Need your help again. I am looking at a Caltar-S II 210mm in copal shutter. I am not up to speed on coverage and all the other finer points of lenses. I have a Tachihara 4x5 field camera. Question is will this lens work well as my tele- lens. Right now I have the Caltar 150mm and was looking at the 210 as a long le ns. Any help you can give me is appreciate. Also, what is price of the 210mm? Thanks for all your help so far.
Doug, while the current Caltar's are made by Rodenstock, I believe this lens is a repackaged Schneider Symmar S. Coverage at this focal length is not an issue for 4X5. For this lens it is listed on the Graflex website as 294mm. A 210mm lens is a good companion for the 150mm,especially with the shorter bellows draw of the Tachihara but I wouldn't exactly call it a tele-lens. Price???? $280-$400 depending on condition is just a guess.
All of the Caltar S lenses were made by Schneider and are of the same quality as the lenses sold under the Schneider name. This lens is definitely not a telephoto design, but bellows draw will not be an issue with this lens in most situations since you will be able to get images to about half life size with the Tachihara. The 210 in 4x5 is about the equivalent of the 50 in the 35mm format based on linear magnification. If you need a long lens, 300 is a good place to start, but with the Tachi, lenses of that focal length or longer definitely need to be teles.
Thanks guys, I am pursuing the lens now. Your imput was a great help.
Do be aware that using a heavy lens on a relatively lightweight field camera stresses the extension rail a lot even at normal extensions and induces camera shake because of the placement of a heavy lens at the very forward end of the camera. I have a 210 Caltar II N that now resides with my studio camera because it was too heavy for my older Calumet Wood Field. I opted for a much lighter and much more compact 210/6.8 Calumet Caltar instead and have been very happy with the results. Schneider makes a 210/6.1 Xenar of a similar compact design, as does Rodenstock (210/6.8 Geronar). With these compact lenses you give up the larger coverage that you might get out of any 210/5.6 lens, but they give more than adequate image circles for field applications. You might want to explore these alternatives.
In part because of their cost versus high quality, I've standardized on these lenses. Based on dimensions, Caltar S II lenses are Schneider Symmar-S lenses repackaged by Calumet. Note that it's easy to get them confused with Caltar II S lenses, which are made by Rodenstock.
You might want to inspect the lens before purchase. Characteristic of Schneider lenses, they are sometimes infected by "Schneideritis", silver specs inside the lens barrel around the aperture. While Schneider claims this doesn't affect image quality, I can't see how an advanced case wouldn't affect the image quality. I've seen cases where a large percentage of the inside barrel was pocked with the silver "dots" that are the result of this maledy. They were more silver than black.
You might want to give some thought to the question of whether 210 is enough difference compared to your 150 to warrant the purchase. Think of it in 35 mm terms. A 210 in 4x5 is about the equivalent of a 70 mm lens in 35 mm photography, a 150 is about the equivalent of 50 mm. Would you buy a 50 mm lens and a 70 mm lens for 35 mm photography? If so, then having the two makes sense, if not you might think of something longer like the Nikon 300 mm M series lens. Much smaller, lighter, and a lot longer than 150 mm. Probably more expensive than the lens you're considering but not outrageously so. I used a Schneider APO Symmar 210 lens on my Tachihara for a long time with no weight problems. I also used the 300 Nikon. It's stretching the bellows extension of the Tachihara but it worked fine - I could focus as close as about 10 feet which was plenty close for landscape and architecture.
Brian Ellis
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you do criticize them you'll be
a mile away and you'll have their shoes.
Hello, I have a Caltar-S II 210mm (the Schneider Symmar-S) and I am willing to let it go for $300.00. It is in very good condition. It has not been out side much. It lived in a studio on my view camera doing table top catalog photos or in a lens wrap in side my camera bag. I also have a 90mm f5.6 Schneider Super Angulon Lens that I will sell for 1,000.00 it is in excellent condition. This baby is sweet!
On the subject of the unsightly silver dots that appear in many older Schneider lenses, I do not see how this could really affect image quality as long as the spots are truly in the area where glass meets metal. Surely no image-forming light passes through these areas and while the dots do appear bright from the OUTSIDE of the lens I suspect that that is due only to the loss of adhesion to the barrel and therefore making a small reflective spot that has no affect on transmitted light. As always, one should shield stray light as mush as possible from optics. I could only imagine an image problem where very intense light might bounce from the spot and somehow hit a rearward facing element, conceivably lowering contrast.
BTW, I have a Rodenstock 210 that I must have stored too close to a Schneider - it has a mild case of 'schneideritis'.
On this Schneideritis business, has anyone ever filed a claim against the lifetime warranty? If so did they fix the lense. I have a 150 mm/5.6 with the adhesion bubbles. I bought the lense new and registered the warranty card in 1986. Also, does anyone know the cause of the infection?
--Oliver Easley(archareis@attbi.com)
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