Caltar Pro Series lens

[JohnSebastian]

Saw a listing for a Caltar Pro Series lens. Who made it? I am familiar with Caltar S and N and similar lenses but have no info on this "Pro series" from Calumet.

Any info on performance, maker & dates of production?

[Ernest Purdum]

John, if you can get your hands on a May/june 2003 copy of View Camera magazine you will find that Kerry Thalmann has provided a very thorough rundown on Catar lenses,

"Pro Series" were made by Komura, and later by Schneider. 75 and 90mm lenses were made only by Komura. 150mm lenses were Schneider products. The 210mm lenses with apertures of f6.3 and f5.6 were komura, F6.1 Schneider. 240mm lenses werre Komuras as were 300mm f6.3, but the 300mm f5.6 was a Schneider..

All this info (barring any typos) comes from Kerry's article.

[Will Strain]

And for what it's worth.. My Komura 210 6.3 (non- caltar branded) is really a lovely lens, and very sharp - even wide open. (4x5 only, I don't think it's coverage will do 8x10...tho I don't have numbers either way).

[Ernest Purdum]

Will, Kerry's tables show the Caltar-branded lens with a 65 degree coverage angle and a 270mm image circle. Your Komura is probably the same.

[Jim Galli]

It's a Schneider Xenar.