xenotar=planar???

[Shtativ]

Hallo!
I need 135-150mm lense for wide-open portreit. Planar is good for wide-open, but very hard to find. Schemes Planar and Xenotar are very similar. And can Xenotar correctly raplase Planar?

Kind regads, -= Shtativ

[David A. Goldfarb]

They're both good lenses, very similar in design. I have a 135/3.5 Planar for 4x5" and a 105/2.8 Xenotar for 6x9. I like the Planar a bit better, but the Xenotar is excellent as well.

[Christopher Perez]

Are you looking for sharp corner to corner performance? Then yes, either a Planar or Xenotar will work nicely. In 120 work (ie: Rolleiflex TLR) I can't tell the difference in performance between then.

Or, as is sometimes the case with portraiture, if you would like the corners to go slightly soft with a brilliantly sharp center, try one of Kodak's tessar formula optics, a Commercial Ektar. 127mm or 152mm could work nicely.

[Shtativ]

Thanks for answers!
I need it for 6x9.
What about bokeh? - I saw figure of a Planar 100 at wide-open -it was similar to any water color or figure a brush, as in pictures of painters! With a Xenotar will be too most?

[Dan Fromm]

Um, Shtativ, not to be a wet blanket or anything, but have you priced 135/3.5 Planars and 150/2.8 Xenotars? They're certainly not for poor folks like me.

Which camera do you use for 6x9?

Good luck, have fun,

[Shtativ]

Graflex Century Graphic...

I too not from rich, Dan -2 month ago I`m shot at Zeiss-Ikon (1930) But me has a little carried- my friend promised to bring any old Xenar under very cheap price from Siberia. It has told, that many get rid of such lenses because they consider their old and useless. Whether therefore I interested -will it be good replacement of lovely Planar? (Planar from Graflex XL will cost nearly $200US) - 2 month works and many-many happy! ))

[Dan Fromm]

Shtatif, thanks for the reply.

Don't give up your Planar, $200 was a very good price and it will be hard to get another so cheaply. If you can try out the Xenar (135? 150? Not known yet?) before you have to pay for it, do. I've got nice results with my Century using a 158/6.3 B&L Tessar. Yes, I have a Century Graphic too.

Cheers,

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

Both are good lenses, and--unless you have a very early Planar which had six elements instead of five--the design and performance will be quite similar. Rumor is that the Planar is slightly sharper than Xenotar wide open.

[Emil Ems]

Shtativ,

Please take care to realise that the Schneider Xenotar and the Schneider Xenar are two very different lenses. The Xenar is MUCH cheaper and is of the traditional Tessar design (thus comparable to Zeiss Tessar). The Xenotar is the one which is similar to the Zeiss Planar. Both the Xenotar and the Planar are rather expensive at 135 mm size and exorbitantly expensive at 150 mm size. Furthermore both are very rare in 150 mm size. I am the happy owner of a 150 Xenotar. Wide open the diaphragm does some vignetting of the 4x5 negative (although you would not see it on the groundglass), you would have to close down two stops to avoid this fully.

I hope this helps

[Shtativ]

I`m sorry- I meant Xenotar in my 3rd post, of course

Thanks for replying! Is there whether Planar which is more the than 135mm?