Zeiss Biogon
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Introduced in | 1934, 1951 |
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Author | Ludwig Bertele |
Construction | 8 elements in 5 groups |
Aperture | 4.5 |
Biogon is the brand name of Carl Zeiss for a series of photographic camera lenses, first introduced in 1934. Biogons are typically wide-angle lenses.
History
Biogon (I), 1934
- Biogon (I) and developments
- Zeiss Biogon [I] by Bertele (1934), from US 2,084,309[1]
- Wild Aviotar by Bertele (1947), from US 2,549,159[2]
- KMZ Jupiter-12 lens
The first Biogon lens (2.8 / 3.5 cm, an asymmetric design featuring seven elements in four groups) was designed in 1934 by Ludwig Bertele[1] while he was working for Zeiss, as a modification of his earlier Sonnar design (1929).[3]: 120 The Biogon was assigned to Zeiss Ikon Dresden and marketed with the Contax rangefinder camera. It was produced by Carl Zeiss starting in approximately 1937, first in Jena, then a redesigned version was built in Oberkochen.
Bertele would go on to reuse the design for the Wild Aviotar.[3]: 120 After World War II, KMZ also reused the Biogon design for the Jupiter-12.[4]
Biogon (II), 1951
- Biogon (II) and antecedents
- Schneider Angulon by Tronnier (1930), from US 1,882,530[5]
- Zeiss Topogon by Richter (1933), from US 2,031,792[6]
- Roosinov (1946), from US 2,516,724[7]
- Wild Aviogon by Bertele (1950), from US 2,734,424[8]
- Zeiss Biogon by Bertele (1951), from US 2,721,499[9]
Symmetric wide-angle lenses with meniscus elements facing the object and image had been developed in the 1930s, including the Schneider Kreuznach Angulon (Tronnier, 1930) with two outer negative menisci,[5] derived from the Goerz Dagor (Emil von Höegh, 1892);[10]: 92 and the Zeiss Topogon (Richter, 1933) with two outer positive menisci,[6] derived from the Goerz Hypergon (1900).[11]: 54–55 [3]: 118–119 These concepts were combined in a symmetric super-wide angle lens design using mirrored inverted telephoto lenses, as patented by Roosinov in 1946.[12]: 150
In 1950, Bertele designed the Wild Aviogon as a similar highly-symmetric wide-angle lens with a large angular coverage.[8] The following year, in 1951, Bertele designed a new Biogon with a 90° angle of view (Super Wide Angle).[9] The Biogon has been characterized as a simpler Aviogon.[12]: 151 Compared to the Aviogon, the Biogon removed a meniscus element and simplified the group ahead of the aperture.[9]
The first regular production Biogon lenses were produced from 1954 as the 4.5 / 21 mm for Contax, in 1954, 4.5 / 38 mm for Hasselblad Super Wide, and from 1955 to 1956 as the 4.5 / 53 mm and 4.5 / 75 mm for Linhof. The original patent spanned three different variants, each with a different maximum aperture: f/6.3, f/4.5, and f/3.4 lenses.[9]
- Biogon (II) retrofocus development
- AEG Weitwinkelobjektiv (1932), from DRP 620,538
- Zeiss Sphaerogon by Merté (1935), from US 2,126,126
- Angénieux Retrofocus (1950), from US 2,649,022
- "Wide-angle lens" by Bertele (1952), from US 2,730,016[13]
The advent of the Biogon opened the way to more extreme wide-angle lenses. Bertele continued to develop his design, patenting an asymmetric wide-angle lens in 1952 that covered an astonishing 120° angle of view "and beyond, practically distortion free", by adding a strong negative meniscus front element to the Biogon design, showing influences from earlier fisheye lens designs, including the AEG Weitwinkelobjektiv (1932) and Zeiss Sphaerogon (1935, Willy Merté [de]), and the Angénieux retrofocus (1950).[13]
Examples
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/Leica_CL_with_Biogon_28mm.jpg/220px-Leica_CL_with_Biogon_28mm.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Biogon21.png/220px-Biogon21.png)
Since their introduction, lenses branded Biogon are usually approximately symmetrical ("semi-symmetrical") wide-angle design with a usable angle of view of 90° or more. At 90° the focal length is approximately half as long as the format's diagonal.
Well known camera manufacturers like Hasselblad have or had Biogon derived lenses to offer.
- Biogon 1:2,8 f = 21 mm, 90° angle (PDF-File; 65 kB)
- Biogon 1:4,5 f = 21 mm, T* Classic, 90° angle (PDF-File; 282 kB)
- Biogon 1:2,8 f = 25 mm, 82° angle (PDF-File; 292 kB)
- Biogon 1:2,8 f = 28 mm, 75° angle (PDF-File; 182 kB)
- Biogon 1:2,0 f = 35 mm, 63° angle (PDF-File; 266 kB)
- Biogon 1:4,5 f = 38 mm CFi for Hasselblad (Medium Format; PDF-File; 166 kB)
- Biogon 1:4,5 f = 53 mm, image diameter of 115 mm, for professional cameras up to the 6 × 9 cm
- Biogon 1:5,6 f = 60 mm for Hasselblad (Medium Format, including the Apollo Moon mission, PDF file, 857 kB); PDF-File; 857 kB)
- Biogon 1:4,5 f = 75 mm, image diameter of 153 mm, 92° angle, for large-format professional cameras up to 4 × 5 inches
Influence
- Symmetric super-wide angle lenses similar to Biogon (II)
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- W.Rokkor-PI 21 mm f/4.5 for Minolta SR-mount SLRs
- Nikkor-SW 65 mm f/4 for large format cameras
Several companies developed and sold highly symmetric super-wide angle lenses similar to the Biogon, including:
- Super-Angulon, sold by Schneider Kreuznach for large format cameras[15] and licensed by Leica Camera as a 21 mm f/4 lens for Leica screw mount rangefinder cameras[16] and a later f/3.4 lens for both M rangefinder[17][18] and R SLR mounts;[19] an unrelated Super-Angulon-R 21 mm f/4 was introduced a few years later, using a retrofocus design, as the prior symmetric design required the mirror to be locked up.[20]
- Grandagon, sold by Rodenstock for large format cameras[21]
- Nikkor-O 2.1 cm f/4, sold by Nikon in both S rangefinder and F SLR mounts; with the Nikon F, the lens must be used with the mirror locked up.[22] This was replaced for the SLRs by the Nikkor-UD 20 mm f/3.5 retrofocus lens.[23] Nikon also sold the Nikkor-SW line of highly symmetric super-wide angle lenses for large format cameras.[24][25]
- W.Rokkor-PI f/4.5 and W.Rokkor-QH f/4 21 mm lenses, sold by Minolta in SR mount.[26][27] These were succeeded by the W.Rokkor-NL retrofocus lens, which did not require mirror lock-up.[28]
- Fujinon-SW, a six-element, four-group design similar to the Super Angulon sold by Fujifilm for both its line of Fujica medium format rangefinder cameras (G690/BL, GM670, GSW6xx)[29] and large format cameras; an improved version (8e/4g) for large format cameras with slightly greater coverage was sold as the Fujinon-SWD.[30]
Günter Klemt patented the Super-Angulon for Schneider in 1954, citing Roosinov's 1946 patent; neither the Wild or Zeiss patents by Bertele were cited;[14] The Super Angulon design shares the same six-element, four-group construction with inner cemented doublets flanked by large negative meniscus elements with the Roosinov patent, diverging significantly from Bertele's Aviogon/Biogon designs. The Super-Angulon bears more similarities to the prior Angulon, designed by Albrecht Tronnier for Schneider in 1930 as another highly symmetric wide-angle lens with two cemented triplets.[5] A later 1957 patent by Klemt in collaboration with Karl Heinrich Macher, refining the Super Angulon design for Schneider, added citations to Bertele's patents.[31]
Wild continued to refine the Aviogon and filed for a patent on a simplified design in 1952;[32] that patent, in turn, was cited by Drs. Erhard Glatzel and Hans Schulz in their 1966 patent for the Hologon.[33]
See also
References
- ^ a b US patent 2084309, Bertele, Ludwig, "Photographic lens system", issued 22 June 1937, assigned to Zeiss Ikon AG
- ^ US Patent 2549159A, Ludwig Bertele, "Highly corrected photographic objective having four axially air spaced components", published April 17, 1951, assigned to Wild Heerbrugg AG
- ^ a b c Kingslake, Rudolf (1989). "8. Meniscus Anastigmats". A History of the Photographic Lens. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 117–130. ISBN 0-12-408640-3. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ Solomon, Josh (October 11, 2017). "Jupiter-12 35mm F/2.8 Lens Review – Playing Russian Roulette with a Zeiss Copy". Casual Photofile. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
- ^ a b c US patent 1882530, Albrecht Wilhelm Tronnier, "Spherically chromatically and astigmatically corrected wide-angle lens with high aperture", issued October 11, 1932, assigned to Jos. Schneider & Co.
- ^ a b US patent 2031792, Robert Richter, "Anastigmatic objective for photography and projection", issued February 25, 1936, assigned to Carl Zeiss, Jena
- ^ US patent 2516724, Michael Michaelovitch Roosinov, "Wide angle orthoscopic anastigmatic photographic objective", issued July 25, 1950
- ^ a b US patent 2734424, Ludwig Bertele, "Wide angle objectives of six air spaced components", issued 14 February 1956, assigned to Bertele, Ludwig
- ^ a b c d US patent 2721499, Bertele, Ludwig, "Five component wide-angle objective", issued 25 October 1955, assigned to Bertele, Ludwig
- ^ Kingslake, Rudolf (1989). "6. The First Anastigmats". A History of the Photographic Lens. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 81–102. ISBN 0-12-408640-3. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ Kingslake, Rudolf (1989). "4. Early Double Objectives". A History of the Photographic Lens. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 49–68. ISBN 0-12-408640-3. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ a b Kingslake, Rudolf (1989). "10. Reversed Telephoto Lenses". A History of the Photographic Lens. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 141–152. ISBN 0-12-408640-3. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ a b US patent 2730016A, Ludwig Bertele, "Photographic wide-angle objective", issued January 10, 1956, assigned to Bertele, Ludwig
- ^ a b US patent 2781695, Gunter Klemt, "Optical system with large effective image angle", issued February 19, 1957, assigned to Jos. Schneider & Co.
- ^ "SCHNEIDER lenses" (PDF). Pacific Rim Camera, Reference Library. Burleigh Brooks Inc. 1961. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- ^ "Leitz Wetzlar SUPER-ANGULON 21mm F/4". Lens-DB. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- ^ "Leitz Photographic Equipment" (PDF). Pacific Rim Camera, Reference Library. E. Leitz Inc. November 1969. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- ^ "Leitz Wetzlar SUPER-ANGULON 21mm F/3.4". Lens-DB. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- ^ "Leitz Wetzlar SUPER-ANGULON-R 21mm F/3.4". Lens-DB. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- ^ "Leitz Wetzlar SUPER-ANGULON-R 21mm F/4". Lens-DB. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- ^ "View Camera Lenses" (PDF). Pacific Rim Camera, Reference Library. Rodenstock Optical Works. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- ^ Sato, Haruo. "NIKKOR-O 2.1cm F4 (No.1)". NIKKOR - The Thousand and One Nights. Nikon Imaging. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- ^ Ohshita, Kouichi. "NIKKOR Auto 20mmf/4 from (New) NIKKOR-UD Auto 20mm f/3.5 (No.20)". NIKKOR - The Thousand and One Nights. Nikon Imaging. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- ^ "Nikkor lenses for Large-Format Cameras" (PDF). Nikon Imaging. April 2001. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- ^ Gudzinowicz, Michael. "Large-Format Lens Specifications". Graflex.org. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- ^ "Minolta W.ROKKOR-PI 21mm F/4.5". Lens-DB. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- ^ "Minolta W.ROKKOR-QH 21mm F/4". Lens-DB. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- ^ "Minolta 20mm & 21mm Lenses". subclub.org. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- ^ "Fujica G690 Lenses". The 6x9 Photography Online Resource. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- ^ "Fujinon Professional Lenses" (PDF). Pacific Rim Camera, Reference Library. Fujifilm. November 1969. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- ^ US patent 2897725, Günter Klemt & Karl Heinrich Macher, "Optical system with large effective image angle", published August 4, 1959, assigned to Jos. Schneider & Co.
- ^ GB patent 733308A, "Improvements in wide angle objectives", published July 6, 1955, assigned to Wild Heerbrugg AG
- ^ DE patent 1241637B, Dr Erhard Glatzel & Dr Hans Schulz, "Dreilinsiges Weitwinkelobjektiv [Three-element wide-angle lens]", published June 1, 1967, assigned to Carl Zeiss AG
Bibliography
- Nasse, H. Hubert (December 2011). "From the series of articles on lens names: Distagon, Biogon and Hologon" (PDF). Camera Lens Blog (CLB) (41st ed.). Carl Zeiss AG, Camera Lens Division. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-02-22. Retrieved 2013-06-08.
External links
- Detailed article about the history of super wide-angle lenses, starting with Hypergon (Italian)
- Biogon wide-angle lens article on olypedia.de (German)
- Historical Data sheets of Zeiss lenses (German)