Schneider C-Claron

[iangreenhalgh1]

Does anybody know anything about the Schneider C-Clarons? There is precious little information I could find, just this on the Schneider Wikipedia page:

[ZoneV]

As far as I know this lenses are for photocopying machines. Not high resolution, but big formats.

[kds315*]

Have some, tried it, dumped them.

[kendo1]

Only info I could find says that they are for 'machine reproduction purposes only', and not suitable for photography. ?

Ken

[iangreenhalgh1]

Yes, I thought they were from copying machines.

Klaus, may I ask why you dumped them? Insufficient resolution? Poorly corrected for colour work? Corrections didn't hold up at distance?

[iangreenhalgh1]

I've bought a C-Claron 4.5/135 for the princely sum of 3ukp, so we shall see. I might have just bought a 161g paperweight. In this mount it has no iris, ut I have the barrel with iris from a Componon-S 5.6/100 which now resides in a Prontor-S shutter to be used on my Century Graphic so the cells from this Claron might fit, although I suspect the Claron will be the next size up as 4.5/135 denotes a much wider glass than 5.6/100 I think.

[iangreenhalgh1]

I found some data that suggests the image circle of the C-Claron 4.5/135 is 170mm, which means it will cover 9x12 with room for movements (9x12 has a 150mm diagonal) so if the cells from this will fit a shutter, I can try it on my Ernemann HEAG 9x12. 135mm on 9x12 is the equivalent of a 39mm lens on 35mm film, so would be a useful slightly wider than normal lens if it shoots well at distance. I have a funny feeling the cells from the C-Claron will fit a Copal 0 and I happen to have a couple of those sat here.

[iangreenhalgh1]

The lens arrived and it's in mint condition. I stuck it on some bellows and tried it on my NEX.

It's quite unusual - very sharp indeed but low contrast and has a lot of glow. Perhaps this is uncorrected spherical aberration?

At close distance in shade, the glow and low contrast aren't so obvious:



100% crop, nice and sharp:



After fixing the contrast and sharpening it looks pretty good:



At infinity in direct sunlight, contrast is really low and there is a lot of glow, gives a dreamy look, might be interesting to exploit, quite painterly I think:



100% crop, impressive resolution:



Fixed contrast and sharpened:



Car about 7-8m away:



100% crop, again the resolution is quite impressive but you can see the glow clearly on the large black letters:



Close-up, less than 1m, contrast sucks, but the smoothnes of the rendering is very pleasant:



Fixed contrast and sharpened, for a flat field lens it seems to render 3d objects pretty well:



About 15m with a bright sky behind, to test CA and contrast:



100% crop of the edge of the roof, no CA, which is good:



100% crop, shows the glow on highlights and how it masks the detail:



Fixed contrast and sharpened, now the level of detail looks good:



So, what to make of it? Well, it is sharp but glows a lot and has low contrast, it's coated but performs like an uncoated lens, probably a hood would help. It has no iris and I strongly suspect if I could stop it down the glow would be reduced a lot and the contrast increased.

I'll see if the cells will come out and go in a shutter, if so, this might make a good lens for my 9x12 camera, it certainly has the resolution, and at f16-22-32, where I would be shooting it on 9x12, the glow and contrast should be far better.

If it won't go in a shutter, not a big loss, I think it will be an interesting lens for some subjects on bellows on the NEX, I want to try some portraits with it as the glow and smoothness of the rendering should make for a very dreamy look.

[Attila]

Doesn't look to good

[anscochrome]

Fred Picker used to recommend G-Claron lenses as an alternative to Symmars (lenses made in the late 70's and beyond), but then again he recommended Zone VI paper developer, which was nothing more than split packaged Bromophene:) I found a comment about the image circle characteristics here: http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?4397-experience-with-G-Claron-210-mm-as-a-landscape-lens&p=52269&viewfull=1#post52269

[iangreenhalgh1]

The G-Claron is well regarded among LF shooters, the 9/150 is particularly popular as the cells go straight in a Copal 0 shutter. I wish I had one of those G-Clarons, would be ideal for my 9x12 camera.

[danfromm]

[iangreenhalgh1]

Aah, I didn't know the Apo-Ronar won't cover 4x5, any idea what the diameter of the image circle is? Just wondering if it will cover 9x12.

[danfromm]

[iangreenhalgh1]

That's not what I need, it would be too costly to put one of those in a shutter, or maybe it could be front mounted on a #1.

This was why I asked, but I'll pass on it if it won't cover 9x12:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/160986276343?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

[danfromm]

Unless a lens in barrel's price is very low, an equivalent lens in shutter is usually preferable.

FWIW, I hang mine in front of a #1. It covers 2x3, should also cover 6x12.

[ForenSeil]

Low acutance etc. makes these lenses very interesting for large format potraits imho!

[iangreenhalgh1]

I think it's got a lot of spherical abberration, which does usually make for a good portrait lens.

However, it doesn't seem possible to remove the cells to put it in a shutter so I won't be able to use it on my 9x12. I could put it on bellows and use it for 6x6 with my P6, or even for 35mm.

[kds315*]

I just found a 150mm C-Claron in my boxes, you can have it for postage if you like.