Schneider 210mm f4.5 Xenar - worth it?

[Dawid]

Hi

I recently received a 1920-something Schneider 210mm f4.5 Xenar in fairly good shape, but it is not mounted in a shutter and most surely uncoated. Apparently Tessar type lenses can be quite sharp esp. as I will use it for 4x5, but should I bother mounting it in a shutter ? Will the fact that it is uncoated have much effect if used for portraits indoors / not shooting into or close to the sun ?

Cheers

[Steve Hamley]

David,

Monetarily no; these are inexpensive lenses. A better choice would be to look for one in a shutter, especially a coated lens.

Some of these lenses, if compatible with a Compound #3, will screw directly into an early Copal #3. If so, a good used shutter will cost you about $250. If you go this route you'll have a lens that's worth what the shutter is worth.

If you have to have it custom mounted, figure on $250 for the shutter and $250 to mount the cells, clearly out of line with the value of an uncoated Tessar. Still worth only the value of the shutter, about $250. For portraits, you'd be better off to put the $500 into a 210mm Heliar.

Properly shaded and for portraits, it should be fine, maybe even preferable to a coated lens depending on the look you're shooting for. I generally prefer single coated lenses.

Steve