120mm Schneider/Linhof Angulon

[Eric Rose]

I am thinking of picking one of these lenses up. Anyone here have any experience with them?

 

[df cardwell]

Great lens. It's a dagor... a 'reversed dagor', so it is usable as a 'double convertible lens', a 120 and a 210-ish. Image circle, about 8 inches at f22. Sweet, creamy tonality, a classic but not cruel and commercial image.

I shot a 120 like yours for a decade and a bit, and it got disappeared. I replaced it with an uncoated version, and have shot with it cheerfully for 20 years.

Not soft, not harsh. Lots of detail if you want it. Lovely. Tiny.

.

 

[Alan Davenport]

I am thinking of picking one of these lenses up. Anyone here have any experience with them?

I have an uncoated 165mm Angulon from 1937 mounted in a dial-set Compur shutter. I use this lens on a 5x7 and it has a smoothness of tone that can only be found on the older designs. And it is very sharp! I have used extremes of front rise and fall and it covers very well with negligable falloff. It is a wonderful little lens. I believe it covers more than 90 deg at f/40.

And BTW, if the lens you are considering is uncoated, don't let this dissuade you. I haven't noticed any difference between mine and the post-WWII B&L Protar VII which has a single coating. They both have the same number of air-to-glass surfaces(4). The surfaces of both of these lenses are pristine, which probably helps anyway.

Alan

 

[jimgalli]

I've had both late coated and pre-WWII uncoated. I prefer the earlier one. Perhaps I had over-expectations of the 1960's version? I've had 2 of the later ones and they both dis-appointed me. Totally seat-of-the-pants FWIW.

 

[Ole]

I have had a (coaed, post-WWII) 120 Angulon which I sold simply because I couldn't bet it off the lensboard for the camera I sold. It's now replaced by a Leitmeyr Weitwinkel-Anastigmat 121mm f:6.8, which to me looks identical.

So now I have a 90mm (uncoated), 165mm (late, coated) and a 210mm (uncoated).

One strange thing is that the coverage of the earlier uncoated versions is greater - the 90mm stretches to 5x7" in a pinch, and the 210mm covers 30x40cm (12x16")! The later version may be slightly sharper, but none can be considered unsharp.

BTW, the Angulons are covered in my "Bottom-feeder's Guide to German LF Lenses" in the Articles - with the focal lengths for conversion

 

[Alan Davenport]

BTW, the Angulons are covered in my "Bottom-feeder's Guide to German LF Lenses" in the Articles - with the focal lengths for conversion

"Angulons do not have the greatest reputation for sharpness, but the 165mm is definitely a very sharp lens." Ole.

I read somewhere that the per-1930 Schneiders were not so good. But by the late 1930s they were purported to be first rate. I have not been disappointed in mine.

Alan

 

[Seele]

I have a Linhof-selected one in an appropriately marked Press-Compur. Imaging quality is fully satisfactory on 4"X5" with movements.

However I have never been having a lot of luck with rim-set Compurs, they are inherently more prone to the ingress of dust compared to the old dial-set ones. All my rim-sets need more frequent servicing but my dial-sets tend to go on and on.