Optik Görlitz began on April 1, 1896, when optician Hugo Meyer and businessman Heinrich Schätze founded the Optisch-Mechanische Industrie-Anstalt Hugo Meyer & Co. in Görlitz. Early success came from Aristostigmat and Euryplan-related optics, and the firm expanded into photographic and projection lenses before World War I. In 1920 Meyer began working with former Zeiss designer Paul Rudolph, gaining access to the Plasmat patent family and strengthening its position in high-speed and anastigmatic lens design.

By the 1930s the company, renamed Optische und Feinmechanische Werke Hugo Meyer & Co., was a major lens producer. Postwar East German nationalization turned it into VEB Feinoptisches Werk Görlitz, and the Meyer name remained visible on many M42, Exakta, Praktica, and medium-format lenses through the 1950s and 1960s. The Trioplan triplets became famous for bright-edged out-of-focus highlights, while Primoplan, Orestor, Orestegor, Lydith, and Domiplan lenses made Meyer a practical alternative to Carl Zeiss Jena in the East German camera ecosystem.

Industrial consolidation absorbed Meyer into VEB Pentacon in 1968 and later into the Carl Zeiss Jena combine. The Meyer-Optik name disappeared from new lenses after the early 1970s, and the briefly independent post-reunification Feinoptisches Werk Görlitz GmbH closed in 1991. The brand was revived in 2014 by net SE/Globell through crowdfunded reinterpretations, collapsed again during the 2018 insolvency, and was subsequently acquired by OPC Optical Precision Components Europe. The modern Meyer Optik Görlitz line focuses on German-assembled character lenses inspired by the Trioplan, Primoplan, and other historic formulas.

Notable designs: Trioplan 100mm f/2.8, Trioplan 50mm f/2.9, Primoplan 58mm f/1.9, Orestor 135mm f/2.8, Orestegor 200mm f/4, Lydith 30mm f/3.5, Domiplan 50mm f/2.8