FS: Uber-rare Astro Berlin MAKRO-GAUSS-TACHAR 40mm F2, arri mount

[James Coleman Rogers]

This is an incredible, beautiful, VERY rare lens, factory arriflex-mount Astro-Berlin Gauss-Tachar MACRO version, 40mm F2.0.

The glass is in perfect shape. Not a single fault. Very hard to find Gauss-Tachars especially with good glass condition.

The mount does NOT rotate with focus, so it can be easily adapted to PL mount with a simple adapter from ebay or rafcamera costing like $30. Takes like 2 minutes to install and works great, I used the lens this way but the mount is now in use on the Kinoptik I also have for sale.

The image put out ny this is simply gorgeous. Classic, very sharp with nice contrast, and a good way to differentiate from the common Cooke Panchros and Zeiss standards. Lens has a distinct look compared to them and performs equally well perhaps even better.

GORGEOUS, classic double-gauss flares come out of this thing.

It just perfectly covers a Nikon Z6 in 10bit N-log (which I believe is a 10% crop off of full-frame 36x20), so it will have absolutely no problem covering Dragon, Helium, or Alexa open-gate with zero vignette.

Focus is smooth, aperture blades function without issue and remain beautifully round all the way down (lots of blades on this lens, makes for gorgeous bokeh even stopped down).

I REALLY want to build a set of these, but I need to free up some cash to use on re-mounting/modernizing a VERY rare front-anamorphic-zoom currently on its way to me.

4000 USD, located in northern Virginia. Will ship.

[James Coleman Rogers]

BUMP!

UPDATE!!: I have added a stainless PL-mount onto the Astro-Berlin. Image attached to this post.

Also, I have taken a number of quick sample clips using the lens (taken on a Nikon Z6). Here we go:

Sample in S35/APS-C mode, showing general look and close-focus:

https://vimeo.com/496424721

Clip in Z6 36x20 Full-Frame mode, showing amount of vignetting (not much. a 10% crop removes it):

https://vimeo.com/496427886

Clip showing lack of chromatic aberration:
https://vimeo.com/496427746

Clip showing amount of focus-breathing:
https://vimeo.com/496427639

And finally, a clip showing lens flare (soft purple classic double-gauss flare, which I find quite beautiful!):
https://vimeo.com/496427565

There we go!

Hope that helps someone make up their mind.
This is a VERY cool, ultra rare lens that is difficult to find in such good condition, and it just gives such a cool and unique look compared to the usual ubiquitous Cook Panchros or Zeiss standard-speeds.

Edited January 28, 2021 by James Coleman Rogers