wlewisiii
Just another hotel clerk
I certainly love your images with them, Brian. It would probably suit my type of landscapes just fine but my wallet sez I have to content myself with appreciating your work instead 
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boojum
Ignoble Miscreant
Of course the lens can do much more in the hands of other photographers.
I'm probably influenced by the many photography books from the 1930s that I've picked up to go with my lenses.
Bertele 50mm f2 Prototyle (New Sonnar Leica M lens)
Explore this photo album by Matt Osborne on Flickr!www.flickr.com
Matt Osborne has been shooting with one.
This image by Matt Osborne is my favorite- wide-open.
Matt will be doing a review of this lens.
I was offered the Prototype that had been through the "wringer" to test out the mechanism. Close-up test, repeat close-up test, focus backlash test, flatness of field test. and infinity test. It won. With the quick exam, off to the new owner.
It is pleasing to see Matt Osborne testing this lens. I have been following him on YT for a while now and he has always seemed knowledgeable, professional, and honest. And, yes, that photo is the best of his Bertele shots so far published. I will be interested in his full and final impressions. And I sure hope that it is a glowing review out there "in front of God and everybody" which would put some wind in Skyllaney's sails. You know how much work has gone into this lens as you did plenty of it so it would be great to see it rewarded in praise and money.
I'm very honored to put this label on my Photography. I just told Nina "I'm a Pictorialist Photographer", true- as I've gone as far as making lenses to get the effect that I want.
At work, I can change my title to Mad Scientist- as bestowed by the CO.
My latest Pictorial Lens.
Leica M Monochrom DNG files processed using Fortran. Custom algorithm to change Black levels set by the camera, and map 14-bit pixels into 16-bit pixels using a Gamma curve. True Pictorialist write their own raw processors to get the desired effect.
The J-3 mount was bought with a Zeiss Opton in it.
THIS CAN'T WORK! Zeiss Opton 50mm F1.5 Sonnar T in a J-3 mount.
One of our RFF members picked up an oddity, a Zeiss Opton 50mm F1.5 Sonnar T converted to Leica Mount using a Valdai Jupiter-3 focus mount. I tried this 20 years ago- it just cannot be screwed deep enough into the mount to focus properly. Machining is required. Too much machining. The lens was...
rangefinderforum.com
Which cannot work. I had the parts to convert the Zeiss Opton back to Contax mount. I put this 1934 CZJ 5cm F1.5 into the J-3 mount, but part of the mechanism that covers the helical as you focus close had been cut off. SO- the threads where bare. I used a 40.5mm filter, bore it out, slipped into the focus ring. Covers the threads, ready for use.
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boojum
Ignoble Miscreant
The Bertele in a test shot at the closest it can work, wide open at f/2.0 in the New Garden Asian Restaurant in Seaside, OR. Best Chinese food on the coast and very nice folks running it. A bowl of hot and sour soup followed by mah-po tofu if you must know. LOL Focused on the teapot lid and spout.
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boojum
Ignoble Miscreant
The same Bertele at the overlook where you can see down the coast past Manzanita south. Set to infinity, f/2.0
boojum
Ignoble Miscreant
Just some random shots in the afternoon sun on the boatyard. All at f/4.0. All on a Leica M9.
Those look great- tribute to the lens, camera, location, and photographer.
boojum
Ignoble Miscreant
I just stood where things looked good.
The Bertele does color and shape Sonnar style but at 11. When you just need that extra little something. It stops short of the eye bleeding color of other modern lenses. The two propeller heads who made this lens did it all right. The Bertele is one hell of a lens and the more I use it the more I like it. If I do not get out this afternoon I will have tomorrow.
I like my CZJ 272 and the '51 and '57 KMZ Jupiter 8's a lot, and the Canon 50mm f/1.8 and the Amotal. But this lens is like the pitcher who has a little extra magic on his slider. It has some mysterious quality that says, "Hey, did you see what I can do?" This will be an unfolding paean to the two propeller heads behind it.
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Ray Vonn 2023
Well-known
I know Brian's doing/ will do quite a bit of comparison testing and I've mentioned this to him before, but I definitely see a similarity between the way the Bertele and C Sonnar render (which is a good thing btw and I suppose it would make sense right?).
boojum
Ignoble Miscreant
I did this quick and dirty comparison:
Sonnar Lens Tests
Test of the Planar Amotal, and the following Sonnars: Bertele 5cm f/2.0, CZJ 272 5cm f/1.5, Jupiter 8 KMZ '51, Jupiter 8 KMZ '57. All on an M9, auto ISO, auto WB natural light around 6PM. The Goddess of Death, La Diessa del Muerte. Shot at wide open, f/4.0. f/8.0. f/16 for each lens. In...
flic.kr
The threads at Skyllaney and here seem to indicate that this lens is an upgrade of the '34 5cm f/2.0 CZJ. I am more interested in what it does. And it does so well. I just love it. Got lucky with this as with the 272 CZJ and the KMZ J8's.
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The modern coatings give the Bertele more contrast, less flare- like the C-Sonnar.
In terms of rendering, out-of-focus areas, coma, spherical aberration, etc- almost identical to the 1934 5cm f2 Sonnar. The Tolerances are better for the new lens, modern optical equipment used to make it. It is as close to the Classic Bertele Sonnar of 1934 as can be found. I'll be getting some more free time in the upcoming months- will be shooting a lot more with this lens, and compare with many, many sonnars made from 1932 through to the J-3+, including the C-Sonnar.
raid
Dad Photographer
Is a modern Bertele lens similar to a J-3+ ? Brian has both.
The Bertele is sharper corner to corner than the J-3+.
raid
Dad Photographer
So the J-3+ is then not for me. How about a new Bertele? Nobody really "needs" one, but many "want" one.
boojum
Ignoble Miscreant
Trust me, you NEED this lens. If you have trouble on the home front over it have your bride call me. ;o)
Let's look at the facts: Chris at Skyllaney and Brian here. They put their heads together, threw out what did not work, added what made it better and had some made. I have not shot as much as I would like with this lens. But every time I do shoot some I like it more. I have used it on the M9. That leaves the Pixii and the X2D for "testing." Sonnars do color and curve really well. This one does them just a bit better. But do not try one if you are not prepared to take the rubber bands off the wallet. As seductive as Circe. You have been warned. LOL
Chris did all the work on this lens, I was lucky to get ideas bounced off me for the last couple of years. Designing and making this lens a reality in the age of covid is the real triumph.
brusby
Well-known
It would be nice to see some photos of people taken under varying conditions, particularly at varying apertures at and around f2 to f4. I know it's all the rage now to shoot everything wide open, but I often prefer lenses like this -- ones that have quite a bit of focus shift and uncorrected abberations wide open -- stopped down just a bit to clean up some of the inherent softness so the in focus areas are a bit sharper and better delineated from the OOF areas. Not suggesting it for everyone -- just personal preference for portraits and fashion type stuff on occasion.
boojum
Ignoble Miscreant
It is a beautiful lens and a triumph of the lensmaker's art. I have no Leica lenses. I have the Hasselblad XCD 55V, which is an amazing lens with beautiful subtle color, and some nice vintage lenses and the recent CV's. For honest impact the Bertele is great. It does take you as far as you can go and still be honest. Whomever is due the credit and in what proportion, this lens is really great. I am lucky and grateful to have the one I have. Knowing Brian is a mixed blessing. He has mentored me through a bunch of good lenses. Many more than I ever thought I would "need." LOL And they have always been good lenses. Brian winnowed the wheat from the chaff for me.
raid
Dad Photographer
It is a costly lens.
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boojum
Ignoble Miscreant
"Quality is like oats. If you want clean, fresh oats you must pay a fair price. But if you can be satisfied with the oats that have already been through the horse, those come cheaper." I found the price steep, too. I got good value for money and then some. Another adage, "Better one bite good than two bites bad."
Get out the credit card and be done with 50's. Imagine what it would do for those wife portraits. ;o) Mmmm-hmmm.