Hi i'm just getting into large format and came into two 210mm lenses. A Caltar-S II 210 f5.6 and a Caltar HR 210 f6.8. Can anybody tell me the difference between the two? Is one better than the other? Sharper? Wider coverage?
Thank you.
Hi i'm just getting into large format and came into two 210mm lenses. A Caltar-S II 210 f5.6 and a Caltar HR 210 f6.8. Can anybody tell me the difference between the two? Is one better than the other? Sharper? Wider coverage?
Thank you.
I would get the one that's better priced. The f5.6 will have a larger image circle which may or may not make a difference. I really doubt you'll be able to see any difference in sharpness once stopped down.
Caltar lenses were manufactured for Calumet by various manufacturers.
The Caltar-S 210 is going to be a multicoated Schneider Symmar-S (probably not the older convertible Symmar design, where you can take the rear element off for a longer focal length - it would say so on the lens or shutter if it was convertible, and probably wouldn't be a "II" lens, as the II indicates multi-coated and the Symmar's were single coated (vs. the Symmar-S which was multi-coated).
The Caltar HR 210 is likely a Rodenstock Geronar 210 f/6.8 underneath. It is a multi-coated 3-element lens that was a "budget" lens. Not that it's bad, just a lower price point.
Personally I would go with the Symmar-S. A bit bigger, heavier, but a more complex optical design (6-element plasmat) and a wider maximum aperture (brighter ground glass). The Geronar is a good lens, lightweight, but a more simple 3-element triplet design, and not as sharp at wider apertures. At f/16 and smaller apertures, you won't see much difference, but I would still give the performance advantage to the Symmar-S if I had to bet on it - mainly due to the Symmar-S' larger image circle.
There is some testing of the Geronar here, but not the Symmar-S, just the older Symmar convertible design: http://www.hevanet.com/cperez/test/BigMash210.html
The coverage of the Geronar is 240mm at f/22, or 230mm depending on what source you believe. For the Symmar, it's 294mm at f/22.
-Adam
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