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View Full Version : Glassfilter for 210 Super-Angulon?



Jens Knoop
19-Jun-1998, 12:27
I am going to buy the Schneider Kreuznach 210mm Super-Angulon and it seems like that I will have a problem in getting glassfilters for that lenssize (135mm). Does anybody know a manufacturer for glassfilters producing this size or maybe an other solution?

Thanks a lot

Jens

Micah Marty
21-Jun-1998, 11:43
Jens,

You're right: you WILL have a problem getting filters that size. Although the fi lter size on the SA 210 is slightly smaller than you think--127mm (the Grandagon 200 is the only current lens with a 135mm filter thread)--that doesn't really m ake it much easier.

When faced with the same quandary, I first tried resin filters. A couple of year s ago Calumet told me that through some company (Lee?) they could get selected c olors in 4x6 (besides graduated NDs) but it's a prepaid special order from overs eas etc. etc.--and with a 5-inch-plus front element you'd still have to position it pretty carefully vertically or horizontally to cover your image size (but yo u might call Calumet or Lee about this). Then I read in Galen Rowell's column th at Singh-Ray could custom-make almost any filter a customer could want. He was r ight--any size that will fit in a Cokin holder (Mr. Singh just laughed when I ca lled him and asked about a 6x6 or even a 5x5 filter).

So then I looked at glass. I see in B+W's catalog that they offer screw-in filte rs up to 122mm, including 120mm (which would be the back size of the SA210 ... I F it had threads) and including many popular tints for b&w and color films (of c ourse, the 120mm offering is not as broad as it is for, say, 58mm, and it's prob ably a special order from Germany, and you'd have to figure out how to mount it without threads....). B&H sells the B+W "Extra-wide-angle slim filter" in 127mm and 135mm -- but only in skylight and haze(!), and even those are $201 (for 127m m) and $300 (for 135mm).

The only solution I could find was Sinar's 125mm setup, which I believe is no lo nger available new. I got directly from Sinar in 1996 four of the last of their 5x5 (125mm) glass filters before they discontinued this size (I bought four b&w filters--21, 25, 47, and 58--for about $100 each, including those nifty aluminum sleeves). Even after they discontinued the 125mm filters, Sinar continued to of fer the Filterholders, #1 (cat. #55-1711, $281; holds one 125mm filter) and #2 ( #55-1721, $309; holds two) at least through 1997. You'd also need an adaptor rin g (127mm for front mount is cat. #58-1127, $132). (Sinar offered these filters, holders, and adaptor rings because they used to sell the SA 210 as a Sinaron len s.) I never bought the holder or adaptor ring, using my hand or gaffers' tape to hold the filter in position (and I've never even used a couple of my four filte rs). I've thought occasionally about selling the 125mm filters, but they're so r are that I know I'd regret it the next day.... You might call Sinar and see wha t they recommend or might have lying around (toll free # is 800/456-0203; toll w as 908/754-5800, but area code may have changed).

Another solution would be to call the glass filter companies. B+W (which is dist ributed in the US by Schneider; 516/496-8500) says on p. 48 of their catalog "Un mounted filter glass is available for use in compendiums or special applications . Glass diameters of 8mm through 150mm are available...." So that could be an option, with B+W or Tiffen or Hoya or whomever. Again, be prepared to pay--and t o wait a couple of months for it to come from overseas. (But while you're on the phone with Schneider, ask them for solutions; it's their lens!)

Perhaps, because they are presumably cut from large sheets, Kodak's gel filters (and their kin from other companies) could be obtained in at least 6x6 size; you could make a frame for each filter from cardboard. They wouldn't be as durable as resin or glass but they would be a lot less expensive! Try Kodak or the other s to see if this is possible.

For even less money, you can get two-foot-square sheets of acetate/film (Roscolu x) from Calumet and others for about $6 a sheet; it's not optically perfect and the colors aren't keyed to the Wratten system or such, but it may work behind th e lens. If you think this has potential, call Calumet for a Roscolux sample book (they may charge you a little for it because it has at least a hundred differen t swatches).

By the way, none of the above solutions would provide you with a polarizer; I've never seen one that size. The polarizing film sold for lighting purposes probab ly wouldn't be optically clear enough.

That's all I can think of for now; if I come up with something else I'll add it below (and if you come up with a solution, please post it here for the record). The SA 210 is an amazing lens; I don't understand why it and the Grandagon 200 h ave to be so huge (esp. when compared to, say the Nikkor 150 SW, with its 95mm f ilter size) but they are the only two current lenses between 165 and 300 that of fer ample coverage for 8x10 and not-bad coverage for 11x14; every other 210 or 2 40 lens just barely covers 8x10. So it's worth figuring something out if you wan t that great image circle.

Hope this helps; feel free to e-mail me if it's unclear or if you have follow-up questions....

Micah Marty
21-Jun-1998, 11:54
Good news! I see on pages 395-401 of B&H's big catalog (the 600-page "Sourcebook ") that they offer a LOT of Kodak gel filters in 6x6 (and 14x18!) for quite affo rdable prices. Most of the 6x6 are $44.95, including the light-balancing, color- compensating, and b&w gel filters (a select few of the 6x6's are $109.95, but I have no idea why; they're neither the deepest nor the rarest--or most common--co lors).

This looks like the most promising solution, assuming you can make cardboard fra mes to mount them on your lens....

Micah Marty
21-Jun-1998, 12:03
Me, yet again. Just to clarify: the Sinar 125mm filters are 5x5 flat squares (li ke resin filters), mounted in metal frames that wrap around all sides with a met al pull tab on one end. The useable area of the glass--inside the frame--is abou t 119mm x 119mm.