Tele-Arton 5.5/270mm - image circle

[Ed Richards]

Just got a mint Tele-Arton 5.5/270mm, Linhof pick on the original Linhof IV board, from Igor. Tested it on my Sinar, and found that even with more than the 12.8/10.5mm shift that the Schneider vintage lens page says are the limits, there was no visible fall off or vignetting. Amazingly sharp.

Think about those calculators (people were called that before there machines) working away on the lens design and getting such great lenses.

[Frank Petronio]

They probably had those bigger, more accurate slide rules over in Germany. While our engineers got by with the belt hangers (remember!?) they had meter-long ones.

[Ed Richards]

> remember!?

I still have one.:-)

[Nathan Potter]

Circular slide rules about a foot in diameter, three foot rulings at the perimeter. Clear plastic radius indexes. Highly collectible now.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[Ed Richards]

Just scanned the images from the Tele-Arton - a little corner darkening, so maybe the lens circle data is not so conservative. Still impressive performance from such an old design tele. My plan is to cam it to my Tech IV for portraits.

[Dan Fromm]

Guys, there were several 270/5.5 Tele Arton designs, and they had different coverages.

http://www.schneiderkreuznach.com/archiv/pdf/tele_obj_56.pdf shows a six element Tele Arton, claims 152 mm @ f/5.5, 170 mm @ f/32

http://www.schneiderkreuznach.com/archiv/pdf/tele_obj_67.pdf shows a five element Tele Arton, claims 178 mm @ f/16

[Ed Richards]

I think this is one more, and I think it is the one I have:

http://www.schneideroptics.com/info/vintage_lens_data/large_format_lenses/tele-arton/data/5.5-270mm.htm

[Dan Fromm]

Ed, that's the second one.

[Ed Richards]

Dan,

Does not look even a little bit like the second one. Looks more like the first, but hard to tell from the picture if it is exactly the same - it is on its way to Marflex, so I cannot put my hands on it. Judging from the shutter, the second one is older than the first.

[Dan Fromm]

Ed, mountings vary. The specs in your link and my second one are identical.

Cheers,

Dan

[Ed Richards]

Dan,

You are right, those are the specs for the second lens. Physically, the geometry is clearly the first lens. Fortunately, since I plan to use it for portraits with my Tech IV, the image circle does not matter. It is fun to have a 270 that I can use with the bag bellows on the Sinar.:-)

[Frank Petronio]

I'll be interested to see how successful you are at focusing a 270mm at portrait distances with the Technika rangefinder.

[Ed Richards]

Frank,

Me too.:-) The 150 is really accurate in that range so I am willing to invest a little to see what I can do.