Super angulon 90mm F8 will not focus?

[koh303]

I got this lens a while back and never really looked at it until today.
It does not focus...
I am guessing the rear cell is of a different focal length, though it does look fairly similar to another SA 90mm i have here, and the front cell from the non focusing lens, works fine with that other SA 90mm rear cell.

So - is there a way to identify the out of place rear cell? No markings.
I tried paring it with a 75mm F8 SA, and no luck there either.

Any clue? Is there a chance the cell it self is correct but defective? Its intact and nothing loose inside...?

[Dan Fromm]

Tell us more. In particular, which camera did you mount it on?

Take another look at y'r dud (you think) lens. My garbage 90/8 SA's rear cell is marked with the serial number's last four digits. Is yours?

[koh303]

Dan,

It was mounted on a wista. I will have a closer look again shortly for SN on the rear cell.
During the process, i swapped out both front and rear cells on both lenses, tried 3 different shutters, in all combinations. The rear wilful rear cell was causing no focus in each combo option.

I forgot to mention that it will focus when it is almost touching the GG (0.5-0.8cm away from edge of rear cell), but then you get a very strong field curvature and tiny image circle.

[Dan Fromm]

Check that the rear cell's first element (the one that faces the shutter) is there. The first element is cemented to the second element. They can fall off ...

[ic-racer]

Cemented doublet mentioned in Dan's post.
134651

[koh303]

Check that the rear cell's first element (the one that faces the shutter) is there. The first element is cemented to the second element. They can fall off ...

Thats there for sure and the construction seems similar to the other rear cell i have, though it is a slightly different barrel, but ive seen at least 4 different SA 90mm variants with silver front cell...

[koh303]

The plot thickens:
(Bad on the left, good on the right)
134730
134731
134732

Not sure what the deal is. Any ideas?

[Jac@stafford.net]

The bad one looks more like a Caltar or earlier version of the Super-Angulon.

[IanG]

It's definitely not Super Angulon rear cell and it's not the rear cells of an f6.8 Grandagon N either. Someone might recognise that stepped bit that probably holds the rear element(s).

Ian

[koh303]

Ian, are you saying there is a section missing on the left one? I am not certain, as i have seen rear cells come apart right at that spot, but do not have threads that fit a shutter of any size... This fits directly into a #0, so i am just guessing it is fully assembled. The sealer black paint and lacquer looks intact as does the face of the rear element.

With that said, i did see on occasion in the past SA with rear cells that looked just like this and lenses worked fine. That is, they looked like that on the outside and rear end, as i did not pay that much attention to the inside part of the rear cell.

[IanG]

Ian, are you saying there is a section missing on the left one? I am not certain, as i have seen rear cells come apart right at that spot, but do not have threads that fit a shutter of any size... This fits directly into a #0, so i am just guessing it is fully assembled. The sealer black paint and lacquer looks intact as does the face of the rear element.

With that said, i did see on occasion in the past SA with rear cells that looked just like this and lenses worked fine. That is, they looked like that on the outside and rear end, as i did not pay that much attention to the inside part of the rear cell.

No, I'm saying look at the rear metal barrel, the SA's are conical then a straight bit holding the rear elements, your barrel in the 1st & 2nd images has a step in that barrel and it's rather obvious.

Ian

[koh303]

Yes i see that now. So - alas, can anyone identify/place the cell on the right?

[koh303]

134766
Ian - just came across this random newer SA 90mm - rear cell actually looks exactly the same as the bad one i have... with the step at the bottom.

[IanG]

134766
Ian - just came across this random newer SA 90mm - rear cell actually looks exactly the same as the bad one i have... with the step at the bottom.

Well spotted, it's clearly different to the other 90mm f8 SA rear cell so perhaps Schneider re-designed and changed the lens at some point and an older front cell is incompatible with a newer rear cell.

Ian