Schneider Angulon

[Annie M.]

Thanks Kerry..... I haven't visited wreck.photo in ages, I'll check it out..... Please e-mail me the pics of the Angulons!

Cheers Annie

[Bill_1856]

Two other little items. 1) needs to be used at f:16-22, 2) and be sure that there is a "Press-focus" or "blade arrester" on the shutter so you can open it to view and focus without setting it to "b" and using a locking cable release.

[Donald Miller]

My mid 80's vintage 90 mm F 5.6 Super Angulon came in a Copal O shutter.

[Colin Carron]

Annie,

An Angulon was the first LF lens I owned and it served me well till the elements fell apart as noted above. I bought another which is still going strong. They are TINY (130g) compared with Super Angulons - the down side being mainly the small image circle. The Angulon image circle business is worth looking at closely. Schneider quote 154mm as the image circle which only just covers 4x5. However an Angulon will illuminate a circle a good deal bigger than that. What happens is that the image becomes increasingly blurry beyond 154mm so if you use much by way of movements the corners start looking out of focus. But in many landscape pictures that does not matter and often it means that the sky may be a touch blurred which is no big deal. I prefer the Super Angulon for sharpness and colour rendering as well but on balance the Angulon still has a lot going for it. Get as recent an example as possible as quality control improved through the 60's.

[Chris Gittins]

Annie,

I picked up a used 90/6.8 Angulon in a Synchro Compur on eBay last fall. It's serial number dates it as manufactured ca 1957. It's in very good condition and, although I haven't used it extensively, I like it so far. It's light, as Colin noted above, and was reasonably priced. (Think I paid about $170 including shipping. I'd imagine you can find one cheaper if you're more patient than I was.) The corners are not tack sharp as they are with my much newer, longer focal length Symmar-S and Nikkor-W lenses, but I typicaly shoot landscapes which require little or no movement, so the limited image circle isn't a big issue for me.

Best regards, Chris

[Annie M.]

Thanks everyone.... The tiny 90/6.8 will be perfect for my hiking adventures this summer. Kerry kindly sent me some photos of various vintages in assorted shutters so I know precisely what I am looking for. A bit of softness at the corners is a small sacrifice considering my Grandagon probably weighs the equivalent of a stack of Angulons.

[Frank Petronio]

I tested a late 90/6.8 Angulon against a modern 90/6.8 Rodenstock Grandagon N, and the centers were both good, at least at f/16-22. The gotcha is the corners, and the room for movements. But I regret selling the Angulon all the same, they are nice lenses for their size.

[Philippe Bedfert]

Dear Ann,

I bought two years ago an Angulon 6,8 90mm. I used it for around a year. It covered 4x5 with almost no movement. The constrast was very poor because mine was not coated. I sold it last year. I just bought a Congo 6,8 120mm. As there in no reseller in France (and not in Europe) I have dealt directly with the Japanese manufacturer. It is a very light lens, same kind of the Angulon but coated and with more movement. There is also a 90mm. You can easily buy it in US (maybe Badger sells it). It is not as sharp as my Nikkor 8 90mm but the constrast is nice and the B&W negative are very good. As I use to hike I prefer my Congo rater than my Nikkor in my backpack. And it is enough coverage for the landscape.

[Brian Ellis]

I don't know how much money you're willing to spend, but if size and weight rather than price are the most important things you might consider the 80mm Schneider Super Symmar XL as an alternative to the Angulon. The 80mm XL is not much bigger than the Angulon, considerably closer in size to it than the 90mm F8 lenses made by Schneider and Nikon. I have the 80mm XL and it's an outstanding lens. Plus it's an F4 so it's easier to view the image on the ground glass with it than with the F8 lenses. And of course you get a somewhat wider angle of view than a 90mm but still not an extreme wide angle. All in all I think it's a great choice as a wide angle lens for back packing. The big downside is its price - around $1,200 - $1,400. But I figured I'd have it the rest of my life and would never need another wide angle lens if I bought it so I was willing to pay the price.

[N Dhananjay]

If you are looking for other options, another good option is a 100mm wide field Ektar - gives you a bit of movement where the Angulon gives you almost none. And Ektars always had a good rep for quality control. An L in a circle stands for lumenized - Kodak's name for coating. Good luck. Cheers, DJ