Rodenstock Macro 120mm/5.6 Apo-Macro- Sironar

[Matt Wilson]

Can a Rodenstock Macro lens be used for non-Macro work? What would be the disadvantages? B+H has one Rodenstock Macro 120mm and a Schneider 120mm Macro. One is about $600 more than the other. They are:

Rodenstock Macro 120mm/5.6 Apo-Macro-Sironar and
Schneider Macro 120 Macro-Symmar HM(This is the more expensive one.)

What would be the difference between this and a Schneider 120mm Apo-Symmar L lens?

Second question:
Is there any general way to tell whether a lens will cover 8x10 film?

Thanks!
Matt

[Dan Fromm]

(a) If you look at threads active today, you'll find one on Rodenstock lens data. Read it.

(b) Google will find Schneider's site. Go there and get the specs you need.

(c) No.

Go to this BBS' parent site, read the FAQs.

[Ben Chase]

Can a Rodenstock Macro lens be used for non-Macro work? What would be the disadvantages? B+H has one Rodenstock Macro 120mm and a Schneider 120mm Macro. One is about $600 more than the other. They are:

Rodenstock Macro 120mm/5.6 Apo-Macro-Sironar and
Schneider Macro 120 Macro-Symmar HM(This is the more expensive one.)

What would be the difference between this and a Schneider 120mm Apo-Symmar L lens?

Second question:
Is there any general way to tell whether a lens will cover 8x10 film?

Thanks!
Matt

The way I understand it is that Macro lenses are not corrected for infinity, they are optimized for close work. That said, I would not at all be surprised if the difference was not noticable for landscape work/etc, but don't take my word for it on this fact - search the archives.

The Apo-Symmar-L lens is not a macro lens and theoretically has better performance at infinity.

The way to tell whether or not a lens will cover 8x10 film is to compare the size of the image circle thrown by the lens with the size of the image circle needed to cover an 8x10 diagonal. Schneider's site has lens PDF's that are very informative and actually show visually which of their lenses cover 4x5, 5x7, and 8x10.