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Thread: Schneider Symmar XL 150mm f5.6 VS Nikor SW 150 f8

  1. #11

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    Re: Schneider Symmar XL 150mm f5.6 VS Nikor SW 150 f8

    Quote Originally Posted by Balazs Szabo View Post
    I'd love to get my hands on either one of these.
    does the nikkor not need centre filter?
    The Nikkor requires a center filter, as do all lenses that cover 106 degrees. On 8x10, unshifted, with a 150 mm lens the corners will be 2 stops down from the center. They'll be farther down if the lens is moved off center.

    Nikon didn't make center filters. Schneider's CF IVa will do, so will Heliopan's 95mm ND Center Filter 3X. For more information see http://www.galerie-photo.com/center-...at-lenses.html

  2. #12

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    Re: Schneider Symmar XL 150mm f5.6 VS Nikor SW 150 f8

    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Fromm; Nikon didn't make center filters. Schneider's CF IVa will do, so will Heliopan's 95mm ND Center Filter 3X. For more information see [url
    http://www.galerie-photo.com/center-filters-for-large-format-lenses.html[/url]
    Most 95mm filters (even Nikon brand) will contact the front element of the 150mm Nikkor SW and mar the coating. The only filter series I have found that are safe are the now discontinued B+W Series E. A step-up ring to 105mm is probably the best move. Lots of inexpensive filters are available in that size.

  3. #13

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    Re: Schneider Symmar XL 150mm f5.6 VS Nikor SW 150 f8

    Quote Originally Posted by Neal Chaves View Post
    Most 95mm filters (even Nikon brand) will contact the front element of the 150mm Nikkor SW and mar the coating. The only filter series I have found that are safe are the now discontinued B+W Series E. A step-up ring to 105mm is probably the best move. Lots of inexpensive filters are available in that size.
    Good point, Neal, but are there inexpensive 105 mm center filters?

  4. #14

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    Re: Schneider Symmar XL 150mm f5.6 VS Nikor SW 150 f8

    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Fromm View Post
    The Nikkor requires a center filter, as do all lenses that cover 106 degrees. On 8x10, unshifted, with a 150 mm lens the corners will be 2 stops down from the center. They'll be farther down if the lens is moved off center.

    [/url]
    If one needs a center filter is a very personal thing in my opinion. I use my 120mm SW f8 Nikkor on my 8x10 without a center filter. It's a matter of personal taste my 2 cts.

  5. #15
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Schneider Symmar XL 150mm f5.6 VS Nikor SW 150 f8

    They ideally need center filters. Just depends on how you feel about falloff and if your film has enough latitude left to correct for it when printing, if needed. Color transparency film would be a different story. Nikon does not make their own CF's, so you'd have to use one made by someone else.

  6. #16

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    Re: Schneider Symmar XL 150mm f5.6 VS Nikor SW 150 f8

    Like the answers above mentioned already,
    Ben Horn answers your question in the page below.
    https://www.benhorne.com/cameras-and-lenses
    I have SSXL 150, but not nikkor sw 150.
    Just for a different point of view apart from 8x10, I love the look of the pictures taken with SSXL wide open at f5.6 in 4x5 and even 5x7.
    You can’t do the same thing with the slower nikkor f8.

  7. #17
    Land-Scapegrace Heroique's Avatar
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    Re: Schneider Symmar XL 150mm f5.6 VS Nikor SW 150 f8

    Quote Originally Posted by mhayashi View Post
    …Like the answers above mentioned already, Ben Horn answers your question…
    Thanks for the nice link, mhayashi. It’s a long “Lenses in my kit” article, so here’s the relevant section for anyone short on time:

    “When I researched wide angle lenses for 8x10,” Ben Horne says, “there were two lenses that caught my attention, The Nikkor-SW 150mm f/8, and the Schneider Super-Symmar XL 150 f/5.6. …I decided to go with the Nikkor because it does not require the use of a center filter. Both lenses will show a soft vignette even when stopped down, but it is very minor and correctable on the Nikkor — even when shooting with slide film. The Schneider will require an expensive center filter that eats up the difference in light gathering ability. You can't go wrong either way, but I prefer not having to use a center filter…”

    I’d enjoy hearing more about your SSXL 150mm images taken at f/5.6 on 4x5 or 5x7 – the imagery you say the Nikkor f/8 can’t do. Better, if you have a scanner, seeing the images would be great.

  8. #18
    Unwitting Thread Killer Ari's Avatar
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    Re: Schneider Symmar XL 150mm f5.6 VS Nikor SW 150 f8

    I use the 150XL on 8x10 and never use the centre filter.
    I like the fall-off, and even emphasize it in many of the photos I take with the lens.


  9. #19

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    Re: Schneider Symmar XL 150mm f5.6 VS Nikor SW 150 f8

    Having owned and used the 150mm f8 SW Nikkor & 155mm f6.8 Rodenstock Grandagon in the past (late 80's to 90's) petered the 8x10 images from the Grandagon. Yet both could benefit from a center filter if color transparency film is involved.

    Previous post regarding light fall off on color transparency film with the 155mm Grandagon. Scroll down to post# 40.
    https://www.largeformatphotography.i...00mm+grandagon

    Both these lenses are not small.

    The 155mm Grandagon got replaced with a 150mm SSXL for 5x7 _ 13x18cm. This essentially cured the light fall off issue mostly good and done.
    Regardless, the 150mm SSXL is GOOD and like all tools like this each has it's trade-offs of bad and good.

    The other lens in this set would be the 165mm f8 Super Angulon, it is also not small and similar to the 150mm f8 SW nikkor, 155mm f6.8 Grandagon.

    As a category, these are the "modern" wide angle choices for 8x10.


    Bernice




    Quote Originally Posted by Heroique View Post
    Thanks for the nice link, mhayashi. It’s a long “Lenses in my kit” article, so here’s the relevant section for anyone short on time:

    “When I researched wide angle lenses for 8x10,” Ben Horne says, “there were two lenses that caught my attention, The Nikkor-SW 150mm f/8, and the Schneider Super-Symmar XL 150 f/5.6. …I decided to go with the Nikkor because it does not require the use of a center filter. Both lenses will show a soft vignette even when stopped down, but it is very minor and correctable on the Nikkor — even when shooting with slide film. The Schneider will require an expensive center filter that eats up the difference in light gathering ability. You can't go wrong either way, but I prefer not having to use a center filter…”

    I’d enjoy hearing more about your SSXL 150mm images taken at f/5.6 on 4x5 or 5x7 – the imagery you say the Nikkor f/8 can’t do. Better, if you have a scanner, seeing the images would be great.

  10. #20

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    Re: Schneider Symmar XL 150mm f5.6 VS Nikor SW 150 f8

    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Fromm View Post
    Good point, Neal, but are there inexpensive 105 mm center filters?
    I recently sold my Nikkor to another member, but what did with filters (never felt the need for a center filter) was to add them over the Series E B+W. I never saw any vignetting, but I didn't employ much lens displacement. I like the combination of a yellow or red with a polarizer. I had a B+W Series E polarlizer witch I would mount directly to the lens and then use a Hoya or some other brand of yellow or red on the outside. Seemed to work well. Maybe this could be done with a center filter that would otherwise damage the front element.

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