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 more than 170 years, Delta collates information on almost 4,000 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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Benoist Berthiot Neo Cinestar 115/2.4
Projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot. All black metal body.

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Benoist Berthiot Neo Cinestar 125/2.4
Projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot. All black metal body.

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Benoist Berthiot Neo Cinestar 135/2.6
Projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot. All black metal body.

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Benoist Berthiot Neo Cinestar 140/2.2
Projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot. All black metal body.

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Benoist Berthiot Neo Cinestar 150/2.6
Projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot. All black metal body.

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Benoist Berthiot Neo Cinestar 160/2.5
Projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot. All black metal body.

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Benoist Berthiot Neo Cinestar 60/1.8
Projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot. All black metal body.

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Benoist Berthiot Neo Cinestar 65/1.8
Projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot. All black metal body.

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Benoist Berthiot Neo Cinestar 65/2
Projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot. All black metal body.

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Benoist Berthiot Neo Cinestar 70/2
Projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot. All black metal body.

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Benoist Berthiot Neo Cinestar 80/2
Projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot

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Benoist Berthiot Neo Cinestar 85/2
Projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot. All black metal body.

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Benoist Berthiot Neo Cinestar 95/2
Projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot. All black metal body.

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Benoist Berthiot Neo Variastar 80-105/2.8
Projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot. Black body, silver nose. Aperture unmarked (estimated)

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Benoist Berthiot Panastar 50/2.8
Projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot. All black body.

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Benoist Berthiot Panastar 90/2.5
Projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot. All black body.

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Benoist Berthiot Simda 85-150/3.2
Black plastic-barrel multicoated zoom slide projector lens.

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Benoist Berthiot Super Cinestar 135/2.1
Multicoated projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot.

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Benoist Berthiot Super Cinestar 55/1.8
Projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot.

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Benoist Berthiot Super Cinestar 60/1.8
Projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot Super Cinestar.

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Benoist Berthiot Super Cinestar 65/1.8
Projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot

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Benoist Berthiot Super Cinestar 70/1.8
Projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot

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Benoist Berthiot Super Cinestar 90/1.8
Multicoated projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot.

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Benoist Berthiot Super-Cinestar 100/1.8
Multicoated cine projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot.

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Benoist Berthiot Super-Cinestar 105/1.8
Multicoated cine projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot.

Benoist Berthiot Super-Cinestar 110mm f1.8

Benoist Berthiot Super-Cinestar 110/1.8
Multicoated cine projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot. Images by RetroFocale >

Benoist Berthiot Super-Cinestar 115mm f2.1

Benoist Berthiot Super-Cinestar 115/2.1
Multicoated cine projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot.

Benoist Berthiot Super-Cinestar 120mm f2.1

Benoist Berthiot Super-Cinestar 120/2.1
Multicoated cine projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot.

Benoist Berthiot Super-Cinestar 50mm f1.8 projection lens

Benoist Berthiot Super-Cinestar 50/1.8
Projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot. All metal silver body.

Benoist Berthiot Super-Cinestar 75mm f1.8

Benoist Berthiot Super-Cinestar 75/1.8
Multicoated cine projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot.

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Benoist Berthiot Super-Cinestar 80/1.8
Multicoated cine projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot. Example images here >

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Benoist Berthiot Super-Cinestar 85/1.8
Multicoated cine projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot.

Benoist Berthiot Super-Cinestar 95mm f1.8

Benoist Berthiot Super-Cinestar 95/1.8
Multicoated cine projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot. Images by simple.joy >

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Benoist Berthiot Variastar 65-105/2.8
Projector lens marked Benoist Berthiot. Black body, zebra nose.

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Benoist Berthiot XL 35 125/2.2
Multicoated Petzval cine projector lens. Black barrel.

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Benoist Berthiot XL 35 150/2.6
Multicoated Petzval cine projector lens. Black barrel.

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Benoist Berthiot XL 35 60/1.9
Multicoated Petzval cine projector lens. Black barrel.

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Benoist Berthiot XL 35 65/1.8
Multicoated Petzval cine projector lens. Black barrel.

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Benoist Berthiot XL 35 75/1.6
Multicoated Petzval cine projector lens. Black barrel.

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Berophot 50/3.5
Enlarger lens with distinctive four-blade curved aperture. Manufactured by Wilhelm Will; rebranded by Berlin-based Beroflex AG.

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Berophot 75/3.5
Rebranded Japanese enlarger lens AKA Perfex / Dixons Autocrat 75/3.5.

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Berophot 75/4.5
Enlarger lens with distinctive four-blade curved aperture. Manufactured by Wilhelm Will; rebranded by Berlin-based Beroflex AG.

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Beseler 50/3.5
Japanese enlarger lens marketed by Beseler and still in production. Cat 8650. Marked 4 LENS.

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Beseler 75/3.5
Enlarger lens. Cat 8675

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Beseler Beslar 105/4.5
Enlarger lens. Currently in production.

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Beseler Beslar 135/4.5
Enlarger lens. Currently in production.

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Beseler Beslar 35/3.5
AKA Dyotar, Jessop enlarger lens. 30mm image circle only. [1987 version Cat. 8669]

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Beseler Beslar 50/3.5 [V1]
Japanese all-black enlarger lens marketed in the US by Beseler. Unserialled.

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Beseler Beslar 50/3.5 [V2]
Japanese zebra enlarger lens marketed in the US by Beseler.

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Beseler Beslar 50/3.5 [V3]
All-black Japanese enlarger lens marketed by Beseler, fitted to Printmaker 35 and 67. [Cat 8670]. AKA Arista.

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Beseler Beslar 75/3.5
Enlarger lens. Currently in production. [1987 model Cat. 8780]

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Beseler Beslar 90/4.5
Enlarger lens. Currently in production. [1987 version Cat. 8782]

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Beseler Beslon 100/4.5 [V1]
Enlarger lens marked ‘Beseler Wetzlar’. Silver body, black nose early model.

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Beseler Beslon 100/4.5 [V2]
Enlarger lens marked ‘Beseler Wetzlar’. Zebra late model.

Beseler Beslon 50mm f4.5 [V2]

Beseler Beslon 50/4.5 [V2]
Enlarger lens marked ‘Beseler Wetzlar’. Zebra late model.

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Beseler Color Pro 105/4.5
Enlarger lens made in Japan. Probably AKA Kowa/Computar

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Beseler Color Pro 105/5.6
AKA Osawa Tominon / Yashica / Hoya / Omicron EL enlarger lens. [Cat. 8696].

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Beseler Color Pro 135/5.6 [Hoya]
Japanese enlarger lens rebranded for US market from 1979-1985 with enlarged rubber aperture grip. Post-1985 version made by Kowa. AKA Osawa / Tominon / Yashica / Hoya / Omicron EL. [Cat. 8698].

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Beseler Color Pro 135/5.6 [Kowa]
Japanese multicoated enlarger lens AKA Kowa/Computar/Chugai 135/5.6.

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Beseler Color Pro 50/2.8 [Hoya]
Japanese enlarger lens rebranded for US market. Pre-1985 version is AKA Osawa Tominon EL / Yashica / Hoya / Omicron EL with larger rubber aperture ring grip. [Cat. 8690].

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Beseler Color Pro 50/2.8 [Kowa]
Enlarger lens made in Japan. Post-1985 version AKA Kowa/Computar 50/2.8 with addition of knurled (not embossed) aperture ring and longer mount thread. Beware high incidence of balsam separation.

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Beseler Color Pro 75/2.8
Enlarger lens made in Japan. Probably AKA Kowa/Computar

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Beseler Color Pro 75/4.5
AKA Osawa Tominon / Yashica / Hoya / Omicron EL enlarger lens. [Cat. 8692].

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Beseler Color Pro 80/4.5
Enlarger lens made in Japan. Probably AKA Kowa/Computar

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Beseler Color Pro 90/4.5
Enlarger lens made in Japan. Probably AKA Kowa/Computar

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Beseler Color Pro 90/5.6
AKA Osawa Tominon / Yashica / Hoya / Omicron EL enlarger lens. [Cat. 8694].

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Beseler Componar 75/4.5
Rebranded Schneider Componar enlarger lens

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Beseler HD 105/5.6
AKA Rodenstock Rodagon 105/5.6 enlarger lens.

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Beseler HD 135/5.6
AKA Rodenstock Rodagon 135/5.6 enlarger lens

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Beseler HD 150/5.6
Cat. 8644. AKA Rodenstock Rodagon 150 enlarger lens. Also f32 version?

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Beseler HD 240/9
AKA Rodenstock Apo 250/9 enlarger lens.

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Beseler HD 50/2.8
AKA Rodenstock Rodagon 50/2.8 enlarger lens

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Beseler HD 80/4
AKA Rodenstock Rodagon 80/4 enlarger lens

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Beseler Professional 105/5.6
Japanese enlarger lens (early 4-layer multicoated model) made by Komura. Rare earth glass. Identical to Komuranon-E 105/5.6 (only packaging differs).

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Beseler Professional 135/5.6
Japanese enlarger lens (early 4-layer multicoated model) made by Komura. Rare earth glass. Identical to Komuranon-E 135/5.6 (only packaging differs).

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Beseler Professional 150/5.6
Japanese enlarger lens (early 4-layer multicoated model) made by Komura. Rare earth glass. Identical to Komuranon-E 150/5.6 (only packaging differs).

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Beseler Professional 50/3.5
Japanese enlarger lens (early 4-layer multicoated model) made by Komura. Rare earth glass. Identical to Komuranon-E 50/3.5 (only packaging differs).

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Beseler Professional 75/5.6
Japanese enlarger lens (early 4-layer multicoated model) made by Komura. Rare earth glass. Identical to Komuranon-E 75/5.6 (only packaging differs).

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Beseler Wide Angle 38/4.5
43mm image circle. Dyotar. AKA D.O. Industries, Jessop enlarger lens.

Bogen W.A 40mm f3.5

Bogen W.A. 40/3.5
AKA Hoya Super EL / Osawa Tominon enlarger lens.

Bogen W.A. 60mm f4.0

Bogen W.A. 60/4
AKA Hoya Super EL / Osawa Tominon enlarger lens. Modified Biogon. Rear element protrudes 26mm beyond flange. Images by simple.joy >

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Bonne Presse Polyopse 100/3.5
Brass-body French cine projector lens. Aperture estimated.

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Boyer Apo Saphir 100/12.5
Heliar enlarger lens.

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Boyer Apo Saphir 135/12.5
Heliar enlarger lens.

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Boyer Apo Saphir 180/12.5
Heliar enlarger lens.

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Boyer Apo Saphir 240/12.5
Heliar enlarger lens.

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Boyer Apo Saphir 300/12.5
Heliar enlarger lens.

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Boyer Apo Saphir 360/12.5
Heliar enlarger lens.

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Boyer Apo Saphir 450/12.5
Heliar enlarger lens.

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Boyer Apo Saphir 50/9
Heliar enlarger lens.

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Boyer Apo Saphir 75/9
Heliar enlarger lens.

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Boyer Apo Saphir 750/10
Heliar enlarger lens.

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Boyer Onyx 1 100/2.8
French projector lens (made in Paris)

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Boyer Onyx 85/2.8
French slide projector lens (made in Paris) marked Onyx Projection. Metal barrel, black plastic nose. Aperture unmarked (estimated).

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Boyer Saphir 100/2.8
Double Gauss enlarger lens

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Boyer Saphir 100/4.5
Enlarger lens made in Paris.

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Boyer Saphir 150/4.5
Double Gauss enlarger lens

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Boyer Saphir 45/2.8
Double Gauss enlarger lens

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Boyer Saphir 45/3.5
Double Gauss enlarger lens

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Boyer Saphir 50/2.8
Double Gauss enlarger lens
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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; the embezzlement of shady eBay sellers and Japanese auction agents; the re-branders; the same 50/3.5 seen in a thousand guises; the unhelpful attitide of extant manufacturers who jettisoned their history without a backward glance (Schneider, Rodenstock et al); the corporations who swallow the legacies of decades without concern for their preservation; the disregard of librarians and archivists who no longer value photographic publications; the copyright laws prohibiting reproduction of adverts advertising things no longer made, once made by people and companies that no longer exist; the museums failing to digitise their collections and refusing to grant access to 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; widespread withering of the information internet and the rise of regurgitated AI gobbledygook; 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; the 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.