Primotar 135mm f/3.5 Lens

[doubs43]

The Meyer-Optik Primotar 135mm f/3.5 lens is something of a mystery it would seem. I can't find an optical formula for it anywhere. I read one guess that it may be based on the Tessar, but no firm information.

The lens itself is a pre-set and came to me in M42 mount that was mis-aligned. The focus and aperture scales were 120 degrees to the left of top-center. That took all of 3 minutes to correct by removing the tapered collar from around the mount, removing three screws, repositioning the mount correctly and replacing the screws and collar. The following two pictures were taken with the Primotar at f/5.6 and f/8 respectively. The flowers will have to do as it's 98 degrees here today and too darn hot to do much outside.





Walker

[PeterW]

Nothing wrong with the reassembly, Walker. Very sharp pictures.

The Primotar is indeed the same layout as a Tessar - front element, centre element and a cemented doublet at the rear with the iris between the centre and rear elements. From the diagram I have it looks as if the front element is slightly thicker than that on a Tessar and with a slightly different curvature, but that may be just artistic licence.

The big thing about the 135mm Primotar is that it was originally designed for a 6x9 format. In 35mm form it uses the exact same front as the one for 6x9. You can unscrew the whole 'works' and mount it on either a 35mm, 6x6 or 6x9 back part to suit quite a few different cameras.

This means that with 35mm you are using only the centre part of the image even at full aperture, always the best part. No doubt this helped to give it it's reputation as an excellent lens - as indeed it is. It wasn't cheap when it was new.

PeterW

[nikonbob]

Looks like a real winner in the underated/overlooked category. Graet texture in the petals.

Bob

[doubs43]

Thanks guys. This kind of fell into my lap from a fellow on another forum who was selling off a few items. The more I learn about Meyer-Optik Gorlitz, the more I like their lenses. Bob, I agree: they are underrated and often overlooked.

Peter, that's far more information than I've been able to find on the internet using Google. Even the two sites I have bookmarked for Pentacon and Praktica don't have much on the Primotar. It's as if very little has been printed or made known about it. As always, thanks for the data.

Walker