Symmar-S v Apo-Symmar

[12pmc]

Can anyone comment on the practical performance of a Symmar S 210mm over it's successor the Apo for 4x5 use.
Thanks
Peter

[12pmc]

I meant Symmar in title not summary.....

MODERATOR'S NOTE: fixed!

[Mark Sampson]

I have never used a Symmar-S in direct comparison to an Apo-Symmar but have experience with both lens types; the first a 300/5.6 Symmar-S (single-coated, early version) and a 135/5.6 Apo-Symmar from c.1991. This was while I worked as an industrial photographer at a major corporation... the 300 was a superb lens in every respect. The 135 Apo added higher contrast and thus more color saturation. Never reached the limits of either lenses' resolution despite doing some fairly demanding work. I would not hesitate to use a lens of either formula for anything I might photograph today... multicoated Symmar-S lenses and Apo-Symmars would be my choices if I had those choices to make, but there would never be a need to make excuses for the single-coated version.

[neil poulsen]

I can't recall the member's name, but he was a Symmar-S user and commented that, he thought he had sharp optics, until he tried the Apo-Symmars. (Hearsay, of course.)

I've been a user of 100mm, 150mm, and 180mm Symmar-S lenses. Based on his comment, I've swapped out the 150mm for an Apo-Symmar, and will eventually do the same for the 100mm and 180mm lenses.

[EdSawyer]

Chris Perez likely has some of those comparisons on his site. Basically the APO version is better in all ways.

[Oren Grad]

Chris Perez likely has some of those comparisons on his site. Basically the APO version is better in all ways.

He has only one head-to-head comparison between a Symmar-S and an Apo-Symmar in the same focal length (150), and that one is equivocal:

http://www.hevanet.com/cperez/testing.html

[diversey]

I do not have an APO-Symmar 210mm lens, but I like my Symmar-S 210mm/f5.6. Here is a photo i shot recently.

[EdSawyer]

You can also compare the MTFs from Schneider.

[Drew Wiley]

I dunno. I look at my old Symmar S prints from time to time, and no, they didn't have quite the same degree of sharpness and contrast as newer plasmats; but there was a certain look that was more pleasing in cases, esp how background blur was handled, even though these were already in modern Copal shutters with
a limited number of aperture blades. As usual, the numbers don't tell it all.

[12pmc]

Thanks, when did the model change from S to Apo can someone advise?

Peter