Old Schneider Xenar 240mm 4.5 in compound 1 - Covering and sample images

[Luke79]

Greetings,

I am searching for a nice portrait lens in order to use for my next portrait project and therefore would like to know if this lens covers 8x10 ,
and if someone here has made portraits with this lens ( look/bokeh/sharpness)

Best Regards

Luke

[DKirk]

Have a look at this page https://www.schneideroptics.com/info...4,5-420mm.html

Don't have a clue about coverage on the xenar or images but I hope the linked page atleast gives you an idea of coverage - I've just bought a Symmar 240mm from Ebay for £60. But as far as I am aware wide open you will be quite impressed. (Though at this stage I'm using it on 5x4)

Here's a thought have a wee look over on flickr, there could be a few examples over there.

[Mark Sampson]

I would expect that a 240mm Xenar (a Tessar-type lens) would barely cover 8x10 at small stops, e.g. f/22. It will be fairly wide on 8x10 as well. Such a lens wouldn't be my choice but it might work for you.

[Luke79]

Thank you very much for your help, i realized and had forgotten that a nice Portrait distance at 8x10 Starts at arround 360mm , yes its Kind of wide , perhaps more of a Outdoor bodyshots Lens , i will have a Look if i can find some Sample Images

[Michael E]

I would expect that a 240mm Xenar (a Tessar-type lens) would barely cover 8x10 at small stops, e.g. f/22.

From my experience with 4.5 Tessars, I would expect to get very soft corners at infinity, even at small stops. For the Xenar, Schneider claims an image circle of 282mm at f16.

Michael

[Ole Tjugen]

Here's a Xenar example, shot wiide open with lots of swing and a touch of tilt, 300mm f:4.5 Xenar on 5x7" film:

[Paul Ewins]

Schneider sold this as a 5x7 (13 x 18cm) lens. At portrait distances you might get enough extra image circle to cover 8x10, and of course the corners don't usually matter as much in a portrait so vignetting/fuzziness might not be a big issue for you. I would note that the 240 Xenar comes in a Compound IV, not a Compur 1, which is a much larger shutter and has a maximum top speed of 1/75. Again, this may not matter to you.

[Luke79]

Great one Ole!

Thank you for you help so far, i have it mounted on the compound 1 shutter with the 1/75th max shutterspeed , i will try to mount it on the 8x10 and see how much coverage i get in portrait distance, maybe i can use it for 4x5 too

here is a picture of the beauty :-)

[uphereinmytree]

That lens will cover 8x10 with room for movement (small ones) I use one on 8x10 often. The corners won't be very sharp on 8x10 regardless of what stop and I like that. Some may not. Here's a shot on 8x10 infrared film. It's not the best example to show edge coverage or sharpness.