Oprema's New Biotar 58mm f/2.0 Could Be the Only Lens of Its Kind
It’s already earned $50,000 through crowdfunding.
Optical company Oprema Jena is hot off reviving the Biotar 75mm lens via crowdfunding. Now, the brand looks to bring back the iconic Biotar 58mm f/20, which contains a record 17 blades.’ Although still early, the project has already earned its $50,000 USD goal through its Kickstarter campaign. If all goes according to plan, the lens will be the only 17-blade aperture in the world.
“We absolutely wanted to maintain the optical features of the lens. We wanted to keep its subtleness, its wonderful ability to catch lights and colors and, of course, its legendary center focus and the one and only Biotar bokeh,” writes Oprema. “In other words, we wanted to build a worthy continuation of the famous blueprint while maintaining the grace of the original design.”
The lens’ fully manual design allows it to bypass the normal limitations of autofocus lenses that have fewer blades to reduce the number of moving parts. The lens will have less than 1% distortion, a minimum focusing distance of 0.5 meters, a 58mm filter threads, and a weight of 410 grams.
