[LargeFormat] Re: LargeFormat lenses

[Clive Warren]

At 18:20 13/01/01 -0500, TigerShark wrote:
>Are you surprised about that?  Modern lenses are designed and manufactured
>with current high tech methods.  Super multicoating as we have today was not
>avaiblable in early 60s.  Linhof used to handpick the Schneider line for the
>best of the crop.  My Schneider Apo Symmars of the 90s are way contrastier
>than anythng I used before.  Check those older lenses also for internal
>fogging of elements ... if it doesnt look clear it isn't.
>
>TigerShark

You're right about haze being an issue. Sometimes the only way to see the 
haze is to shine a bright light through the lens and inspect the inner 
elements.  Might frighten you if you haven't done this before. Enlarging 
lenses seem to be particularly vulnerable to internal haze - probably 
because of the environment in which they are used.....

My bet is that it would be very hard to tell the difference between a 
single coated lens and a multicoated lens when used for 4x5 and larger 
fomats.  I read recently that the design of the APO and earlier MC 
Schneider lenses was the same and that use of the term APO was a marketing 
strategy :-)  Maybe the author was someone who wants the price of APO 
lenses to fall or it may be true. If I had APO and MC versions of the same 
Schneider lenses then I would of course be rushing out to test this - I bet 
not many people have both so we may never know the truth.

Anyway, the variability in performance between models of the same lens 
resulting from variability in the  manufacturing process would probably 
make it impossible to test the APO/MC theory.


All the best,
                 Clive   http://www.f32.net
                         Large Format Travel and Stock Photography