old schneider lens

"starburst" <chills.DeleteThis@deathtospammers.utexas.edu> wrote in message
news:d25f8s$5ju$1@geraldo.cc.utexas.edu...

 > The lens is a Schneider Kreutznach Angulon, 6.8/65mm. Speeds from B to
 > 500, f-stops from 6.8 to 22. THe serial number is 4744152. It's in a
 > synchro-compur shutter assembly.

According to Schneider, it was made between 1954 and 1956 - probably the
later date, covers 81 degrees (not real wide) and good for MF, not 4c5
(109mm coverage).<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: old schneider lens 

starburst wrote:
 > Hi folks-
 >
 > I've been shooting 35mm since I was a kid and lately been doing
digital.
 > I've wanted for a while to get into medium or large format, but have
 > been waiting till I have a little more money to burn.
 >
 > So this afternoon a lens fell into my lap and I'm wondering whether
to
 > hang onto it or dump it. If it's a piece of junk, out it goes, but if

 > it's reasonably good I'll hang onto it. So any wisdom you can shed
will
 > be appreciated.
 >
 > The lens is a Schneider Kreutznach Angulon, 6.8/65mm. Speeds from B
to
 > 500, f-stops from 6.8 to 22. THe serial number is 4744152. It's in a
 > synchro-compur shutter assembly. It's clean and scratch free, and the

 > shutter speeds sound right. It's mounted on an aluminum lens board,
with
 > a lens cap.
 >
 > So what's the verdict? And does anybody know how old it is?
 >
 > Thanks mucho - Chris

The 65/6.8 Angulon just covers nominal 6x9 (2.25" x 3.25"). If you
want to use it on a Century Graphic or 2x3 Crown Graphic, go ahead.
Its back focus is too short for it to be usable on a 2x3 Speed Graphic.


If you want to move up to 4x5, its best use is as a source of money.

Good luck, have fun,

Dan<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: old schneider lens 

"starburst" <chills.RemoveThis@deathtospammers.utexas.edu> wrote in
message news:d25f8s$5ju$1@geraldo.cc.utexas.edu...
 > Hi folks-
 >
 > I've been shooting 35mm since I was a kid and lately been
 > doing digital. I've wanted for a while to get into medium
 > or large format, but have been waiting till I have a
 > little more money to burn.
 >
 > So this afternoon a lens fell into my lap and I'm
 > wondering whether to hang onto it or dump it. If it's a
 > piece of junk, out it goes, but if it's reasonably good
 > I'll hang onto it. So any wisdom you can shed will be
 > appreciated.
 >
 > The lens is a Schneider Kreutznach Angulon, 6.8/65mm.
 > Speeds from B to 500, f-stops from 6.8 to 22. THe serial
 > number is 4744152. It's in a synchro-compur shutter
 > assembly. It's clean and scratch free, and the shutter
 > speeds sound right. It's mounted on an aluminum lens
 > board, with a lens cap.
 >
 > So what's the verdict? And does anybody know how old it
 > is?
 >
 > Thanks mucho - Chris

Schneider has a complete serial number list on their web
site: <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.schneideroptics.com" target="_blank">http://www.schneideroptics.com</a> You will have to do
some exploring to find it. They also have some information
on older lenses.
The Angulon is a semi symmetrical lens related to the
well known Dagor. Each half consists of three cemented
elements. It was intended as a very wide angle lens.
Originally it was claimed to cover 102 degrees. In fact, it
_will_ illuminate this large a field but the image quality
beyond about 85 degrees is not very good. For 4x5 the image
circle for a 65mm lens must be about 99 degrees, so the lens
will cover without vignetting but the corners won't be very
sharp. At this angle the lens must be stopped down to around
f/45. For narrower coverage (smaller formats) the lens can
be used at larger stops but the full aperture was intended
only for composition not photography so the lens must be
stopped down to f/22 or smaller to be sharp.
The Angulon is nearly symmetrical but the rear cell has a
little more power (shorter focal length) than the front in
order to improve corrections for distant objects.
Good Angulons are quite respectible lenses but none of
the post WW-2 wide angle lenses is as good as the modern
ones. The advantage of the Angulon is that it is small and
light weight with good performance.
Very early Angulons should be avoided. The patent has an
error which was carried out in production lenses. I have a
very early Angulon, made before the patent was finalized,
and its useless due to severe chromatic aberration, a fault
that this type of lens should not have. The fault shows up
when the patent data are set up in a lens design program. At
some time after the initial lenses went on the market (about
1930) the lens was redesigned. I don't know when but it must
not have been long afterward because the originals are
awful. By the time your lens was made Schneider was making
some of the finest lenses in the world so I have no doubt
this lens is a good performer.
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.schneideroptics.com/info/age_of_lenses/" target="_blank">http://www.schneideroptics.com/info/age_of_lenses/</a>
This lens was built sometime between 1954 and 1957, the
serial number list is at:
The shutter is probably a Synchro-Compur No.00. These had
a B setting but not T. You need a locking cable release to
hold it open for focusing and composition.
If you are interested in its construction see the patent
USP 1,882,530 which can be viewed at <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.uspto.gov" target="_blank">http://www.uspto.gov</a>


--
---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dickburk.RemoveThis@ix.netcom.com<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: old schneider lens 

Richard Knoppow wrote:
 > "starburst" <chills.DeleteThis@deathtospammers.utexas.edu> wrote in
 > message news:d25f8s$5ju$1@geraldo.cc.utexas.edu...
 >
  >>Hi folks-
  >>
  >>I've been shooting 35mm since I was a kid and lately been
  >>doing digital. I've wanted for a while to get into medium
  >>or large format, but have been waiting till I have a
  >>little more money to burn.
  >>
  >>So this afternoon a lens fell into my lap and I'm
  >>wondering whether to hang onto it or dump it. If it's a
  >>piece of junk, out it goes, but if it's reasonably good
  >>I'll hang onto it. So any wisdom you can shed will be
  >>appreciated.
  >>
  >>The lens is a Schneider Kreutznach Angulon, 6.8/65mm.
  >>Speeds from B to 500, f-stops from 6.8 to 22. THe serial
  >>number is 4744152. It's in a synchro-compur shutter
  >>assembly. It's clean and scratch free, and the shutter
  >>speeds sound right. It's mounted on an aluminum lens
  >>board, with a lens cap.
  >>
  >>So what's the verdict? And does anybody know how old it
  >>is?
  >>
  >>Thanks mucho - Chris
 >
 >
 > The Angulon is a semi symmetrical lens related to the
 > well known Dagor. Each half consists of three cemented
 > elements. It was intended as a very wide angle lens.
 > Originally it was claimed to cover 102 degrees.

< lots of very interesting stuff snipped>

Thanks to all of you who responded. On further examination there seems
to be some sort of mark on the surface of the rear element, and I'm
trying to work out what it is exactly. It doesn't appear to be a
scratch, and it's not spider-web shaped like I'd expect fungus to be. In
fact, it almost looks like the coating has etched away a little. I'll
have somebody in the know take a look. I'll also try and rig up a
bellows and shoot the thing to see if it's at all sharp.

I know a lot more than I did a day ago. Thanks again-

Chris<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: old schneider lens 

I have a slightly newer 65mm Angulon which I use with a 6x9
Technica III. As a combination to use on trips it is fairly
good. The lens I have is well suited to 6x9, affords a lot
of movement and is very sharp over the field that the Linhof
can access. The lens is small and light. It is also no
worse quality on 6x9 than my Super Angulon.

On the other hand, I like to use it with B&W, but finding
filters to fit it is not so easy. With persistence, I think
there are adapter rings for common modern sizes. The
combination of needing a locking cable release, & use of
relatively large filters (compared to the size of the lens)
means that my solution is not suitable for other than
patient people.



starburst wrote:
 > Hi folks-
 >
 > I've been shooting 35mm since I was a kid and lately been doing
digital.
 > I've wanted for a while to get into medium or large format, but have
 > been waiting till I have a little more money to burn.
 >
 > So this afternoon a lens fell into my lap and I'm wondering whether
to
 > hang onto it or dump it. If it's a piece of junk, out it goes, but if

 > it's reasonably good I'll hang onto it. So any wisdom you can shed
will
 > be appreciated.
 >
 > The lens is a Schneider Kreutznach Angulon, 6.8/65mm. Speeds from B
to
 > 500, f-stops from 6.8 to 22. THe serial number is 4744152. It's in a
 > synchro-compur shutter assembly. It's clean and scratch free, and the

 > shutter speeds sound right. It's mounted on an aluminum lens board,
with
 > a lens cap.
 >
 > So what's the verdict? And does anybody know how old it is?
 >
 > Thanks mucho - Chris<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: old schneider lens 

Of course I meant PRE-WW-2 wide angle lenses.


--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dickburk RemoveThis @ix.netcom.com
 >> Stay informed about: old schneider lens 

"starburst" <chills RemoveThis @deathtospammers.utexas.edu> wrote in
message news:d27u6a$fqs$1@geraldo.cc.utexas.edu...
 > Richard Knoppow wrote:
  >> "starburst" <chills RemoveThis @deathtospammers.utexas.edu> wrote in
  >> message news:d25f8s$5ju$1@geraldo.cc.utexas.edu...
  >>
   >>>Hi folks-
   >>>
 >
 > Thanks to all of you who responded. On further examination
 > there seems to be some sort of mark on the surface of the
 > rear element, and I'm trying to work out what it is
 > exactly. It doesn't appear to be a scratch, and it's not
 > spider-web shaped like I'd expect fungus to be. In fact,
 > it almost looks like the coating has etched away a little.
 > I'll have somebody in the know take a look. I'll also try
 > and rig up a bellows and shoot the thing to see if it's at
 > all sharp.
 >
 > I know a lot more than I did a day ago. Thanks again-
 >
 > Chris

Use a small bright light source, a flashlight or small
desk lamp to throw light diagonally across the lens surface
and look at it using a low power magnifier. If its etched
this will show it up. Lens surfaces can be etched by fungus
of some types which exude a metabolic substance that
dissolves glass. It can also be etched by moisture
condensing on the surface when stored in a damp area. Since
that sort of environment encourages the growth of fungus and
mildew it may well be the fungus that does the etching.
Etched surfaces are usually not fixable. Repolishing is
possible but an expert should be consulted. Most old lenses
are not worth enough to justify repolishing.
If the spot is small, and especialy if its toward an
edge, it might not have much effect on the lens performance.


--
---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dickburk RemoveThis @ix.netcom.com<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: old schneider lens