Zeiss “Super-Q-Gigantar” 0.33/40mm

Everything started in 1953, with the release of the world's fastest camera lens 1.1/5cm in M39 mount by Teikoku Kogaku Zunow.

Eight years later, in the 1961, Canon released its 0,95/50mm lens for Leica's M39 mount at a time when the entire photographic industry seemed to be chasing lens speed.

At Photokina 1966, Zeiss ridiculed the photo industry “fastest lens” obsession by displaying the “Super-Q-Gigantar” 0,33/40mm as the world's “fastest” lens ever made, where “Q” stands for Quatsch, which in German means nonsense.

Photo credit: © WestLicht Photographica Auction