I have a 5.6 210 Caltar S II lense with a No. 1 Copal shuuter. It is the only l ense I have ever owned which does not have a serial number. Does anywone know a nything about this lense? It looks a lot like a Rodenstock, so I expect they ar e the manufacturer. Does anyone know why it does not have a serial number? The re is no sign it has been removed.
I just bought a 240 Caltar S, without a serial number also, from KEH in Atlanta. They told me the S stands for "Schneider" who made the lens as opposed to a Cal tar N made by Rodenstock. I suspect no serial number is stamped on the lens to a void leaving any Schneider origin, but it does seem like they could have put som e kind of numbering on the lens. Maybe it's inside?
I also have a Caltar S II. There is considerable confusion as to who actually built the lens. I always thought S was for Schneider and N was for Rodenstock. However based purely on cosmetics the reverse seems to be true. I have seen older Caltar N lenses advertized as being made by Schneider. Who knows - not me.
I hope you find the lens as productive as I do.
Whatever confusion there is about who makes the Caltar S, there should be no confusion about who makes the current Caltar II "N" Lenses. I recently purchased 75 mm f6.8 and 150 mm IIN Caltar lenses. They both came in RODENSTOCK boxes! The 75 mm f6.8 came with a Calumet lifetime warranty, which had the correct serial number but mistakenly identified the lens as a Rodenstock, not "Caltar",lens. The specifications for the current N lenses are identical as for the Rodenstock lenses. The Calumet salesperson who took my order confirmed that they were Rodenstock lenses rebranded as Caltars.
Call Calumet at 1-800-CALUMET and ask them. The sales people usually know, and h ave no objection to telling you. I at one time had a 210 Caltar II-S which was d efinitely a Schneider as it was afflicted with a problem common to Schneiders of the same period, but it did have a serial number.
I did quite a bit of checking into this designation, spoke with Calumet, saw references at various sites, etc. It's my understanding that this is a Symmar-S lens. Unless marked multi-coated, or "MC", etc., it will be a single-coated lens.
As "confirmation", I have a Caltar II S 360mm lens. This lens has a huge front filter diameter (120mm), the largest Schneider made in any Symmar on their web-page. The lens diameter of my lens checks with the diameter listed.
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