Astro Berlin Pan-Tachar Primes

Our very first in-house lens project courtesy of No.9 Optics. The Pan-Tachar series were Astro’s landmark cine product, featuring a 5-element design in two groups of 3 in the front and 2 elements in the rear.  The iris design was round for smooth fall off of focus into the background, particularly for the longer focal lengths.  Production of the Pan-Tachar series was disrupted during WWII, resuming again in the 1950s.  Gregg Toland, ASC, used the Pan-Tachar lenses for several scenes of ’Citizen Kane’.