What is a Sinaron-S lens?

[chris jordan]

Hi folks, I have been looking around for a used Rodenstock 240 or 300mm Sironar-S, and I just found a Sinar "Sinaron-S" for sale that is made by Rodenstock. Does anyone know if these are the same thing? I want to make sure to get the Rodenstock "S" series and not the "N" series (because the "S" series is made with ED glass).

~cj

www.chrisjordan.com

[Glenn Kroeger]

Chris:

I am pretty sure that the Rodenstock "S" series are the Sinar "SE" series, while the Sinar "S" are the Rodenstock "N" lenses.

[Frank Petronio]

Glenn is right

[Oren Grad]

Chris:

Glenn is right.

Midwest (www.mpex.com) currently lists a used 240 Apo-Sironar-S. I have seen the 300 S offered used, but it's been a long time - they're pretty scarce. Of course, you never know when you might get lucky.

It's a tough time to be trying to save money purchasing a 300 S. New ones are very expensive, but used samples are quite scarce, and given the trend in the dollar/euro exchange rate, I would not be surprised to see the cost of new product go even higher over the coming months.

If money is a big issue, think hard about the 300 N. They're much more commonly available used at reasonable prices, and even though I'm a big S fan and own them in several shorter focal lengths, I'm very happy with my 300 N. Unless you plan to be pushing the limits of a 300 plasmat either through *very* extreme movements on 8x10 or use on larger formats, or by using the lens routinely at apertures as wide as f/8, the N is still a very fine lens, and shares the same basic "look".

Good luck.

[Struan Gray]

If you get lucky you might find a used Sinaron WS, which are the same as the discontinued APO-Sironar W series from Rodenstock. There was a 210 and a 300, but both seem to have been sold in small numbers. I have seen the results of the 210 with lots of movements on 4x5 and it was impressive. For a brief time they were sold as simply APO-Sironar lenses by Rodenstock, but Kerry Thalmann has got the word out too effectively so they are no longer the stealth jewels they once were.

[Bob Salomon]

For those of you who are not familiar with the Apo Sironar or the later Apo Sironar W lenses the 210mm used a 100mm filter, a Copal 3 shutter and weighed 33.5 oz. Those are 3 of the reasons why the 80° coverage W series was replaced by the 75° coverage S series. For comparison the 210 S takes a 72mm filter, weighs 17.3 oz and fits a Copal 1 shutter.

In addition the W was considerably more then the S as well.

[Kerry L. Thalmann]

Everything Bob said is true. However, he left out one very important detail - the image circle of the 210mm APO Sironar-W is 352mm compared to 316mm for the APO Sironar-S. For an 8x10 shooter, that extra five dgrees can make all the difference in the world. The 210mm APO Sironar-S just BARELY hits the corners of 8x10 with NO movements and I would never recommend it to someone whose main format is 8x10. The 210mm APO Sironar-W, however has a large enough image circle to actually be usable on 8x10. Ditto for the 150mm APO Sironar-W on 5x7. It is my all time favorite wide angle for the 5x7 format. While I love the little 150mm APO Sironar-S for 4x5, and it will cover 5x7 with a smidge to spare, when it comes to 5x7 I'll take the 150mm APO Sironar-W every time. I fully understand why the APO Sironar-W series was discontinued, but that doesn't negate the advantage that extra five degrees of coverage provides for those lucky enough to own them.

Of course, Chris didn't ask about 210mm lenses. He asked specifically about 240s and 300s. In those focal lengths, the APO Sironar-S would by my lenses of choice for 8x10.

Kerry