Wonderful tale! Thank you.
On Jul 10, 2015 10:27 AM, "David Young" <dsy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> I'm unsure if this is an "interesting trivia" post, or a "Friday for
sale" post. Perhaps more of the first, but a bit of both.
>
> Recently, while researching items for my second e-book in my "Photography
- Snap-Shots to Super Shots" series, I came across an interesting story.
One that's been around for nearly 50 years, but one of which I'd never
even heard rumours.
>
> I thought some of you might find the story of the Zeiss Gigantar as
interesting as I did!
>
> Here is the excerpt from the book:
>
> --------
>
> At the 1966 Photokina, Zeiss showed off their "Gigantar", a 40mm f 0.33
lens.. It was, they claimed, "the word's fastest lens". Was it true? No,
not really.
>
> The Gigantar was born at a time in which camera companies were designing
lenses with larger and larger apertures, much as they are gunning for more
and more megapixels and ever higher ISO ratings, today. Canon had just
released their 50mm f 0.95 and photographers were becoming fixated on the
speed of their lenses, rather than their performance.
>
> Wolf Wehran, then the head of PR at Zeiss, wanted to create a product
that would poke fun at this "fast glass fad". At the Zeiss lens design lab
he found an old condenser lens and with the help of Zeiss technicians, used
it to create a “frankenlens” for the Zeiss Contarex. He arbitrarily decided
that the lens would have a focal length of 40mm and a maximum aperture of f
0.33 and it was proudly displayed at Photokina.
>
> But, the lens was a hoax. It was never intended to take photographs.
Still, that fact did not stop this one-off lens from selling at auction, in
2011, for €60,000!
>
> --------
>
> If you are interested in seeing this lens, go here:
>
>
https://www.ormsdirect.co.za/blog/2013/08/07/the-worlds-fastest-fake-lens-zeiss-40mm-f0-33/
>
> The story appears in both the latest revision of my "Brief History of
Photography" and in volume 2 of "Snap-Shots to Super Shots", which was
released earlier this week.
>
> If interested, you can learn more on all of my e-books here:
>
> www.tinyurl.com/SS2SS-Books
>
> (Should you decide to purchase one, I recommend that you read it on a
tablet or iPad, rather than a Kobo e-ink reader, as the photos and
illustrations are nearly all in colour. Apps to read my (and all ePub
format) books are available for free at Kobo.com. Sorry, no Kindle
editions are available at this time.)
>
> Thanks for reading.
>
> David.
>
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