Printable View
I'm in the market soon for a nice 90mm. It's a length missing from m arsenal.
I've been looking at some and what exactly is the difference between angulons and super angulons? I like the angulon from the perspective of weight and speed, but is there a big down side?
How are the 90mm caltars? They look remarkably similar to a super angulon. Coincidence or no?
1) that's nice
2) old questions, search.
3) designed and made in Rochester, NY. search.
The main difference is a 90 Super Angulon has a larger image circle than the 90 Angulon (a Dagor design). Of course the 90 Angulon is tiny compared to the SA.
PS: I do have a very nice copy of the 90 Angulon I offered in the B&S here a few weeks ago. I just listed it on ebay this morning if you want to look. It is against the rules for me to post the link, but I think it's okay for me to post an item number: 200079032406
Cheers,
Dan, next time you don't have anything onstructive to say, please say nothing. That was a very rude post.
Jack: Thanks for the info. I think I'll keep looking, probably for a SA.
The 90 Angulon probably needs to be stopped down to f/16-22 to be optimally sharp with even coverage. Used wide open it is not as great a lens as modern designs because it won't be critically sharp and the edges will really not be sharp at all. But I test one I had and when used properly it is just as sharp as a modern lens.
The larger modern Super Angulons (and Rodenstock Grandagons, etc.) are sharp and useful over their entire aperture range, while also being sharpest somewhere in the "middle".
The Caltar or Calumet rebranded lenses were made by American and later German manufacturers, first Schneider and now Rodenstock. If you look at the charts for image circle and filter size you can figure out which OEM counterpart they correspond with.
Jack's Angulon is a nice one for a realistic price. In addition to the Linhof branding, the thing to look for is the serial number. The Angulons were made up until the early 1970s in the 8-9 million serial number range. By that time the quality control was really high, and I would pay a premium for a late Angulon on a later Compur shutter. But even the older Linhof-selected Angulons in the 2-3 million range are excellent lenses, I think Linhof really did establish better quality control with them. Just avoid the >2 million Angulons unless you are looking for an "effect".
The little red triangle on the rim means it is single coated (good).
The Caltar W-II 90mm f/8 is a Super Angulon. You get the same lens for much less money. Mine is even multicoated.
While I realize you didn't ask about this lens, I'd suggest you look into a 90mm Fujinon. I have had both the Angulon (too much falloff in the corners and too little coverage) and the Super Angulon. The latter was a fairly nice lens, but still exhibited falloff. After I stumbled across the Fujinon, I dumped the Super Angulon and never looked back.
I highly recommend you consider the Nikkor 90/8. Mine is one of my favorite 4x5 lenses. I have never actually measured the image circle, but it's supposed to cover a little more than the other 90/8 lenses, matching the coverage of the much heavier 90/4.5 or 5.6 models.
I happen to own both an Angulon 90/6.8 and a Super Angulon 90/8...
For a while I had two Angulons of differing "vintage", one from 1939 and one from 1951. I also have an old 13x18cm (5x7") plate camera which is nice for testing coverage. So I made a comparison shot of the two Angulons, and put the results HERE.
Brief conclusion: There is a slight difference in the design between the two. The later one holds sharpness better at the edge of the image circle, but drops off more rapidly. Both are very sharp in the center, even at f:8. Letting the sun shine on the front element is stupid, regardless of coating (that's what gave the horrendous flare - I recreated my setup the next day at the same time and immidiately spotted my mistake). Falloff is less than I expected - remember that this is shot on 5x7", not 4x5"!
So now I mostly use the Angulon on 4x5" unless I need more than a hint of movements, and the Super-angulon if I need movements or if I'm using 5x7" film.
Chris, if interested i have a SA 90/8 in a synchro compur just back from Carol that i want to sell.
PM me if interested.