(modern) 240mm Sironar N vs. (older) Schneider 5.6/240mm aka 12/420mm

hey guys..
I wanted to ask you what would the difference be between this two lenses regarding sharpness and rendering for full body portraits.

i use the modern 360mm Schneider f6.8 and im pretty happy with it, but i also tested the 210/370 symmar and its also ok.. mybe a bit less sharp.. but ok ... i find the 210 to be abit too wide angle.. so i decided to go for a 240mm

I want to buy a "full body" lens for my 8x10 ..
(for portrait (head and shoulders) stuff im using the 360mm)

thanks for any input.

Apo Sironar S.

The Sironar N MC was replaced a long time ago by the Apo Sironar N.

Generally, newer lenses from the major manufacturers are more consistent, and I'd expect a general increase in edge sharpness, but as long as the lens wasn't damaged, most lenses should perform well. There are lots of considerations from shutter, sync, filter size, self-cocking that matter more. Older lenses sometimes have many-bladed, and hence very round, apertures. This can contribute to nice out-of-focus rendition, although there's many other factors with this. For some people, this won't be important. So, condition, price, features....are often more important than the brand/model of lenses from the same era. Like many people here, I have a bunch of lenses, from fairly current to really old. I haven't found one yet that wouldn't be good for a specific purpose.

Note that self-cocking shutters are useful for portraiture, as it's one less thing to do between shots.

Thanks! I was "a bit" worried about the thing that the Schneider had 2 focal lengths in one lens, so i imagined in my head this would affect rendering and quality in a non good way.

Thanks for the info!

Regarding "Schneideritis" is it something to be aware of (long tirme) getting worse so far to affect image rendering?

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Originally Posted by Jbuck

Regarding "Schneideritis" is it something to be aware of (long tirme) getting worse so far to affect image rendering?

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Personal experience is that "Schneideritis" never effected the image rendering of a lens. Value of the lens might go down but not its image quality. Would be interesting to hear from others on this topic.

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Originally Posted by Jbuck

Regarding "Schneideritis" is it something to be aware of (long tirme) getting worse so far to affect image rendering?

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Best to avoid it as it can increase and it will effect edge performance. How badly depends on the condition of the problem. And why buy something that will continuously diminish the future value should you want to get a better lens later? That will only make your investment more expensive in the long run.

BTW, like the old convertible Symmar the old Sironar was also convertible. None of them are very good converted and both may require more bellows converted then your camera has. In that case you are only looking at the focal length at 5.6 not converted and the newer lens will be a much better performer with a larger image circle.

I recently compared the Symmar 360/620 f5.6/12 with the multi-coated Symmar-S on a 11x14 contact print, since I unexpectedly had access to both (the old convertible symmar is my own). I couldn't tell the difference between the two. Same subject, same lighting. Even contrast was the same.

Granted, I would expect that if I was on the field rather than the studio and was dealing with light sources that could flare or ghost...the multi-coated lens would been far superior.

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Originally Posted by MAubrey

I recently compared the Symmar 360/620 f5.6/12 with the multi-coated Symmar-S on a 11x14 contact print, since I unexpectedly had access to both (the old convertible symmar is my own). I couldn't tell the difference between the two. Same subject, same lighting. Even contrast was the same.

Granted, I would expect that if I was on the field rather than the studio and was dealing with light sources that could flare or ghost...the multi-coated lens would been far superior.

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And did the shot have fine detail on the edges? Did you use movements on both?

The general rule of thumb is that using separate cells of a convertible lens will lead to a bit less performance than using than using both cells together, but the big advantage is having more focal lengths. A perfect lens is nice, but a mild bit of Schneideritus shouldn't be a big deal, but you should certainly pay less for one that has it.