#astro berlin

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rectangles

chinatown

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lone

chinatown

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daylight

harajuku

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hi birdies

astro berlin pan-tachar 50mm f2.3

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chozuya

astro berlin pan-tachar 50mm f2.3

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faerie

astro berlin pan-tachar 50mm f2.3

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solemn

astro berlin pan-tachar 50mm f2.3

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a recent acquisition while i was in tokyo… enjoying the output so far and hope you guys enjoy it too. 

went to do some reading up, especially since the lens is plastered with patent information - one from the u.s. as indicated at the front rim together with the date, and another at the side with ‘d.r.p’. which stands for deutsches reichespatent for germany.

it is interesting that the company was named ‘astro’ as one of the founders was an astro-photographer and their lenses were designed for such an application in mind. in addition, astro also produced many lenses for cinematography and this pan-tachar is no exception as a cine lens.

the pan-tachar was designed by william f. bielicke, as referenced in the u.s. patent no. 1.540.752, which was essentially a cooke triplet but modified to include an additional rear element to better manage field curvature. william f. bielicke previously worked at renowned houses in london (ross) and rochester, new york (bausch and lomb), and hence brought a lot of technical expertise for this partnership based in berlin.

another interesting fact is this cine lens was reviewed quite favorably in the journal of the society of motion picture engineers (vol. xx no. 1, 1933) and noted to be a popular choice for motion picture work, ‘…thus the Astro Pan-Tachar, at f/2.3 with suitable lighting, gives brilliant images…’.

more pictures to come!