Originally Posted by
Oren Grad
The reason I own the 240 Apo-Sironar-S rather than -N is because the extra coverage was enough to make a real difference in the usability of that focal length on 8x10, at least for general outdoor snapshooting. At least by specification, the Apo-Symmar is comparable to the -N in that respect.
If you need the absolute sharpest lens you can find, I'm not sure there's any alternative but to keep buying and testing lenses until you're satisfied. That said, I've used Apo-Symmars in the 135 and 360 focal lengths, and if you don't need the larger coverage the 240 Apo-Symmar should be a very fine lens. And if it's clean, $600 strikes me as a reasonable price. You won't find a clean 240 Apo-Sironar-S for anywhere near that.
Another thought: you mention "field portrature", which suggests you might end up with OOF stuff in your pictures. The Apo-Sironar-N/S and the Apo-Symmar render OOF differently. Depending on how much you care about that, that difference may be more visible, and more important, than a difference in sharpness.
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