Under the new owner of OPC Optics, Meyer Optik Gorlitz has now confirmed what many have long suspected. The $3,000 Nocturnus 50mm f/0.95 lens was indeed only a copy of the now obsolete $850 Mitakon Zhongyi Speedmaster 50mm f/0.95. Although the specifications are identical, Meyer Optik had long denied this.

The rumors about cloning have been around since 2015. In a press release Meyer Optik Görlitz in possession of OPC-Optik has now admitted the truth. And not only that, also the Somnium 85mm f/1.5 lens was apparently a modified Russian lens.

The company announces in a press release that after analyzing the portfolio of products most recently sold and advertised by the previous supplier, a decision was made to discontinue the Somnium and Nocturnus ranges for the time being. In line with comments in the past on various online platforms, forums etc., the current Meyer Optik staff also soon became aware that internally the Somnium was actually a modified Russian lens and the Nocturnus was a modified Chinese lens.

“That is an absolute no go. As a German manufacturer using the ‘Made in Germany’ quality seal, this is a shameful indictment. These lenses may be perfectly good in their own right, but their production methods and marketing goes against all our principles,” states Heinze. “With us, nothing of this nature will occur. At the same time, we are not ruling out launching lenses with similar characteristics in the future. But if we did decide to do so, they would, of course, be our own designs and produced by us, in order to genuinely earn the ‘Made in Germany’ label.”

In China the news was received with satisfaction. For example, a user on the Toutioa network writes that you have to be grateful to the Germans - they have shown what high quality Chinese companies are capable of delivering.

The Chinese lens for the Nocturnus is available for 850 US dollars. Meyer demanded 3,000 dollars for its copper-plated product.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator