Meyer Optik Gorlitz Oreston 50mm f1.8
The two variations of the Meyer Optik Oreston.
The Meyer Optik Oreston is without a doubt one of my all time favorite 50mm lenses. It delivers beautiful images, colors, it has one of the most beautiful bokeh I have ever seen and it can focus as close as 0.33m. It's a true all rounder standard lens with great character and sharpness already when used wide open.
There is speculation that the Oreston and Pentacon 50mm f1.8 are exactly the same lens. In my experience, they are not. Perhaps in the overall image rendering they are but the Oreston, especially the early Zebra model (the one on the right in the image above), is sharp wide open and doesn't exhibit the "glow" and image softness many Pentacons are known for, maybe with the exception of the export (red lettering) Multi Coating version. This difference in quality might be due to a decline in quality control when Pentacon bought Meyer Optik and started mass producing the design of the Oreston under its brand.
Why use the Oreston:
1) Vintage rendering, unique character
2) Sharpness
3) Beautiful colors and black and white contrast
4) It produces "Bubble bokeh" when used wide open, very smooth and painterly background blur
5) Minimum focusing distance of 0.33m
6) Bright aperture, good for low light
7) Solid construction
Weaknesses:
Some people might find the preset button-activated aperture mechanism inconvenient when focusing
