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Schneider Kreuznach G-Claron 150mm f/9
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 5:01 pm    Post subject: Schneider Kreuznach G-Claron 150mm f/9 Reply with quote
Hi!
I bought this lens because it was the cheapest large format enlarger/repro lens I could get as a tube lens for my microscope.
First I only wanted to use it as a tube lens but I was a little curious about it's qualities as taking lens.
Today I made a little walk with it.
The lens is very good under the right conditions! Sharp and practically zero CAs already wide open. And the best was I paid 22€ only Smile
Yes! 22€ for a 150mm apochromatic lens which covers 5x7" Smile

All pics are taken with NEX-5N (1,5x APS-C), white balance/creative mode was accidentially on "Potrait" mode, handheld, with homemade adapter (which produces a few millimeters shift)
Sun was shaded

notice the great CA control and the aperture blades - CAs are very hard to find even in a 100% crop on a 16MP sensor!





(flaring problem)





The bokeh is strange - sometimes is very noisy - sometimes it's creamy as it should.
I think that's caused by the aperture blades - they have a very unusual form and they are even visible @f/9 under right conditions.
Another drawback is a massive flaring/contrast problem when any light source is in the front of the lens
And last but not least the lens has a very uncommon mount (M32,5 I think).

Here's pic of my homemade adapter

The lens - a M32,5 screw mount that came with the lens (I don't know for which enlarger etc.) - which I fixed with screws on a 1mm steel plate - which I fixed with screws on an M42 extension tube - which is mounted on an M42 bellows which is mountend on an NEX adapter. Allows focusing from infinity to about 1:1 .

Last edited by ForenSeil on Thu Mar 28, 2013 3:03 pm; edited 14 times in total


PostPosted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 5:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Looks pretty flat and low contrast to me, not a good taking lens methinks.


PostPosted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 5:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
iangreenhalgh1 wrote:
Looks pretty flat and low contrast to me, not a good taking lens methinks.

As said - the lens has a massive flaring problem as it's made for large format enlargements/reproduction. And not all pics are looking flat - the ones without any lightsource in front are looking excellent "zeissisch" (except the suboptimal white balance) to me:
(sorry for reposting:)





Bye the way - these pcis are straigth OOC - no PP! And as said creative mode was accidentially set to "potrait" in camera.

I think with a long hood this lens could achieve much more.

Last edited by ForenSeil on Sun Mar 04, 2012 10:45 am; edited 3 times in total


PostPosted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 7:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
If you manage to rig up a hood be sure to revisit #4 Smile


PostPosted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 10:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
To me, they look pretty much like real life, unlike the habitually and grossly oversaturated Fuji slides or digital shots we see that are the main reason I prefer B&W. I like it.


PostPosted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 12:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
+1

I would love to try this lens on medium format. Should be not hard to mount this lens on P6 bellows etc.. I'm sure it will produce very impressive results. Unluckily my Pentacon Six is broken at the moment.


PostPosted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 9:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
mdarnton wrote:
To me, they look pretty much like real life, unlike the habitually and grossly oversaturated Fuji slides or digital shots we see that are the main reason I prefer B&W. I like it.

+1, I like your samples also a lot....
I have two rodenstock 9/150 and 9/240 apo-ronar, I guess with the same IQ level, images have a lot of details, quite sharp and with sometime also quite strange bokeh...
here are some samples with the apo-ronar:
http://forum.mflenses.com/apo-ronar-9-150-and-9-240-on-bellows-first-test-shots-t45445,highlight,%2Bapo.html
and an other one I like a lot for the colours rendering (almost no PP);


PostPosted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 10:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Nice pic!
I thought (Apo-)Gerogons are the Rodenstock counterparts to the Schneider G-Clarons
But does anybody know which is the better class? Ronar or Gerogon? They are both apochromats with the same speed and focal length and have about the same price level in auction.


PostPosted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 3:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
ForenSeil wrote:
Nice pic!
I thought (Apo-)Gerogons are the Rodenstock counterparts to the Schneider G-Clarons
But does anybody know which is the better class? Ronar or Gerogon? They are both apochromats with the same speed and focal length and have about the same price level in auction.


There's no rational basis for choice between the two except ease and cost of repurposing. G-Clarons' cells will go into standard shutters, Apo-Gerogons' cells won't. This is why G-Clarons usually command higher prices than comparable Apo-Gerogons.

I've had a couple of 210/9 ApoGerogons, still have one, also a 210/9 Dagor type G-Claron. The G-Claron is better than the remaining ApoGerogon, but the AG is badly scratched.

With these lenses condition is much more important than make and model.

There's little rational basis for choice among the better grade of process lenses except coverage. There is one class of exceptions to this, G-Claron-WA and Process Nikkors (Process Nikkors are not apochromats) shoot poorly at distance.

About the mounting threads on your 150/9 G-Claron's barrel. M32.5x0.5 is the mounting thread for a #0 (Compur/Copal standard) shutter. See, e.g., http://www.skgrimes.com/products/new-copal-shutters/standardcopals Schneider sold G-Clarons in barrels that match the shutters the lenses' cells will fit.

Given that you're using small format cameras, you should look into Apo-Ronars. They have less coverage than G-Clarons, but that shouldn't be a problem for you. I have in hand two 150/9 Apo Ronars, had a shootout with them and my former 150/9 G-Claron. The G-Claron went. Some, not all, Apo Ronars have cells that are direct fits into standard shutters. Unfortunately my two are among the "not all."


PostPosted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 4:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote


I had rigged this up a couple of years ago, and put it all back together in honor of this thread. From the camera forward:
Nikon to Leica thread adapter
Leica F extension ring (15mm)
Two Leica focusing helicals (toys for close-up photography)
Leica 90mm Elmar adapter for the focus tube
150mm G-Claron

Put together this way, it focuses from about 3 feet to infinity, continuously, with a lot of cranking, covering a width of about 140mm at its closest. The pitch of the adapter isn't quite right, but I can screw the lens in 1.5 turns before it starts to bind. Since it was just for fun (I have never actually used it) it doesn't really matter.

I dumped all my Leica stuff several years ago, but kept all the macro bits, adapters, and tubes for days like this.


PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 12:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
@mdanrton

Is there/Do you have an M39-Version of this lens?
You didn't mention an M39/M32,5 adapter


PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 1:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
The Elmar head adapter that doesn't quite fit? Not 39mm.
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