Astro Berlin lenses

[Michael Schroers]

Hi,

 

I just want to ask, what's so special about Astro Berlin lenses, like for example the Gauss-Tachar lenses.

 

Is there any especialness (look, quality etc) ?

 

Or are they so expensive, because they are very rare ?

 

 

Michael

[Dom Jaeger]

Probably because they made pretty fast lenses in long focal lengths, and savvy ebay sellers realise there's a whole swag of digital shooters out there just begging to get fleeced while looking for an ultra shallow depth of field vintage lens edge in order to stand out. :)

 

I've been hunting around for old D and C mount lenses to test out and I noticed the prices on 1930s era Dr Rudolph Meyer Kino-Plasmats were just astronomical - one nitwit in Hong Kong is asking $13,000 for one! Check it out:

 

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Dr-Rudolph-Hugo-Meyer-Kino-Plasmat-1-3-8-inch-f-1-5-35mm-f1-5-modified-Leica-M-/280700919441?pt=Camera_Lenses&hash=item415b141e91#ht_9350wt_870

 

They pop up regularly so I don't think they're that rare, but they were quite a sensation back in the day because an aperture of f1.5 was unheard of. So when an old cameraman I know dug one out of his basement for me (in quite good condition) I was curious to throw it up on projection. Needless to say, it looked a bit like a 60s lens with less contrast and more abberations. Fun to play around with maybe, but certainly not worth hundreds, let alone thousands.

 

I'm not saying vintage lenses can't produce beautiful images, but the idea that ancient optics might have some secret recipe that will unleash masterpieces and so be worth paying a fortune for is a fallacy. The whole point of using older glass should be that it's affordable!

[John Sprung]

Dom, if you've got one, go ahead and sell it for thousands. If the buyers are paying that much, let them. There's absolutely nothing wrong with you making a profit in the sub-prime lens market.... ;-)

 

 

 

 

-- J.S.

[Adrian Sierkowski]

John, we shouldn't be encouraging bubbles here-- Imagine is people found out about the lens-derivatives market's feebleness.

[Rolf Rosendahl]

Does anybody know a company with the shortname LLC? The only rehoused Astro Lens for todays use that I’ve found in the internet was the 40mm Pan Tachar T2,0 with LLC engraved onto the housing.

[Simon Wyss]

LLC ain’t a firm name, it stands for limited liability company. Else it could mean looks lathel cool. Don’t know.

[Rolf Rosendahl]

Hi Simon,

thanks for your inspiration but Limited Liability Company was not the magic name that I did expect for a lens manufacturer. In the end the third possibility is ... as I found out in the meantime ... LLC stands for London Lens Company & it’s a small collective of UK Dops and the Pan Tachar was made for them as a one-off design.