Schneider Xenar 1:4.5/180

[Leo_P]

I have this lens (see title) which is in what appears to be a Compur 2 shutter - black, two disk controls - larger is shutter speed, smaller selects T, B and normal. The serial number of the lens is in the 3 millions, which dates it at around 1952.

Beyond that, I have been able to find very little about it. I bought it on a view camera from eBay several years ago. I got caught out by my wife and sold the camera, minus lens, at a local photo swap meet for more than I paid for the whole lot. No big loss as I had bought it as a 5x4, but it turned out to be a homemade something smaller. Not what I wanted.

Now I want to build or buy a camera to put it on. Does anybody know what sort of coverage it has? Will it go as far as 10x8? Is it any good? The threads on the shutter, BTW, are about 46mm front and 49mm back.

[mhcfires]

I have this lens (see title) which is in what appears to be a Compur 2 shutter - black, two disk controls - larger is shutter speed, smaller selects T, B and normal. The serial number of the lens is in the 3 millions, which dates it at around 1952.

Beyond that, I have been able to find very little about it. I bought it on a view camera from eBay several years ago. I got caught out by my wife and sold the camera, minus lens, at a local photo swap meet for more than I paid for the whole lot. No big loss as I had bought it as a 5x4, but it turned out to be a homemade something smaller. Not what I wanted.

Now I want to build or buy a camera to put it on. Does anybody know what sort of coverage it has? Will it go as far as 10x8? Is it any good? The threads on the shutter, BTW, are about 46mm front and 49mm back.

Busted by the wife, huh? Women are funny that way, you need to get her interested in your addiction, they she will wholeheartedly endorse your endeavors.

[Leo_P]

She's given up on me now. I've just returned from our house in Spain with a suitcase full of Canon cameras and lenses (some of them very nice) and I sit surrounded by cameras in various states of disrepair - an Ikoflex II/III being the hardest to move along at the moment.

[paul ewins]

A Xenar is Schneider's version of a Tessar which is one of the more popular lens designs since it is both sharp and fast (f4.5). It won't cover 8x10 but should be fine on 4x5 with modest movements. The compur 2 shutter was discontinued in the sixties and will be difficult to replace so treat it with respect. If it is currently working then any of the LF shutter specialists should be able to service it as required and keep it running for another fifty years.

[ntenny]

I'm finding stuff that says the Xenar covers about a 62-degree angle, which in a 180mm would mean an image circle of diameter about 216mm or 8.5 inches. Should be fine for 4x5, but on 5x7 it would be marginal even with no movements at all. All this assuming that the 62-degree number is right.

-NT

[mhcfires]

She's given up on me now. I've just returned from our house in Spain with a suitcase full of Canon cameras and lenses (some of them very nice) and I sit surrounded by cameras in various states of disrepair - an Ikoflex II/III being the hardest to move along at the moment.

I'm a bit of a pack rat, I hate to buy too much because it will end up in my stash, and I have way too much already. If I can't use it, I really don't want it, I don't need any more "dustables". Wife died some years ago, she was somewhat supportive of my habit, but with no supervision, I could really get in trouble if it weren't for a limited income.