Question to Thierry or other who might know sometning

[Rune Werner Molnes]

Hi Thierry,

I believe that Sinar lost a good ambassador when you left the company, and I wish you good luck on whatever you have plans for pursuing in the future.

With the backdrop of the finacial crisis and F&H in troubles, do you believe that the long avaited Schneider AFD 35mm PQS will ever be produced?

I currently own a AFi7 w/ 40mm, 80mm and 180mm lenses.

I am not quite happy with the performance of the 40mm f/3.5 Super Angulon HFT lens as it is a bit soft in the corners even when focusing at infinity and stopping down to f/11. This despite me using it with a less-than full frame sensor.

I had plans for selling my 40mm lens if or when the 35mm became available, given that the 35mm lens would out- resolve the 40mm and perform well across the entire frame.

I would appreciate yours or anyone elses input in this matter.

(By the way, the 80mm and 180mm are tack sharp across the frame. I am very happy with the performance of these lenses, but would appreciate a better WA lens for much of my landscape photography).

Best Regards,

Rune Werner Molnes
www.runemolnes.com

[Graham Mitchell]

Your sensor might be larger than mine, but I've found the 40mm to be sharp across the frame. Have you tried more than one sample? Just curious.

[ThierryH]

hi Rune,

Thanks for your words.

I have not heard about the AFD 35mm Flektogon for a while, and the latest information I had was that it is still in the plan, however without ETA.

Concerning the 3.5/40mm SA, I have to say the same as Graham: I have not noticed such loss of sharpness in the corners, with a 33 MPx sensor. It seemed to me to be quite a nice lens.

Best regards,
Thierry

Hi Thierry,

With the backdrop of the finacial crisis and F&H in troubles, do you believe that the long avaited Schneider AFD 35mm PQS will ever be produced?

I would appreciate yours or anyone elses input in this matter.

Rune Werner Molnes

[Gigi]

if not, you might consider the 30 mm fisheye. Eric Hiss has had very good luck with software and getting rid of the fish-eye.

[EricWHiss]

if not, you might consider the 30 mm fisheye. Eric Hiss has had very good luck with software and getting rid of the fish-eye.

Geoff,
Thanks for reminding me that I had planned to refine the calibration numbers for the lens fix  - just haven't had time to do it yet.   Also I do still have my  2nd fisheye lens for sale in case anyone is interested.

Regarding the 40mm f/3.5      I'm really impressed with this lens - hard to believe its soft anywhere (but like Graham, I don't have a sensor that goes out to the edges and can't say for sure).  Rune have you tried a shot with focus not at infinity but just before?  I mean in my photo calc software it looks like if you set the focal distance to something like 25 meters you'll get DOF from 3 meters to infinity at f/11.    


Eric

[bradleygibson]

Good to hear on the 35mm--that will be an impressive optic on 6x6!

My experience with the S-A 40 echoes Eric's, Graham's and Thierry's.  I had no complaints with it at the corners of my 48x36mm frame (e75LV).  I had some issues with the AFD 50 I test drove, even stopped down, but the 40 did very nicely.

Any chance you can get a hold of another copy of the lens and/or camera to see where the problem may be?  (Lens, mount registration, other?)

Best regards,
-Brad

[EricWHiss]

Not a 40mm but I had a 180mm f/2.8 that I bought used that had been cleaned and adjusted by a non-rollei service shop.  The lens had been improperly adjusted and could focus way past infinity.    I sent it in to Rollei Hensel service in NJ and their Technician fixed it, but gave me a razing.  He said, "can't you see when you have focused on infinity"!  And he was right of course, but I had not assumed it could go past.   I had just been setting it there for shots and hadn't really looked.   Anyhow that's why I suggested you try focusing not all the way out.    

To speak to the variation in samples....  It's well known about Canon lenses and some other brands - Sigma, etc.  having significant variation from copy to copy.     I don't think this is the case with the Rollei/schneider lenses coming from the factory - however when you consider how old a lot of the used lenses are... the likelyhood of them being serviced goes up.   I think once they are opened up the chances of the elements not being perfectly centered on their optical axis, etc is pretty high and I think that probably accounts for the variations one might see.  Just a thought....

[Rune Werner Molnes]

Hi,

I just got off the phone with a Leaf representative, they will try to help me with the 40mm, at least give me the opportunity to test it up against another lens sample.

Kudos to Leaf for good customer service in this matter  

According to the same Leaf rep. the new 35mm is currently scheduled for the end of 2009.


Best Regards,

Rune Werener Molnes
www.runemolnes.com

[JerryReed]

I am awaiting the arrival of the Schneider 50 AFD, and your experience makes me a bit uncomfortable.  Can you describe what it was that you saw that yu found disappointing please?

Jerry Reed

Good to hear on the 35mm--that will be an impressive optic on 6x6!

My experience with the S-A 40 echoes Eric's, Graham's and Thierry's.  I had no complaints with it at the corners of my 48x36mm frame (e75LV).  I had some issues with the AFD 50 I test drove, even stopped down, but the 40 did very nicely.

Any chance you can get a hold of another copy of the lens and/or camera to see where the problem may be?  (Lens, mount registration, other?)

Best regards,
-Brad

[Graham Mitchell]

The last I saw from the 35mm design was the full (final) redrawing by a specialized Jenoptik company. Mind you, Schneider was never involved in the 35mm Flektogon. It was done by an optical engineer who went into retirement before the design was finalized. When it turned out his initial design didn't work out as well as it should, Jenoptik stepped in and suggested to do the redesign since they wanted it badly. This design is finished and I know that the glass elements have been ordered, but I forgot to keep track of what happened after that. I would expect that if the Hy6 as a project is to continue (and why not?) this lens has high priority. I'd like to have one for my 6008 too and since it is a full frame 6x6 design it will be rather spectacular. Keeping fingers crossed.

Great news, and thanks as always for the update.

[MediumF]

I am awaiting the arrival of the Schneider 50 AFD, and your experience makes me a bit uncomfortable.  Can you describe what it was that you saw that yu found disappointing please?

Jerry Reed

Hi Jerry,
I've just had the 50 AFD for about 3 months now, and used it under a number of conditions, but no real 'tests' as such.
I found most of my reactions are generally totally subjective anyway; if I feel good with the results, then I follow my instincts, so my comments here
are probably worthless anyway, since I don't have the 40mm to compare to.

I found it a great lens, with only a small comment: under low lighting levels, it gives generally softer results than the 80mm AFD does for instance.
And perhaps the 40mm is just a tiny bit more 'extreme' than the 50mm version side by side?

My choice was based on not wanting to give up the 'D' functionality (the Zeiss 110 is my exception to that!) and it made sense to have a row of possibilities spaced at 110mm, 80mm, 50mm and hopefully 35mm. Also I could not prioritize getting the 40mm, and then the 35 AFD later; seemed real overkill for the 5mm and optical differences- that will likely not be totally radical anyway from the overall fantastic glass they produce!

I think you will be very happy with it. Please tell us what you think about it after it arrives!
Cheers,
Theo