Astro Berlin

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Pan-Tachar 1.8 / 50 mm with M39 (Leica) connection

The Astro-Gesellschaft Bielicke & Co (later: GmbH & Co. KG ) is a German pioneer company in optical camera technology and cinematography in Berlin .

"Astro-Berlin" was founded in 1922 by the German-American Willy F. Bielicke , the Indian-born Hugh Ivan Gramatzki and by Otto as a partnership . The company was initially based in Berlin-Wilmersdorf , moved to Berlin-Neukölln in 1928 and to Berlin-Friedenau in 1945 . As early as the 1920s, Astro-Berlin was one of the internationally best-known companies in the field of cinematographic taking lenses.

Company history

The transfocator with movable lens element "B" invented by HI Gramatzki

Founded in 1922 until the end of the war in 1945

One of the founders, the engineer Hugh Ivan Gramatzki , was a successful amateur astronomer and astrophotographer who published in the journal Astronomische Nachrichten and for several years headed the Berlin branch of the "Berlin Astronomical Association". The product range from Astro-Berlin therefore comprised lenses that were particularly suitable for astrophotography and astronomical photometry because of their high light intensity . More and more shooting lenses were added for the emerging film industry. A specialty were high-speed lenses and lenses with a strong magnifying effect ("remote image lenses"). Gramatzki invented a. a. the Transfokator , a forerunner of modern zoom lenses.

William ("Willy") F. Bielicke , whose name appears in the company's company, played a major role in the technical development of the lenses produced . The mathematician Bielicke (* 1881, date of death unknown) lived and worked in London (for Ross ) and in Rochester (New York) for Bausch & Lomb before setting up his own business in Berlin with Gramatzki and Otto. Among other things, the designs and patents for the extremely fast " Tachar " and "Tachon" lenses from Astro-Berlin come from him.

Little is known about the activities of Astro-Berlin during the Second World War . In 1942 a patent was filed for the focusing of lenses. Astro-Berlin does not appear in the relevant overviews of manufacturer codes for deliveries to the Wehrmacht. Towards the end of the war, the manufacturing facilities were destroyed.

Reconstruction and second bloom from 1945

The reconstruction, which began in May 1945, was headed by Fritz Joachim Otto (* 1916; † 1993), son of the company's founder Otto. Fritz Joachim Otto had broken off a degree in physics with a focus on optics and worked for several years as a UFA cameraman and war correspondent for the National Socialist German newsreel .

After goods for everyday use were initially produced, the production of film technology products began again after the currency reform in 1948 . With the resurgence of the German film industry, the company was able to regain its important position in film technology. At the beginning of the 1960s, Astro-Berlin was known primarily for the manufacture of highly corrected recording and playback lenses, especially those with long and extremely long focal lengths. The products were referred to as "master optics" in specialist publications. Astro-Berlin lenses with extremely long focal lengths were also used by famous sports photographers (e.g. Bob Gomel ). In 1967 a utility model for an adjustment device for color television receiver tubes was submitted; A few trademark registrations followed by 1989 (see below).

End of the company in 1991

Otto headed the company as managing director until 1987, but continued to advise Astro-Berlin after his departure. At least from 1987, Astro-Berlin was no longer a partnership with personally liable partners ("Bielicki & Co."), but a GmbH & Co. KG . The Astro Society Bielicke GmbH & Co. KG was deleted from the Commercial Register Berlin (HRA14070) on 19 October 1991st EKOS GmbH, Berlin, has taken over the rights to the know-how and some employees.

Tewe Berlin (Technische Werke Weiste & Co, OHG, Berlin-Schöneberg) was a Berlin competitor of Astro-Berlin: Both produced professional telephoto lenses. There are lenses that are marked with Tewe and Astro-Berlin.

Trademarks, patents and products

Astro-Berlin registered several word marks from 1924 to 1989, mainly for its own lens series. But there are also some lenses that do not have a brand name registered on Astro-Berlin. Other products are still documented to a small extent. The company first had the word mark ´ "ASTRO" itself registered as a trademark in 1953 - and then again in 1989. Products were not sold under the brand names Astroflex (1955), "Tascan" (1989) and "Astroscan" (1989), or not to any significant extent.

Astan

Astan is a Cooke triplet with an aperture ratio of 1: 2.8-1: 6.5 with a focal length of 20 mm to 1000 mm.

ASTRAR / Astrar

The ASTRAR word mark was registered in 1930. Lenses of the Tessar type (4 lenses, two of which are cemented) for cine and 35 mm images were sold under the name ASTRAR . In 1922, Willy F. Bielicke registered a US patent (No. 1,558,073) for an improved Tessar for Bausch & Lomb . The English patent 375723 describes a 35 mm lens, also developed by Bielicke, with 5 lenses in four groups (1; 2.7 / 50 mm at an angle of view of 46 °).

Astro telephoto lens

The telephoto lenses of Astro-Berlin were made for both the still-photography as well as for cinematography. They are very simply constructed objectives consisting of one (1: 5, 1: 6.3) or two (1: 2.3) achromatic doubets . The focal lengths are between 250 mm and 1000 mm.

The 1: 5 lenses with focal lengths of 300, 400, 500 and 640 mm distinguish the small format 24 × 36 mm, the 1: 5/800 mm lens the medium format 60 × 60 mm and the 1: 6.6-1000 mm telephoto lens even 60 × 90 mm.

f5 telephoto lenses for 8 and 16 mm films are available with focal lengths of 100 and 150 mm, in 200 mm also for 35 mm film.

Astro-Kino, Astro-Kino Color

Astro-Kino and Astro-Kino Color are projection lenses for 8, 16, and 35 mm films. These lenses fit, for example, the Siemens 2000 projector, which was widely produced in the 1950s . The Astro-Kino IV 2 is a triplet variation with four free-standing lenses. The brightest variants (f1.5) with a focal length of 18 to 85 mm were suitable for 8 and 16 mm films (angle of view 20 °). The somewhat weaker Astro-Kino IV lenses (f2.0 to f2.7) had a focal length of 85-130 mm and were designed for the projection of 35 mm normal films.

The Astro-Kino VI with f2.0 and focal lengths from 40 to 80 mm, on the other hand, is a Gaussian double lens with a structure similar to the Schneider-Kreuznach Xenon .

Astro portrait

The Astro-Portrait is a soft focus portrait lens f2.3 / 150 mm for the small picture. It consists of an achromatic lens on the image side and two distant individual rear links.

Astro Voigtlander camera

Astro- Voigtländer is a stereo camera for 35mm film built in 1949 in just a few copies . The camera is equipped with three Gauss tachars 1: 2/32 mm. Another well-known camera is equipped with Astraren 2.7 / 40 mm. The (Stereo-Compur) shutter and focusing unit was purchased from Voigtländer. It was originally intended for the Voigtland stereflectoscope 6x13 and is marked accordingly.

Color Astrar

The Color-Astrar is a variation of the Lee Opic Lens . The light intensity (1: 2) and the focal lengths (100 mm, 150 mm) are also similar to the Gauss Tachar from Astro-Berlin, which is also based on the Lee Opic Lens (see below).

Gauss tachar

The Gauss-Tachar is a variant of the Lee Opic Lens , the first high- speed advancement of the Planar by Paul Rudolph . The Gauss-Tachars therefore have a lens geometry that differs greatly from the Tachar and Pan-Tachar (see below).

The Gauss tachars offered for cinematography had a light intensity of f2 and focal lengths of 25, 32, 40, 50, 75 and 100 mm at an angle of view of 60 °. There is a variant of the 25 mm lens with lens for the average length extension .

Identiscope

The identiscope is an eyepiece or viewfinder device which, in combination with a corresponding lens, makes it possible to assess the actual image impression. This is especially useful when working with viewfinder cameras and film cameras.

Quartz anastigmat, quartz tachar

These two lenses were used for ultraviolet photography and cinematography.

X-ray cinema

The X-ray cinema lens (1: 1.25 / 50 mm) is a high-speed lens that was used in the early 1930s for spectrographic studies of the northern lights.

Rosher Cinema Portrait

The Rosher cinema portrait lens (e.g. 1: 2.3 / 100 mm) is a soft -focus portrait lens .

SIRIAR

SIRIAR is a word mark registered in 1927. As Siriar I was a converter Arri standard 16 mm film, sold.

Soft focus

Astro-Berlin sold another soft focus portrait lens under the name Soft-Focus .

Tachar lens family

A tachar 1: 1.8 / 150 mm
A Contrast Tachar 1: 2.3 / 75 mm

The word mark Tachar was registered for Astro-Berlin in 1924. Lenses based on German Patent No. 440229 from 1924 and US Patent No. 1,540,752 were sold under the name Tachar. These are lenses of the type of an extended, four-lens Cooke triplet . As with the Tessar , another lens on the camera side is inserted; the two rear lenses are not cemented, unlike the Tessar.

Lenses manufactured according to these patents were also offered as Pan-Tachar 1: 2.3 with focal lengths 100 mm, 125 mm and 150 mm. They could be used cinematographically for narrow and normal film recordings. Post-war models had a maximum focal ratio of 1: 1.8 with a focal length of 150 mm.

In addition, were macro-Gauss Tachare one, Kopiertachare , Contrast Tachare , Pictoral-Tachare , Polyphot-Tachare , Sine Gran Tachare and Projections-Tachare made.

Tacharon

The Tacharon f1.8 / 12.5 mm was used to record 8 mm narrow films . Again, like the tachar, it is an extended tessar.

Speedometer

The Tachon was like Tachar and tachonar an extremely bright lens (up to 1: 0.75). It consists of six lenses in 5 groups and the basic structure is derived from the Cooke triplet . The image-side part of the lens consists of a free-standing converging lens followed by a curved doublet. Behind the central diverging lens, two further free-standing converging lenses follow on the camera side. Astro Berlin founder Willy F. Bielicke held German (no. 538872) and US patents (no. 1,839,011) for this design since the early 1930s. Compared to the patented design, the penultimate converging lens of the lenses produced was at least occasionally also designed as a doublet.

Speedometer

The speedometer is an extremely fast (f1.0) lens with five separate lenses. The design is derived from the Zeiss Sonnar . In scientific applications, for example, it was used as a collecting lens in Raman laser spectroscopy . It was usually used to capture images on the screens of X-ray machines or oscilloscopes on 35mm negatives. A speedometer f1 / 75 mm with an image angle of 36 ° was used for this purpose.

Telastan

Telastan has been a trademark of Astro-Berlin since 1983. Lenses were sold under this name as early as the mid-1950s, e.g. B. a cinematographic Telastan f3.5 / 300 for narrow and normal film. The focal lengths ranged from 200 mm to 2000 mm. The lens scheme is reminiscent of the four-lens tachar . Telestan lenses were offered with a speed of 1: 3.5 to 1:10.

Transfocator, transfocator

Astro-Berlin had both spellings protected as a word mark ( Transfokator : 1935; Transfocator : 1967). The transfocator, invented by the founder of Astro Berlin, Hugh Ivan Gramatzki , is a forerunner of modern zoom lenses . The lens was protected by the German imperial patents 622 046, 650 907, 667 375 and 676 946. The angle of view was 40 °. The transfocator uses an afocal lens system based on the principle of the Gallileo telescope, in which the focal length can be varied by a movable converging lens between two fixed diverging lenses. The focal length can be changed by a factor of 2. The transfocator was produced as an auxiliary lens.

TV tachar

TV-Tachars with a light intensity of 1: 1.2 to 1: 1.5 and a focal length of 15 mm to 160 mm were used, according to Rademacher, to project the images of a cathode ray tube .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Astro-Berlin . exaklaus.de. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
  2. ↑ HMR Souto (2007) Motion picture photography: a history, 1891-1960. McFarland. P. 76
  3. ↑ WR Dick (2000) 300 years of astronomy in Berlin and Potsdam: an overview. In: WR Dick, K. Fritze (eds.) 300 years of astronomy in Berlin and Potsdam: a collection of essays on the occasion of the founding anniversary of the Berlin observatory. Harri Deutsch Verlag. Pp. 11-43.
  4. ↑ FG Back, H. Lowen (1958) Generalized Theory of Zoomar Systems. Journal of the Optical Society of America 48 (3): 149-153.
  5. ↑ Digitized version of British Patent No. 449434 (DPATISnet, accessed August 17, 2011)
  6. ↑ a b Bundesarchiv BArch N 1604 / Nachlass Otto, Fritz Joachim  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / midosa.startext.de  
  7. ^ "Astro-Gesellschaft" - article in Kino-Technik, 6/1960, quoted from www.exaklaus.de/astro.htm, accessed on September 6, 2011
  8. ↑ Die Meister-Optiken der Astro-Gesellschaft FKT (4/1954; p. 119)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / pdf.fktg.de  
  9. ↑ P. Skinner (2007) Sports Photography: How to Capture Action and Emotion. Skyhorse Publishing Inc. p. 3.
  10. ↑ Original document . German Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
  11. ^ Entry in the commercial register dated November 10, 1987, accessed on September 6, 2011
  12. ^ Federal Gazette , accessed on September 6, 2011
  13. ↑ Company portrait . ekos-gmbh.de. Archived from the original on November 2, 2004. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 23, 2011. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ekos-gmbh.de
  14. ↑ Register number: 652868 . In: Register information from the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) . Retrieved October 23, 2011.
  15. ↑ Register number: 1167507 . In: Register information from the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) . Retrieved October 23, 2011.
  16. ↑ Register number: 681809 . In: Register information from the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) . Retrieved October 23, 2011.
  17. ↑ Register number: 1157203 . In: Register information from the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) . Retrieved October 23, 2011.
  18. ↑ Register number: 1168399 . In: Register information from the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) . Retrieved October 23, 2011.
  19. ↑ Register number: 427374 . In: Register information from the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) . Retrieved October 23, 2011.
  20. ↑ Hans-Martin Brandt (1956) The Photo Lens. Structure and mode of operation of the most important lenses in world production. Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig. P. 144
  21. ↑ Hans-Martin Brandt (1956) The Photo Lens. Structure and mode of operation of the most important lenses in world production. Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig. P. 118
  22. ↑ Hans-Martin Brandt (1956) The Photo Lens. Structure and mode of operation of the most important lenses in world production. Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig. P. 201
  23. ↑ Hans-Martin Brandt (1956) The Photo Lens. Structure and mode of operation of the most important lenses in world production. Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig. P. 187
  24. ↑ Hans-Martin Brandt (1956) The Photo Lens. Structure and mode of operation of the most important lenses in world production. Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig. P. 104
  25. ↑ Hans-Martin Brandt (1956) The Photo Lens. Structure and mode of operation of the most important lenses in world production. Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig. P. 187
  26. ↑ Hans-Martin Brandt (1956) The Photo Lens. Structure and mode of operation of the most important lenses in world production. Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig. P. 187 in connection with image / 61 P. 77
  27. ↑ Hans-Martin Brandt (1956) The Photo Lens. Structure and mode of operation of the most important lenses in world production. Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig. P. 173 in connection with picture 90/14 on p. 114
  28. ↑ see lens scheme http://www.exaklaus.de/astro.htm
  29. ↑ to the Lee Opic Lens: http://www.taunusreiter.de/Cameras/Biotar.html
  30. ↑ Hans-Martin Brandt (1956) The Photo Lens. Structure and mode of operation of the most important lenses in world production. Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig. P. 200f
  31. ↑ Leiv Harang (1933) filter recordings of aurora borealis. Geofysiske Publishers vol 10 (8): 5-25 ( online (PDF; 6.2 MB), accessed on August 16, 2011)
  32. ↑ Register number: 388807 . In: Register information from the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) . Retrieved October 23, 2011.
  33. ↑ Register number: 317342 . In: Register information from the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) . Retrieved October 23, 2011.
  34. ↑ http://depatisnet.dpma.de/DepatisNet/depatisnet?action=pdf&docid=DE000000440229A
  35. ↑ http://depatisnet.dpma.de/DepatisNet/depatisnet?action=pdf&docid=US000001540752A
  36. ^ Details of the lens design , accessed September 6, 2011
  37. ↑ Hans-Martin Brandt (1956) The Photo Lens. Structure and mode of operation of the most important lenses in world production. Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig. P. 201 in connection with Fig. 49 p. 69
  38. ↑ Hans-Martin Brandt (1956) The Photo Lens. Structure and mode of operation of the most important lenses in world production. Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig. P. 201
  39. ↑ Hans-Martin Brandt (1956) The Photo Lens. Structure and mode of operation of the most important lenses in world production. Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig. P. 201
  40. ↑ http://www.taunusreiter.de/Cameras/Biotar.html
  41. ↑ http://depatisnet.dpma.de/DepatisNet/depatisnet?action=pdf&docid=DE000000538872A
  42. ^ R. Kingslake (1946) A Classification of Photographic Lens Types. Journal of the Optical Society of America 36 (5): 151-155.
  43. ↑ Hans-Martin Brandt (1956) The Photo Lens. Structure and mode of operation of the most important lenses in world production. Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig. P. 219 in connection with picture 89/6 p. 113
  44. ↑ HMR Souto (2007) Motion picture photography: a history, 1891-1960. McFarland. P. 75
  45. ↑ M. vd Ven, J. Meijer, W. Verwer, YK Levhe, JP Sheridan (1984) Derivative Raman Spectroscopy Applied to Biomembrane Systems. Journal of Raman Spectroscopy 15 (2): 86-89
  46. ↑ RP v. Duyne, KD Parks (1980) Stimulated Raman laser excitation of spontaneous resonance Raman scattering. Chemical Physics Letters 76 (2): 196-200. ( doi : 10.1016 / 0009-2614 (80) 87002-3 )
  47. ↑ Hans-Martin Brandt (1956) The Photo Lens. Structure and mode of operation of the most important lenses in world production. Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig. P. 219
  48. ↑ Register number: 1054588 . In: Register information from the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) . Retrieved October 23, 2011.
  49. ↑ Hans-Martin Brandt (1956) The Photo Lens. Structure and mode of operation of the most important lenses in world production. Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig. P. 201
  50. ↑ Register number: 477794 . In: Register information from the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) . Retrieved October 23, 2011.
  51. ↑ Register number: 851774 . In: Register information from the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) . Retrieved October 23, 2011.
  52. ↑ Hans-Martin Brandt (1956) The Photo Lens. Structure and mode of operation of the most important lenses in world production. Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig. P. 175
  53. ↑ Hans-Martin Brandt (1956) The Photo Lens. Structure and mode of operation of the most important lenses in world production. Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig. P. 97