Tele arton v. Tele Zenar

[Ed Richards]

Can anyone tell me a little about the differences betwen these? I am looking at the 240mm range as a 4x5 portrait lens.

[Dan Fromm]

The Tele-Arton is a newer design with more elements, the VM says a TeleArton is sharper than the equivalent TeleXenar.

[CCHarrison]

From Schneider's own site

Vintage Tele-Arton Lens Data

The Tele-Arton is a telephoto design. Their short flange focal length allows the use of long lenses on cameras with short bellows extension, such as the "technical cameras". Earlier f/4 and f/5.5 models are 5 elements in 4 groups. The 250 mm f/5.6 is a modern multicoated 5-element, 5-group lens. All models have a 35° angle of coverage.

see more here

http://www.schneideroptics.com/info/vintage_lens_data/large_format_lenses/tele-arton/data/5.5-240mm.htm

Dan

[CCHarrison]

From Schneider's own site

Vintage Tele-Arton Lens Data

The Tele-Arton is a telephoto design. Their short flange focal length allows the use of long lenses on cameras with short bellows extension, such as the "technical cameras". Earlier f/4 and f/5.5 models are 5 elements in 4 groups. The 250 mm f/5.6 is a modern multicoated 5-element, 5-group lens. All models have a 35° angle of coverage.

see more here

http://www.schneideroptics.com/info/vintage_lens_data/large_format_lenses/tele-arton/data/5.5-240mm.htm

Also see this thread http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=1594

Dan

[Don Dudenbostel]

I had two 360mm telex Artons and found both to be very sharp with excellent contrast. The one downside was chromatin aberations. I generally shot B&W so it wasn't a big problem but with color at higher magnification fringing could be seen. I used them for roughly thirty five years and finally sold it and purchased a Nikkor T 360/500/720mm set. I'm very pleased with the Nikkor and find it better corrected as well as much smaller and lighter. The tradeoff is f8 for the Nikkor vs 5.5 for the Tele Arton. I see Nikkor T 270mm lenses used at very reasonable prices from time to time.

[Henry Ambrose]

The 240 Tele Arton f5.5 coated is a pretty nice lens with very short bellows draw. Its a bit soft in contrast compared to a current lens which is not a bad thing for portraits. And they don't cost much.

[Chuck Pere]

Here's a link to an older catalog page showing both types:
http://www.cameraeccentric.com/html/info/schneider_4.html

You have to click on the correct page to view.