'Schneider Kreuznach Componon 1:4.5/240' in the other images on the same listing. S/N in the 7,1xx,xxx range (sometime in 1961?).Originally Posted by Luis-F-S
'Schneider Kreuznach Componon 1:4.5/240' in the other images on the same listing. S/N in the 7,1xx,xxx range (sometime in 1961?).
Pre 1995, before eBay, I accumulated a bunch of lenses off Internet Newsgroups and from Federal Surplus sales. A number of those lenses were never listed as being FS by the manufacturers, nor even mentioned in their printed literature. Prototypes sometimes, but mostly from Government contracts I was led to believe. Many of them seemed to be designed for specific applications, which I had no way of knowing or duplicating. Specifically remember acquiring one very large Zeiss f/1.0 optic for under $100 that I eventually donated to a museum. Its large size and weight made it quite unwieldy to use in the field. One of them I still have and use - A Goerz optic that has the aperture ring above its flange which means that when it is mounted on my Durst enlarger, the aperture ring is not able to be seen or changed. I basically use it between f/8 and f/11 for focusing and enlarging 4x5 negatives. Side by side a 16x20 enlargement made with it and one made with a Componon-S, I can see no difference in the sharpness of the printed images.
As interneg says, images on ebay listing show Schneider Kreuznach Componon 1:4.5/240 with a s/n 7107320 on the bezel. Looks to me like the front and back have glass.
Maybe someone who has Harmut Thiele's books on Schneider could look up this serial number. Maybe Thiele is the source for the assertion that it's a prototype.
We aren't supposed to provide ebay links so I won't.
David
Having been for a dig around a few late '50's Schneider catalogues/ distributors lists, I'm increasingly feeling that it's a prototype Comparon - by 1957-ish the full range of 5.6 Componons was available, but the budget option was still the Componar - this was still the case in 1961, but by 1963, the Comparon range seems to have launched, but with the 150/210/300 all at f5.6. I wonder if the growing standardisation on 8x10 rather than 18x24cm put paid to the 240/4.5 - or it may have been as big as a 300/5.6 would be & still not covered 8x10... Some of the early Componons also seem to have varied in construction - some of them are listed as 5-element, saw one listed as a 4-element (the 105). The 50/2.8 Componon-S was a 5-element lens until the 1990's. To give an idea of scale the 150 Comparon is about the size of a current-ish 40-105mm Rodagon or Componon-S barrel in external dimensions.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Gro%C3%9F-l...53.m1438.l2649
OK. Wonders never cease. It looks like a legit Schneider Componon, even the original box with matching serial numbers. Must be a prototype? Sure looks like a Xenar!
Flikr Photos Here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/18134483@N04/
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”
― Mark Twain
One of three prototypes ("Muster") assembled on 4/4/61 - along with 77.5 f4, 150/4.5, 180/4.5 and 300/4.5 versions as well for good measure.
Thank you Paul!
David
thank you everyone, much info. now if only those Thiele books were available somewhere..
Last edited by Andrea Gazzoni; 24-Aug-2020 at 00:53.
Is there any indication as to the construction in terms of elements/ groups?
No, nothing but the bare bones of focal length and maximum aperture. Occasionally you will find out the shutter size/type for production lenses but the lists are basically when/what/how many/serial range/who for and maybe a note about usage.
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