Which 210 or 240 for 8x10?

[Dhuiting]

Hey guys, I'm seeing widely different price ranges on a Schneider Simar lens, some are APO and some are not, and then there is the super Symmar.

The non-APO versions are going as cheap as $150, and the APO versions are going as cheap as five or $600, so I'm wondering what I would be getting by spending the extra couple thousand dollars on the super? If I only care about sharpness and aren't doing much movement on 8 x 10, could I get away with the APO Symmar and get an extremely sharp image?

I am currently using 10 inch commercial Ektar ( which I paid $399 for) and I feel like I could do better, it doesn't seem like the sharpest lens.

I just saw this on eBay and it seems like a pretty good deal:https://www.ebay.com/itm/142259126692

For a guy that can't spend more than about 600 or $700 but wants an extremely sharp lens in the 210 to 240 mm range for use on an 8x10 camera,, are there any other options as well that you guys would recommend? Thank you!

[DG 3313]

I have an APO Symmar 210mm F5.6 that I use on 8x10. It covers the film with little or no movement and I always run it out a bit (never shot at infinity). I'm happy with the sharpness but, would like a larger IC. You may look at the Symmar S??

[asf]

If you're not concerned about movements a 240 symmar S will do. There's a nice looking one for sale in the classifieds now I think.



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[Randy]

The Fuji 250mm f/6.7 may be an affordable alternative - I think I paid about $160 for mine shipped from Japan, and in excellent condition. It covers 8X10 nicely.

[mstrickland]

I've had very good luck with my Symmar-S. Very sharp and even some decent movement with it. Mine's the one in the classifieds right now. The only reason I'm selling it is I do primarily field work and my current setup is 150, 300, and 450.


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[Alan9940]

I use a Fujinon A 240/9 and I've never been disappointed. Allows a reasonable amount of movement. Used price range is typically around the same as the lens on eBay.

[John Kasaian]

I'll give a thumbs up for the 240 G Claron. Fuji appears to have a strong fan base. I don't think you could go wrong with either.

[Dan Fromm]

Hmm. Schneider claims 298 mm for the 240 G-Claron @f/22 @infinity, 337 mm for the 240 Symmar-S, same conditions. Fuji claims 336 mm for the 240/9 A, 398 mm for the 250/6.7 W, same conditions.

I recently went shopping for normal lenses for 2x3 and 6x12, noticed that Fuji's coverage claims are much larger than Nikon's, Schneider's and Rodenstock's for comparable lenses. I don't doubt the claims, do wonder how Fuji gets more from 6/4 plasmat types (not all of the Fuji lenses I looked at are 6/4 plasmat types) than other makers.

[Corran]

I just bought a 240mm GC from Greg and he included a test sheet from 11x14. It almost covers 11x14 with just about half an inch vignette on all sides. I determined it was a plasmat design lens (older GCs are sometimes Dagor type).

So the 240mm GC covers for sure 8x10, which is what I bought it for. My experience with other GC lenses leads me to believe corner performance will be more than adequate up to any size I am likely to print from 8x10, but I haven't shot it on 8x10 yet. However, I've been loving it in my 4x5 kit recently (210 was also too short, 300 too long...) and central sharpness in the 4x5 frame is fantastic.

I have also shot both 210mm and 240mm Graphic Kowa lenses on 8x10 with excellent results and they have plenty of IC as well. All of these are only limited by the f/9 aperture, if that matters in your shooting, but that means they are very small and light.

[John Kasaian]

240 G Clarons, IIRC, are optimized for f/32
Mine is an older production and has served me very well for quite a few years,
with plenty of wiggle room for my purposes. YMMV of course!