Home Announcements Press Release: Kickstarter For The Citograph 35 Street Photography Lens

Press Release: Kickstarter For The Citograph 35 Street Photography Lens

Announcements

by Andrew Sweigart - Jul 14, 2017

Introduction

C.P. Goerz, a new German startup, has a new lens that is aimed at street photographers — a 35mm fixed-focus f/8 lens that’s always in focus at 9 feet to infinity!

Taking its name from a famous early 20th Century German lens maker, C.P. Goerz launched a Kickstarter for the lens and has already smashed its goal of $30,000! Now Goerz is going for a stretch goal of $65,000 by July 27th, with a bonus printed Citography guide.

The Citograph 35 pancake lens

Citograph 35mm street photo lens sample image 2 — Sample street photo from the Citograph 35mm lens

The Citograph 35 is a pancake-style, Tessar-type lens that marries sharpness with an ultra-compact package… a form factor which many street photographers adore. The lens is the passion project of Benedikt Hartmann, a 20-year veteran of the German camera industry and the founder of CP Goerz. His idea was to create a lens that would be perfect for the “shoot from the hip” style of street photography. With it’s disc aperture equal to F8 and 35mm focal length, The Citograph will be in Weegee’s wheelhouse… “f/8 and be there”.

“We want to produce a professional-grade lens that will put the “Insta” back into Instagram! We want to bring the spontaneity back to photography while maintaining the highest standards of photo creation,” Hartmann says.

Promised as the world’s first ever hyperfocal citography lens, the Citograph 35 “gives you the best of both worlds: the speed of your smartphone with the image quality of your SLR.” The Citograph has no moving parts, so no autofocus, no zoom, no adjusting your aperture.

Citograph 35mm street photo lens sample image 1 — Citograph 35mm lens sample image

The Citograph lens is the tool that Hartmann believes will enable photographers to practice Citography, which is obviously a sibling to street photography.

“Citography is a completely new form of spontaneous and pure photography, allowing you to create beautiful and highly professional photos of the world around you – create images that are just as unpredictable and spontaneous as life around you.”
“It is the perfect universal lens for this new way of documenting life – citography. With a focal length of 35mm, the possibilities are almost endless: it strikes the perfect balance between a standard-angle and wide-angle lens. And thanks to its hyperfocal technology, you can take stunning pictures of fast-moving objects – talk about capturing a fleeting moment!”

The Citograph will be available for Nikon, Canon EF, Sony E, Leica M, Micro Four Thirds, Fuji X and Pentax K mounts.

Hartmann, who has been shooting for over 25 years, says street and portrait photography are his two biggest passions and that 35mm and f/8 provide a perfect union.

“So far, other lenses have always been either too bulky for me, or the autofocus took too long when trying to take a spontaneous photo. On top of that, most lenses don’t have an exact focus range. So I ended up missing out on a lot of photo opportunities. This is how the idea of the CITOGRAPH 35mm was born. With its fixed focus, I am always ready to take instant, high-quality snapshots. The lens is also extremely compact – it easily fits into my bag and goes with me everywhere! And thanks to the [camera’s] large sensor, the CITOGRAPH takes amazing pictures even in low light.”