Based in Görlitz, a designation that often appears on their lenses, Hugo Meyer & Co was founded in 1896. The maker was an early pioneer (from 1918) of Plasmat lens manufacture and successfully rebuilt its production facility after the war to continue manufacture until 1960. Meyer’s enlarger lenses – labelled Helioplan – were redeployments of their large format lenses. From 1946 Meyer also produced a range of excellent six-element macro lenses designated Doppel-Anastigmat. Despite closing its doors in 1960, there have been several attempts to resurrect the brand name, which is hallowed by a number of fruitful collaborations with Zeiss, a rich history of cine projector optics, and the enduringly popular Trioplan taking lenses.
Serial number guide:
1930: 500 000
1935: 700 000
1938: 900 000
1940: 998 000
1947: 1 051 000
1951: 1 200 000
1954: 1 400 000
1955: 1 600 000
1960: 2 600 000