What lens should
you choose?
NORMAL RESOLUTION VINTAGE LENSES/3 ELEMENT
A) The original
lens, Rodenstock 127 4.7 is an excellent 3 element which people tend to call
tessar type formula because the tessars had 3 elements,It is a great lens
for 3x4 and smaller formats but in its original configuration it is too soft
for 4x5, In any event we hereby reveal for the first time that no Littman
has ever been made with the ysarex in its original configuration.
The Ysarex 127 was a 3x4 lens and while some of our patents were pending we simply learned about the preferences of each customer and modified the lens accordingly so that it could be utilized on 4x5 to our standards, the Ysarex is available for the Littman in 4 options first by enhancing sharpness and maintaining bokeh, then by maintaining sharpness and increasing bokeh , then by mounting it on a copal 0 with custom aperture scale by skg for those who require absolute reliance, and then there is the Ysarex (select) which was the last run of these lenses and which is both sharper contrastier and with coating which if not APO corrected I must say that it is "bloody brilliant" the Ysarex select is extremely rare and will be introduced to the general public in September 04.
There was no such thing as the"Ysarex select"but tests of these last run lenses show that they rival modern ( 3 element lenses) lenses in many respects and can be clearly identified by distinctive engravings that the rest of the runs did not have.
The Ysarex is made of rare earth
lanthanum glass ,coated and excellent in contrast and color not apo corrected
as the Voightlander Apo Lanthar (we aren't lens manufacturers and we do not
insist it is as good as a Voightlander Apo Lanthar) yet very very nice and
at least pointing in that direction. The quality is very good and provides
a lot of fallout as you will see in the gallery shots and in American Photo
article, It is very sharp at focus point and very sharp overall when stopped
down but clearly more forgiving than modern lenses and desirable for those
who like sharp but a little gentleness at the same time.
Much rabble has occurred because some could not understand why the Littman
was such a success with its owners and we could not afford to reveal that
besides the extreme modifications to body/ finder/ and focus mechanisms the
lenses themselves are enhanced, this last aspect of the product will not be
further explained or disclosed as it is personal research and will remain
secret.
All galleries in our site are shot with 3 element lenses except for Leutwyler
and Sehlstedt.
None of the galleries in our site show soft pictures but the tessar types give you more range of depth of field choices and a pastel feel and when you see vignetting that is done on purpose with the L45s tilt.
and Modern lenses are razor sharp ultra resolved all around ,neither is better because in this case the 3 element types are enhanced by us and the 6 element types are the latest edition available.
It is a question of preference yet clearly those who prefer 3 element hate 6 element and vice versa
HIGH RESOLUTION
MODERN LENSES/6 ELEMENT
B) Schneider apo symmar lenses,
nothing to add, the highest end current production lenses on the planet.
My cam design notes indicate
that the new Apo Symmar L is the most uniform lens ever made ( the curves
as per the Schneider website show little difference in the form of coverage
but the rf cam could be considered as a performance curve and the ultimate
lens test)and I found something interesting, there is a constant in the distance
between close medium and far distances in the cams that I have made for the
L that is much better than the old lens which was the most constant before
that , the Apo Sironar S was slightly less constant that the old Apo Symmar
and the least consistent were the old 3 element formulas, in any event the
interesting aspect is that it shows that fabrication has really improved to
a degree never seen before, variances from unit to unit still exist and are
meaningful yet the consistency of the curve shows that the new lens could
be slightly sharper wide open , and more consistently sharper at all distances
than the previous model, it also proves the existence of an ideal scenario
by showing that each element is quasi identical to the next which means that
they can count with each piece of glass doing the intended job as opposed
to the least desirable scenario which would be to make a front or rear element
and then make the other to compensate or match, this was made possible by
the incorporation of the latest computer technology into the lens grinding
and polishing process.
Clearly this isn't only beneficial for those who buy many lenses, its optimum
for those who buy just 1, in the old age lenses were very good when considered
as a unit but inconsistent as individual elements and camera makers had to
inspect hundreds to just " select" a few. The new L could be rated
as " pre-selected".
Last year West Germany
established new environmental laws which affect the production of optical
glass, and while this affected all manufacturers, Schneider also improved
the actual lens design and I would say I prefer them.
So there you go. You know what you prefer, sharp but also a bit dreamy or
the top, of the top, of the top - we offer both and added to the cameras conveniences
and reliability it makes for a pretty good saddle.
Furthermore Schneider lenses have normal contrast and that
is very important in a camera with a single lens. slower exposures can increase
contrast if necessary . we have already installed some Apo Sironar S lenses
for customers and we are happy to do
so at customers request.
New APO-SYMMAR "L-Series"
Lenses
The Apo-Symmar-L
series of lenses replaces the well-proven Apo-Symmar series without the "L".
Schneider-Kreuznach has now completely re-designed this successful, all-purpose
lens to bring it up to the current state-of-the-art of lens design and fabrication.
The covering power has been expanded in nearly all cases and the imaging performance
further optimized. The current focal lengths and the principle technical specifications
are shown in the table below. Used according to the maximum photo format,
the focal lengths between 120 and 480 mm offered by the new "L-Series"
deliver normal perspective pictures without wide angle or telephoto effects.
Calculate the coverage of the lens which best suits your needs:
