If there is one iconic lens that comes to mind for bokehtographers when the subject comes up, it is this one. The Trioplan is famous throughout the bokeh galaxy for its “bubble bokeh”. What should be soft out-of-focus circles become bright rings resembling bubbles. In addition the lens adds an ethereal glow to the highlights (due to the poorly corrected spherical aberration that also creates the bubbles, but never mind…) This lens became so popular that the Meyer company actually reissued the lens for various modern cameras, at an astoundingly high price. Used copies are still widely available, and they are not cheap because of the demand, but they are still 1/3 the price of the reissue.
I do very much like the look of the results with this lens, but I tend more to play with the lesser known lenses, as I have always been a road-less-traveled kind of guy. But there is no doubt that the Trioplan deserves its reputation as a “bokeh monster”.
