Caltar Lens info

[scott russell]

I'm looking at the 4x5 lens charts on this website and found that there is no info on any Caltar lenses. Do they go by a different name, or is there a comparable brand on this list?

[lenser]

Caltars are from Calumet and they should be able to help with info. Many are re-branded
Rodenstocks and are extremely fine performers. Some early Caltars were re-branded Ilex glass and the one that I've got is also a very fine optic. It is the 215mm which is also a convertible. It is quite sharp in all configurations.

[anchored]

Although I often read Caltars are identical in performance to Rodenstocks, I wonder if they are simply Rodenstocks that they have tested and found to be on the low-end of the performance scale during testing, and then pawned off to Calumet as a rebrand.

Reason for this wonderment: I have a Caltar II-N 150mm that came with a used Linhof, and it's a poor performer at infinity focus, while my two "real" Rodenstocks (210mm and 75mm) are extremely sharp at all distances.

I'll personally steer clear of Caltars in the future and stay with Rodenstocks.

[BrianShaw]

My memory is a bit fuzzy on this, but I seem to recall a couple of rather in-depth articles in Veiw Camera magazine on the history/heritage of Caltar lenses -- maybe two or three years ago.

[IanG]

All the later multi coated Caltars of Schneider & Rodenstock manufacture are excellent, they are no different from the equivalent Scneiders or Rodenstocks.

You're best searching online if you come across a specific Caltar to see who made it and what the original model is.

ian

[David Karp]

Although I often read Caltars are identical in performance to Rodenstocks, I wonder if they are simply Rodenstocks that they have tested and found to be on the low-end of the performance scale during testing, and then pawned off to Calumet as a rebrand.

Reason for this wonderment: I have a Caltar II-N 150mm that came with a used Linhof, and it's a poor performer at infinity focus, while my two "real" Rodenstocks (210mm and 75mm) are extremely sharp at all distances.

I'll personally steer clear of Caltars in the future and stay with Rodenstocks.

I think if you poll the forum you will find people who have purchased used examples of all brands that failed to meet their expectations. I have read here that some photographers will purchase several examples of the same focal length from the same manufacturer, and then keep the best sample.

The good thing about this sort of thought process is that it keeps the price of used Caltar lenses down so that those of us who know a Caltar can render images as sharp as any other lens don't have to pay so much for them.

Scott: Kerry Thalmann wrote an article on the history of Caltar lenses for View Camera magazine a few years ago. It is very helpful in determining which Caltars were made by which company. The Caltar II-N lenses are Rodenstock and equivalent to their APO-Sirionar-N and Grandagon-N lines (depending on the focal length in question). Caltar II-E are Rodenstock and equivalent to their Geronar line. Other Caltar lenses were made by Ilex, Schneider, and Komamura. You can order back issues of View Camera, or maybe this one is on one of their CDs.

[Louie Powell]

The most complete discussion of the history of Caltar lenses is the article by Kerry Thallmann that appeared in the May/June 2003 issue of View Camera.

If it's not archived on the View Camera member-only site, it should be. It's a classic reference.

[Brian Vuillemenot]

Although I often read Caltars are identical in performance to Rodenstocks, I wonder if they are simply Rodenstocks that they have tested and found to be on the low-end of the performance scale during testing, and then pawned off to Calumet as a rebrand.

Reason for this wonderment: I have a Caltar II-N 150mm that came with a used Linhof, and it's a poor performer at infinity focus, while my two "real" Rodenstocks (210mm and 75mm) are extremely sharp at all distances.

I'll personally steer clear of Caltars in the future and stay with Rodenstocks.

I can't disagree more with the above statement. I have a Caltar II-N 210 that is probably my sharpest lens. It's definately sharper than my 110 SS XL, and about even or a tad better than my Rodenstock 150 Apo-Sironar-S. The Caltar is also my single best buy on photo equipment- $200 in like new condition on the bay. Had I bought a new 210 Apo-Sironar-S, I would have paid over a grand more for basically the same performance.

[Glenn Thoreson]

I have a couple of 210 IIE lenses. If you look up the test specs on these, they have a resolution of 70 lpm at f/16. The human eye can not even discern that kind of sharpness. That's good enough for me. They're cheap to buy, too. New or used.

[Jan Pedersen]

I agree with Glenn , the Caltar 210 IIE is quite a performer, i paid 185$ for a like new, Illuminates 8x10 at closer distance.
In addition i also have the 305, 375 and 508 Calumet Caltars and are pleased with the performance from all 3