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Ludwig Bertele
Ludwig Jakob Bertele (25 December 1900 – 16 November 1985) was a German optics constructor. His developments received universal recognition and serve as a basis for considerable part of the optical designs used today.
Ludwig Jakob Bertele was born 25 December 1900 in Munich, to an architect's family.[citation needed]
In 1916, Bertele was employed as the assistant of an optics designer at Rodenstock in Munich. In 1919, he moved to Dresden to work for Heinrich Ernemann at Ernemann Company (Krupp-Ernemann Kinoapparate AG) under the supervision of August Klughardt, as a designer of optics. In the same year, Bertele would begin the development of the Ernostar design. Its basis was the optical scheme of the Ultrastigmat cinema lens, a modified Cooke triplet, which had been developed by Charles C. Minor in 1916 and produced by Gundlach Company. The main purpose of Bertele's developmental work was to increase the light-gathering power of a lens as well as diminishing optical aberration.
In 1923, after four years of development, Bertele patented his first ultra high-aperture [objective?], the Ernostar f/2, with successive versions following in the years up to 1926. The lens was fitted to the Ermanox camera, which was specially developed for photo reportage. The Ermanox with Ernostar f/2 was the first camera with sufficient speed and image quality for successful candid photography in natural or otherwise unaltered light conditions. The pictures of prominent political figures taken using the lens by Erich Salomon are widely known.
After the foundation of Zeiss Ikon in 1926, as a result of integration of companies ICA, (Internationale Camera Actiengesellschaft) Optische Anstalt CP Goerz, Contessa-Nettel and Ernemann-Werke with Carl Zeiss, Bertele continued his work in Dresden except for a short trip to United States in 1929. An experimental optical workshop was given at Bertele's disposal, where he would develop and produce all examples and prototypes from his own calculations. Every lens was given a unique five-cipher number, and the current number of the variant was often engraved upon lenses.
In the late 1920s, Bertele began the development of a series of lenses based around the second Ernostar type, which was developed in 1924. Each lens had a single positive element in front of it, followed by a thick negative meniscus-shaped component, with a positive element behind. In 1931, the first example of such lenses appeared. It received the name Sonnar, derived from the German word sonne ("sun"). This lens consisted of seven elements in three groups, with a maximum aperture of f/2. The main difference from the previous Ernostar lens was a lesser number of optical groups, resulting in lesser light dispersion and a higher contrast. These lenses proved extraordinarily successful,[citation needed] and were appraised by specialists.[citation needed]
In 1932, a Sonnar variant with a faster maximum aperture of f/1.5 was developed, which was fitted to Zeiss Ikon's 35 mm Contax cameras. A number of versions of the Sonnar lens soon followed, with focal lengths from 50 to 300 mm developed until 1940.
Around 1934, Bertele, using the design of the f/1.5 Sonnar lens as a base, created the first wide-angle lens, the Biogon, with a 60° viewing angle; the original Biogon design was reused for the Wild Aviotar.
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Ludwig Bertele
Ludwig Jakob Bertele (25 December 1900 – 16 November 1985) was a German optics constructor. His developments received universal recognition and serve as a basis for considerable part of the optical designs used today.
Ludwig Jakob Bertele was born 25 December 1900 in Munich, to an architect's family.[citation needed]
In 1916, Bertele was employed as the assistant of an optics designer at Rodenstock in Munich. In 1919, he moved to Dresden to work for Heinrich Ernemann at Ernemann Company (Krupp-Ernemann Kinoapparate AG) under the supervision of August Klughardt, as a designer of optics. In the same year, Bertele would begin the development of the Ernostar design. Its basis was the optical scheme of the Ultrastigmat cinema lens, a modified Cooke triplet, which had been developed by Charles C. Minor in 1916 and produced by Gundlach Company. The main purpose of Bertele's developmental work was to increase the light-gathering power of a lens as well as diminishing optical aberration.
In 1923, after four years of development, Bertele patented his first ultra high-aperture [objective?], the Ernostar f/2, with successive versions following in the years up to 1926. The lens was fitted to the Ermanox camera, which was specially developed for photo reportage. The Ermanox with Ernostar f/2 was the first camera with sufficient speed and image quality for successful candid photography in natural or otherwise unaltered light conditions. The pictures of prominent political figures taken using the lens by Erich Salomon are widely known.
After the foundation of Zeiss Ikon in 1926, as a result of integration of companies ICA, (Internationale Camera Actiengesellschaft) Optische Anstalt CP Goerz, Contessa-Nettel and Ernemann-Werke with Carl Zeiss, Bertele continued his work in Dresden except for a short trip to United States in 1929. An experimental optical workshop was given at Bertele's disposal, where he would develop and produce all examples and prototypes from his own calculations. Every lens was given a unique five-cipher number, and the current number of the variant was often engraved upon lenses.
In the late 1920s, Bertele began the development of a series of lenses based around the second Ernostar type, which was developed in 1924. Each lens had a single positive element in front of it, followed by a thick negative meniscus-shaped component, with a positive element behind. In 1931, the first example of such lenses appeared. It received the name Sonnar, derived from the German word sonne ("sun"). This lens consisted of seven elements in three groups, with a maximum aperture of f/2. The main difference from the previous Ernostar lens was a lesser number of optical groups, resulting in lesser light dispersion and a higher contrast. These lenses proved extraordinarily successful,[citation needed] and were appraised by specialists.[citation needed]
In 1932, a Sonnar variant with a faster maximum aperture of f/1.5 was developed, which was fitted to Zeiss Ikon's 35 mm Contax cameras. A number of versions of the Sonnar lens soon followed, with focal lengths from 50 to 300 mm developed until 1940.
Around 1934, Bertele, using the design of the f/1.5 Sonnar lens as a base, created the first wide-angle lens, the Biogon, with a 60° viewing angle; the original Biogon design was reused for the Wild Aviotar.