The story of Berlinar:
Our Berlinar enlarger lens was born not only out of necessity but also out of a passion for developing new optics.
Creating this part of our BerliNova fixed-focus enlarger system wouldn’t be possible without knowing focal distances, though. Our testing revealed that every lens type has different focal distances and that calculations purely based on nominal focal length only give an indication, not a perfect result.
From these findings, it became clear that selling the BerliNova set without a dedicated lens would not be possible. Thus, we knew we had to find a lens that would match our requirements for both price and performance.
Unfortunately, we found that all budget lenses listed on various websites were deadstock and no longer manufactured, and no manufacturer currently makes budget enlarger lenses.
Therefore, we started our search for a bespoke lens, and in this process, we found a great partner in the UK for lens design and manufacture. They have crafted a fantastic lens for us and for you, which we are very excited to offer at a reasonable price.
The performance:
(click on the image to download the datasheet)
The Berlinar is a Tessar design flat-field lens optimised for printing 13x18cm from 35mm negatives. Most photographic lenses have a curved field of focus, which works well for taking photos. For printing, however, the focal plane on both sides of the lens must be flat so that the entire negative and the entire paper are in focus. For a standard lens, the focus would trail off dramatically in the corners.
A second requirement is to print an exact copy of the negative on paper without distortion. We are, therefore, proud to have achieved less than 0.4% distortion across the field at a 13x18cm projection.
The MTF chart shows the lens's sharpness and contrast, which are very much in line with competing designs.
The lens has an aperture range of f4.0 to f32.
Performance as enlarger lens:
As the lens was designed specifically for the enlarger, it performs fantastically in this role. For the technical testing, we have taken Vlad's test target and printed it with various lenses, ensuring maximum sharpness in the centre using a grain-focussing aid. The results are shown below:
Performance as camera scanning lens:
Our friends at Valoi have tested the lens independently for camera scanning, again using Vlad's test target as the reference. They compared the Jagglé Berlinar with the Rodenstock Apo Rodagon 50mm and found the following results:
This is for reference the test-target used for testing the lens performance
Here you see the test target reproduced 1:1 using the APO-Rodagon N f2.8 50mm on the left and the Berlinar f4.0 50mm on the right:
Below you see that in the corner the Rodagon (on the left) performs slightly better for contrast. In terms of sharpness the Berlinar (on the right) certainly holds up remarkably well.
This makes us confident to recommend the Jagglé Berlinar as a scanning lens at a fraction of what a new Rodenstock would cost. The tests were made using a Sony A7iii.
Performance as macro lens:
Used with bellows, the Berlinar makes a great macro lens, giving outstanding sharpness and detail and a pleasant bokeh. With the aperture stopped down to f22, a good depth of field is achieved even at greater magnification. Below are a number of examples taken with the Fuji XE-1.
The setup:
The results:
At relatively minor enlargement and the lens stopped down to f22
At maximum enlargement with the lens stopped down to f8
At maximum enlargement with the lens wide open at f4.0