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What's the latest lens you added to your collection?
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 24, 2023 8:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Schneider G Claron 270mm f9
Covers 4X5 and also 8X10.
Tom


#1


#2


PostPosted: Fri Nov 24, 2023 6:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Nice!

Like 1 Like 1

-D.S.


PostPosted: Fri Nov 24, 2023 7:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Oldhand wrote:
Schneider G Claron 270mm f9


Interesting and abviously well regarded lens! Sure enough, I hadn't been aware that Schneider made a slower and symmetrical sibling of the Symmar ... But hey, they are well organized and still have their historical tech info on their website, albeit with a big red stamp "ARCHIVE":

https://125px.com/docs/manuals/lenses/large_format/schneider/gcn.pdf

While I did buy a real Swiss large format camera when I was 20 years old, I rarely used it. It was simply too bulky for hiking in the alps, and therefore later on I went for 35mm SLRs, high res Kodak Technical Pan film combined with red filter, and APO tele lenses.

Nevertheless I did accumulate some large format lenses over the years, among them the 75mm and 121 mm Super Angulons, a few Tessars in various focal lengths, a 150mm Xenar, a few Symmars (150mm and 240mm), a 300mm APO Rodagon, and both a 300mm as well as a 450mm APO Skopar. It's a pity I've never really done 5x7 inch b/w images using the Super Angulons or the APO Skopars ...

S


PostPosted: Fri Nov 24, 2023 8:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Phalbert wrote:
Thanks a lot Stephan. That would be great. I do have contacts in CH and France... 😉👍

Cool!

Phalbert wrote:
Or come to visit me in Namibia... The land of photographic opportunities 😄


I know ... even though I've never been there;)

For decades, the Swiss photographer Markus Bissig did all the photography workshops for Minolta Switzerland, but later on switched to organizing high-end photography travels - often going to places in Namibia, but also to Iceland, Finland, Greece and other well known "photography" destinations. His Namibia pictures were breathtaking, and the workshop prices exorbitant.

But it was fun to be around persons like him or Ueli Steck (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKtKbpVP1JQ) - the latter being a Swiss rock climber famous for his extremely fast climbing. Ueli Steck was sponsored by Sony, and whenever he started a new adventure (usually a record attempt) he called Sony from the Zurich-Kloten airport to say goodbye ... just in case.

On Apr 30, 2017 our fears would become true when he died near Mount Everest.

S


PostPosted: Sat Nov 25, 2023 10:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks for your input Stephan. Waiting for you. 😉


And here is my latest addition.
It's number 3 from the left. A 35mm f3.5 to complete that set. As with #1 and #2, it's Vivitar badged and takes a T-mount and filter size is 46mm (for #3 only) It's tiny but the Zuiko 2,8 still beats it.
#4 (last to the right) is badged Cunor, but can be found under Soligor and many other names. (probably Vivitar too?) It uses the old(er?) M47 chrome adapter attributed to Tokina. Filter size is 43mm.
A quick and rough test seems to show that #4 is sharpest WO in the center. More testing will be needed. These are rather bad, but beautiful. 😂
Now I need the 85/1,8 of the same series and that 135/1,5 mentionned in the forum...



PostPosted: Sat Nov 25, 2023 11:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Phalbert wrote:
Thanks for your input Stephan. Waiting for you. 😉

Let's see what happens Wink ... today I saw a like-new MF Sigma 2.8/24mm Super wide II with Nikon bayonet, but it was too expensive. I'll go on looking for a good one, though Wink


Phalbert wrote:
And here is my latest addition.
It's number 3 from the left. A 35mm f3.5 to complete that set. As with #1 and #2, it's Vivitar badged and takes a T-mount and filter size is 46mm (for #3 only) It's tiny but the Zuiko 2,8 still beats it.
#4 (last to the right) is badged Cunor, but can be found under Soligor and many other names. (probably Vivitar too?) It uses the old(er?) M47 chrome adapter attributed to Tokina. Filter size is 43mm.
A quick and rough test seems to show that #4 is sharpest WO in the center. More testing will be needed. These are rather bad, but beautiful. 😂
Now I need the 85/1,8 of the same series and that 135/1,5 mentionned in the forum...


That's a really nice collection!!


PostPosted: Sun Nov 26, 2023 12:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Minolta W.Rokkor-QH 4.5/21mm (1962) - lens hasn't yet arrived, though.

As you can see from the lens sections below, the Minolta is very closely related to the original and groundbreaking Biogon 4.5/21mm developed by Ludwig Bertele at Wild Herrbrugg (and later licenced to Zeiss Oberkochen). Obviously it was even too closely related, as it was replaced almost immediately by the Rokkor 4/21mm (1963). I am pretty sure there was a patent infringement, since Bertele's original 1951 Swiss patent for the Biogon 90° explicitely mentions the two negative front lenses (to distinguish it from the earlier 1947 Russian superwide lens designed by Roosinov). Minolta therefore had to re-calculate their 21mm superwide, and the 1963 Rokkor 4/21mm now had a single negative front lens - just like all the others (Nikkor 4/21, Schneider Super Angulon, and others).



Since the lens is a typical symmetrical superwide, it will perform poorly on modern FF digital cameras (unless it's a Kolari modificated A7 series, of course). Nevertheless I'm quite happy to add the lens to my Minolta collection ...

S


PostPosted: Sun Nov 26, 2023 8:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
While talking about 21mm, years ago I adapted a Nikon 21 to my IIIc with suitable rings and Araldite . I got impressive sunstars when using it against the light, not much annoying veiling flare either. When I started using a Pentax it became less useful .

I believe the Heerbrugg wide was for aerial pictures and calculated for bigger formats, but assume designs can be easily scaled. The Nikon history "Tales" site has an interesting introduction to the reasoning behind positive or negative wideangle front lens elements.

p.


PostPosted: Sun Nov 26, 2023 10:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Hi Stephan.
I PM'd you.


PostPosted: Sun Nov 26, 2023 7:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
paulhofseth wrote:

I believe the Heerbrugg wide was for aerial pictures and calculated for bigger formats, but assume designs can be easily scaled.


Bertele, who had left Zeiss before the End of WWII, in 1946 joined Wild Heerbrugg in Switzerland - living less than 10km away from where I grew up. His first Heerbrugg lens for aerial photography was the Aviotar (1947, US2549159). It clearly was a derivative of the 2.8/35mm Biogon for the Contax (lens section below is the Biogon 2.8/35 for Contax).



In 1946 Roossinov in the Soviet Union found a solution to overcome the "natural vignetting" of (super-)wideangle lenses. By adding two strongly negative lenses on both side of a "ordinary" wide angle lens, he could outsmart the "cos4-law of illumination" (google it). That was an important theoretical breakthrough. The two negative lens elements were extrelemy curved, and the basic central lens was pretty "low tech", however (see US2,516,724):



Bertele soon realized the potential of Roossinovs discovery, and applied these findings to create the first high res large format 90° superwide for aerial photography, the Aviogon (Swiss Patent 1950). Instead of a single negative lens in front / at the end, he used two negative lenses each (reducing spherical aberrations). Since he made them of the most advanced LD glass available then (v=70), he also was able to control chromatic aberration (always a problem with superwides). The main central part of the Aviogon was derived from the rear part of the pre-war Biogon 2.8/35mm: Bertele unified the three rear lenses of the Biogon into a cemeted triplet, and doubled them to get a nearly symmetrical [6/2] structure for the central part:



Note that the Aviogon is patented to Bertele, and NOT to wild Heerbrugg. This was a major thing, since Bertele therefore could licence a simplified version of Aviogon privately to Zeiss: the legendary 90° Biogon 4.5/21mm (Swiss Patent 1951):



He did create a 120° f6.3 superwide for the Contax as well, but that one never went into production (US 2,730,016). The 120° superwide (roughly a 12mm lens for 35mm format) did even contain a lens made of fluorite (red lens):



I have no idea how Heerbrugg made that one in 1952, but obviously they were able to do it ... roughly 15 years before Canon came out with their first fluorite lens, the 5.6/300mm Fluorite.

Later on, Bertele was able to improve his Aviogon even further, creating the Super-Aviogon which also had 120° angle. I heard that - wide open! - its resolution was 100 Lp/mm in the corners and 200 Lp/mm in the center, on 18x18cm size negatives. Distortion was less than 10 micrometer across the entire 18x18cm image. Pretty impressive indeed.


paulhofseth wrote:

The Nikon history "Tales" site has an interesting introduction to the reasoning behind positive or negative wideangle front lens elements.

p.

That's valid for retrofocus SLR lenses only, and not applicable for the symmetric superwides discussed here. The (front negative) Bertele Aviogon / Super Aviogon superwides have a distortion of about 0.01%.

S


PostPosted: Wed Nov 29, 2023 2:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Something I had been wishing to own one for long time. It would be a good companion to my Contarex version.


PostPosted: Thu Nov 30, 2023 2:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
calvin83 wrote:
Something I had been wishing to own one for long time. It would be a good companion to my Contarex version.


You could post a comparison and see if anybody can tell the difference. Mr. Green

And thanks to everyone involved in all the fascinating history posts above! Thank you!


PostPosted: Thu Nov 30, 2023 3:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
calvin83 wrote:
Something I had been wishing to own one for long time. It would be a good companion to my Contarex version.


Around 2015 the guy formerly responsible for Sony cameras in Switzerland had become representative for Zeiss gear (among others), and he tried me to convince of getting thos Otuses. I tried the 1.4/28 during a weekend in Rome, and while it's performance (even at f1.4 on 43 MP FF) was fascinating, it simply was too big / heavy for my kind of work. I am fine with a 2.8/16-35 & 2.8/70-200 APO, but imagine running around with a series of Otus-lenses PLUS a corresponding fast 20mm and 200mm ... OUCH.

So sadly I never acquired an Otus lens ...

S


PostPosted: Thu Nov 30, 2023 5:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Crazy Leica Fox wrote:
calvin83 wrote:
Something I had been wishing to own one for long time. It would be a good companion to my Contarex version.


You could post a comparison and see if anybody can tell the difference. Mr. Green

And thanks to everyone involved in all the fascinating history posts above! Thank you!

There will be review on the Otus for sure. I may not do some comparison as it is not the kind of test I like to do.

stevemark wrote:

Around 2015 the guy formerly responsible for Sony cameras in Switzerland had become representative for Zeiss gear (among others), and he tried me to convince of getting thos Otuses. I tried the 1.4/28 during a weekend in Rome, and while it's performance (even at f1.4 on 43 MP FF) was fascinating, it simply was too big / heavy for my kind of work. I am fine with a 2.8/16-35 & 2.8/70-200 APO, but imagine running around with a series of Otus-lenses PLUS a corresponding fast 20mm and 200mm ... OUCH.

So sadly I never acquired an Otus lens ...

S

Zeiss like to make big and heavy lenses for professional use. I don't think i am able to carry it all the day.


PostPosted: Fri Dec 01, 2023 11:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
My first biotar in praktina mount, I dunno what am I gonna do with it, but it came out cheap and everything seems to be working even if it is in a bad shape


PostPosted: Fri Dec 01, 2023 1:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
kiddo wrote:
My first biotar in praktina mount, I dunno what am I gonna do with it, but it came out cheap and everything seems to be working even if it is in a bad shape


Nice, I would probably keep it. If it's working fine it's a nice user lens, and not very interesting to sell.


PostPosted: Fri Dec 01, 2023 4:11 pm    Post subject: Preset Petri 35mm f2.8 Reply with quote
I came across this curiosity on ebay a few weeks ago. Nobody else seemed interested so I eventually gave in to temptation.

It was described as a rebranded Tokyo Koki W.Tokina lens. I don't think that is correct as there are numerous differences between the two lenses, not least the construction, markings, the direction of the focus ring, the MFD and the filter size (52mm).

It seems to be a preset version of the CC Auto 35mm f2.8 with an M42 mount. The serial number is low but Petri serial numbers seem to be all over the place so that doesn't help! I guess it dates to the early 1960s but, unlike other Petri lenses from the era, it has an all-black finish with no silver accents.

I can't find any reference to this lens anywhere. Can anyone shed any light on it's origins?

Here are a few pics of the lens from the ebay listing, one comparing it to the Tokina lens.


#1


#2


#3


PostPosted: Fri Dec 01, 2023 5:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Interest lens. I never see this preset CC 35/2.8 before. Like 1 small


PostPosted: Fri Dec 01, 2023 5:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
calvin83 wrote:
Interest lens. I never see this preset CC 35/2.8 before. Like 1 small


I've tried to find anything about it online and it's just a dead end.

The most relevant info (still not very informative!) is from this page: https://lens-db.com/system/petri-penta-v/

Quote: The lenses of this system can be divided into three major categories:

C.C Auto Petri - lenses with automatic diaphragm;
EE Auto C.C Petri - as the plain "Auto" lenses, but with "EE" (Electric Eye) setting for shutter-priority auto exposure mode with the FT EE, FTE and FA-1 bodies;
C.C Petri - preset lenses that perfectly existed SIMULTANEOUSLY with the "Auto" lenses.

As far as I can tell, this info refers to bayonet mount lenses but this one is M42.


PostPosted: Fri Dec 01, 2023 6:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I haven't seen that one before either. Petri were similar to Miranda (and a few others) in simultaneously selling a secondary lens range to their main offering, usually with a preset aperture mechanism. Over subsequent years the lenses would differ according to the latest available third party lens offerings, leading to a potentially never ending task for a dedicated collector. Because their first SLR was M42 mount, many of the earlier ones were sold in M42 mount, with a Petri adapter if needed. I have 135, 200 and 300mm lenses some of which look to have been made by Tokyo Koki (Tokina) although others I can tell were made by Sun Optical or Itoh Kogaku.


PostPosted: Fri Dec 01, 2023 6:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Alun Thomas wrote:
I haven't seen that one before either. Petri were similar to Miranda (and a few others) in simultaneously selling a secondary lens range to their main offering, usually with a preset aperture mechanism. Over subsequent years the lenses would differ according to the latest available third party lens offerings, leading to a potentially never ending task for a dedicated collector. Because their first SLR was M42 mount, many of the earlier ones were sold in M42 mount, with a Petri adapter if needed. I have 135, 200 and 300mm lenses some of which look to have been made by Tokyo Koki (Tokina) although others I can tell were made by Sun Optical or Itoh Kogaku.


Thank goodness I'm not a dedicated collector of any particular brand! I have an eclectic collection of all sorts of lenses and only recently started looking at Petri. Their lenses seem to be good performers for very little outlay (apart from a few of their early lenses) with a few unique designs.

I guess the preset versions of their lenses were slow sellers. The lens DB quote is the only reference I can find that they ever existed. Even the Petri Wiki page doesn't mention this one: https://w-atwiki-jp.translate.goog/petri/pages/131.html?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp[/url]

Last edited by SimonOL on Fri Dec 01, 2023 8:01 pm; edited 2 times in total


PostPosted: Fri Dec 01, 2023 7:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
kiddo wrote:
My first biotar in praktina mount, I dunno what am I gonna do with it, but it came out cheap and everything seems to be working even if it is in a bad shape


At least the camera looks pretty OK to me - after a throogh cleaning it should really shine Wink
The Biotar needs its filter ring repaired, and then it would look acceptabel as well (after cleaning of course).

The Pratina isn't well known, but it's the first ever "system SLR". Historically, that's quite important. And it did have a few additional "firsts":

* one single shutter dial from 1/1000s to 1s which could be turned in any way, and which could be turned either before or after cocking the shutter
* electrical motor drive
* mechanical (spring driven) motor drive
* 17 m film cassette for motor drive (> 400 photos)
* exchangeable viewfinder (prism, waist-level finder, high magnification finder ...)
* built-in additional direct viewfinder for 50mm lenses

My sample of the Praktina has the pentaprism finder and a Tessar 2.8/50mm (well, a "Jena T 2.8/50"). I found it in a pile of 6000 cameras destined for destruction ... later on I got a really nice Sonnar 4/135mm as well, but that's it. Maybe I should tr to get a few more Zeiss/Praktina lenses indeed!

S


PostPosted: Fri Dec 01, 2023 9:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote




This is a lens I have wanted for a very long time, but could never afford. Micro-Nikkor 200mm f4.

Some sample images to follow later. I am in need of a snooze...

-D.S.


PostPosted: Fri Dec 01, 2023 10:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Congrats


PostPosted: Fri Dec 01, 2023 10:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Doc Sharptail wrote:

This is a lens I have wanted for a very long time, but could never afford. Micro-Nikkor 200mm f4.

Some sample images to follow later. I am in need of a snooze...

-D.S.


Congratulations - the Micro Nikkor 4/200mm certainly is an interesting lens. I'm curious to hear what you'll say/write about it, including samples of course!

The Canon nFD 4/200m Macro has quite pronounced CAs, even though its two front lenses are made of LD (not ULD!) glass (especially at shorter distances). Unlike the Nikkor, the Canon also goes to 1:1, but the Nikon is smaller/lighter. Years ago I had two of them, so I sold one in pristine condition for a whopping CHF 77.-- Wink

Both the Pentax-A* 4/200mm Macro ED as well as the Minolta AF 4/200mm APO Macro have ED/AD glass, and they are extremely well corrected (I don't own them, but had the pleasure to test them).

S
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