Originally Posted by
konakoa
Just for clarity I would like to say the lens is looking fine on the ground glass to the plain eye. From a normal distance it looks good. Just comparing it under high magnification I'm noticing peculiarities.
Mark J, yes, I am examining the image at f/5.6. And 12x is a lot. Not optimal at that aperture nor magnification I realize yet my other lenses do look fantastic at the same magnification with the lens wide open when focusing. That's what had me initially wondering about what I was seeing with the 210XL and if it was behaving as it should. However...
Kiwi, Minh, you may be on to something with the shims. I set up the camera outside and examined and focused very carefully with the 12x loupe on the ground glass. To not risk the lens I didn't unscrew the front element (doggone that thing is big) but adjusted the rear element inside the camera by unscrewing it and rechecking the image on the ground glass with the loupe. I found with the rear element fully screwed in the image is slightly, slightly soft seen in the magnifier. Hard lines with contrast were a bit mushy. When I unscrewed the rear element one full turn (I did various amounts) I saw a noticeable improvement. Then it looked and behaved like my normal lenses. Focus snapped into place, fine details were apparent.
I'm cautiously thinking it may need shims then. Might've been misplaced by the previous owner. I'm about to do some exposures (right with you Mark S) on film to double check the whole spacing thing.
If I do need shims, Schenider Optics here in the US is long, long gone. Anyone think Schnider Germany would do it without having to send the entire lens to them?
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