Welcome to Delta

In 2021 the Digital Enlarger Lens Test Archive (D.E.L.T.A) outgrew its original home at 16-9.net – and its remit. It continues to expand, and is now the most wide-ranging resource for film-makers and photographers seeking and using enlarger, projector, macro, repro, process and cine lenses to create digital work. Spanning 130 years, Delta collates information about almost 3,500 universally-adaptable lenses, and contains hundreds of unique reviews and articles.

The quick-browse catalogue below orders every lens by manufacturer and can be filtered by category or keyword.

The primary archive tracks generations of lenses with more in-depth information, and ranks hundreds for sharpness and rendition. Please use the main menu and search function to access further articles, pictures and videos.

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Acknowledgements: The DELTA project wouldn’t have been possible with the naysaying of experienced lens collectors; the death of film; the opposition of my wife; defrauding by shady eBay sellers and dodgy Japanese auction agents; the re-branders; the same 50/3.5 seen in a thousand guises; the entirely unhelpful attitide of extant manufacturers who jettisoned their history without a backward glance (I would specially like to mention Schneider, Rodenstock and Agfa); the disregard of librarians and archivists who no longer view photographic publications as important; the museums that have failed to digitise their collections and who  refused to grant permission to grant access to relevant material rotting unseen in their basements; the sheer bloody-mindedness of Agfa serial numbers; the arrogance of those who have previously written about alt.lenses and imagine their sayings to be unalterably definitive, despite being patently erroneous;  widespread dementia and death befalling a generation of those with inside knowledge of the industry; the majority of used camera dealers who regard these lenses as pointless relics and have no interest in deploying them as taking lenses and regard their slow-moving stock as an irritation; clueless marketing people devoid of specific product knowledge; an overwhelming majority of photographers apathetic about the benefits and possibilities of alt.lenses; a notable number of publishers who failed to express an interest in a book deal; the army of DIY botchers who took their lenses apart and didn’t know how to put them back together again; a postal system that loses packages as a normal happenstance;  and all the fungus. Against this tide stand we few. You know who you are. Thank you.