All info on old lenses gone from Schneider site

Gaston 012 · Oct 4, 2019

I had several sites on the Schneider site that showed all relevant info on their old lenses divided by Large Format, Medium,etc.
The pages showed all significant characteristics of the lenses (weight, focusing, image circle, dimensions, etc)
All that info is now gone and they have not answered any of my 3 e mails requesting info.
If you click on any of the old sites you are taken to their new site where there are cero lenses.
Has anyone any help with this?
Thanks a lot
Gaston

Kino · Oct 4, 2019

If you have the links still, you can enter them here and see if the Internet Archive has an archived copy of the site.

https://archive.org/web/

IF they do, please report back here with the link you used. I would like to download that information as well.

Dan Fromm · Oct 4, 2019

Go here: https://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/

There is a sticky "Where to look ..." in the Lenses section. The first post in that sticky has a link to a list of links. The "Schneider problem" is explained there, and a solution that works is presented.

Gaston 012 · Oct 5, 2019

Thank you two very much, it always amazes me how quickly someone answers these queries.
Unfortunately both solutions are no longer viable!
Archive.com is a name for sale and clicking on it takes you to the site where you may buy the address.
The shceneiderkreuznack site takes you to the new Schneider english site with no info on old lenses.
It looks like Schneider does not give a damn about its history or the need for the info on the old lenses. I tried to send them emails but they have a Gorcha that does not allow me to send anything and erases my letter each time I type the thing in.I am in the process of sending a regular snail mail letter to their address but I honestly think the SOB's will not answer.
I am sure the number of photographers that still use these lenses is in the thousands and the info is of paramount importance to those that want to buy a particular lens.
I guess that the accumulated knowledge of guys like you two will be the solution of last resort.
It is also possible that someone out there has copied the info and will post it somewhere like the gentleman that gave us the Fujinon list.

Thanks again for your help and keep on shooting!

AgX · Oct 5, 2019

It is

archive.org

StepheKoontz · Oct 5, 2019

http://web.archive.org/web/20160413...m/info/vintage_lens_data/large_format_lenses/

https://lf.animaux.de/lenses

I saved the second page locally, some great info!

Dan Fromm · Oct 5, 2019

Gaston, thanks for finding and reporting an error in the list. I've corrected it. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Gaston 012 · Oct 6, 2019

Guys you are super amazing!
Stephe did all the work for us, I will be forever thankful.
This will now be on record and, as long as web.archive.org lives, we will continue to have access to the info.
Schneider must have been bought out by some guy that wants to make money and forget about 100 years of tradition.
Again, thanks to all.
Gaston

Bob S · Oct 6, 2019

When Schneider was liquidated a man named Mandermann then bought it and resurrected the divisions he wished to keep and folded it into his other companies, most notably Exacta, he then bought B+W from the trustees of the Bermen and Weber families and folded that in. He then bought Rollei, folded that in and then added Kaesmann from the trustees as well.

Gaston 012 · Oct 6, 2019

I would guess Herr Mandermann is not a photographer of large format variety!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AgX · Oct 6, 2019

Bob S said:
When Schneider was liquidated a man named Mandermann then bought it...

Gaston 012 said:
I would guess Herr Mandermann is not a photographer of large format variety!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You are clueless. Heinrich Mandermann was for decades one of the most important entrepeneurs within german photographic industry.

He died long ago and thus is not involved with the recent cancellation of those data sheets.

Bob S · Oct 6, 2019

AgX said:
You are clueless. Heinrich Mandermann was for decades one of the most important entrepeneurs within german photographic industry.

He died long ago and thus is not involved with the recent cancellation of those data sheets.

He, and his daughter, also owned the Red Lion hotel in Israel.

Gaston 012 · Oct 6, 2019

Well. yes, I am on the 98% of humanity that did not know who the heck Mandermann was, maybe you should have explained better.
Thanks anyway for enlightening me.

AgX · Oct 6, 2019

He is well known to anybody with slight interest in the german photo industry. I do not blame you for not knowing him, but for blaming a person you got not the slightest idea of, though he even got a Wikipedia article.

Importer of Pentacon and Orwo products
Maker of the Exakta 66, on a Praktisix chassis
Owner of Rollei
Owner of B&W
Major shareholder of Schneider
Owner of a part of Orwo
Owner of parts of Pentacon, continuing Praktika production
Involved in various japanese camera etc. imports
etc.

Gaston 012 · Oct 6, 2019

To end it I simply want to say that you made your informative comment after I suggested that as a possibility, that the reason the info was removed was that the new owner might be someone not interested in the history.
Without explaining you mentioned the name of the gentleman as the buyer so, I erroneously but justifiably, assumed he was the one responsible.
No biggy, the problem solved and everyone did good.

Dan Fromm · Oct 6, 2019

Gaston 012 said:
I would guess Herr Mandermann is not a photographer of large format variety!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Schneider stopped making large format lenses some time ago. So did every other major manufacturer. Cooke may make a few LF lenses once in a while, but they've been a minor player for at least half a century.

Schneider's on-line documentation was, IMO, the best of the big four's. We're lucky it was posted, also lucky that many people who found it useful saved it to archive.org. Unfortunately relatively few are aware of archive.org.

I regret that the world isn't arranged for my convenience, am a little surprised that anyone thinks it should be arranged for his/her/its convenience.

I'm appalled that so few are aware of google.com. A Google search for Schneider and Mandermann returned 173,000 hits.

lxdude · Oct 6, 2019

Bob S said:
When Schneider was liquidated a man named Mandermann then bought it and resurrected the divisions he wished to keep and folded it into his other companies, most notably Exacta, he then bought B+W from the trustees of the Bermen and Weber families and folded that in. He then bought Rollei, folded that in and then added Kaesmann from the trustees as well.

Schneider went bankrupt, and Mandermann bought it, but it was not liquidated, obviously.

Bob S · Oct 6, 2019

lxdude said:
Schneider went bankrupt, and Mandermann bought it, but it was not liquidated, obviously.

Mandermann only bought the parts he wanted. For instance, not the parts,of Schneider making projection lenses for 8 and 16mm cameras and eprojectors which, at one time, were major products for the company. But then in came digital.
Isco was another part that he didn’t buy.

AgX · Oct 7, 2019

Bob S said:
Mandermann only bought the parts he wanted. For instance, not the parts,of Schneider making projection lenses for 8 and 16mm cameras and eprojectors which, at one time, were major products for the company.

Not quite right.
That plant of Schneider after the insolvency became a management buy-out. (It went into insolvency again 21 years later, but found a new owner.)

However Mandermann at the main plant after 3 years started a series of cine projection lenses.
And they still offer cine lenses, both for taking and projecting

Nodda Duma · Oct 7, 2019

Mandermann obviously knew what he was doing, as Schneider is a thriving, relevant company in the optics industry today.

AgX · Oct 7, 2019

But has it not become harder for the old, big firms?
With computational means much more accessible and production technologies now making it possible to shape any lens just from a data file with standard tools, quite some small scale firms are emerging competing with the big ones for small batch orders.

Nodda Duma · Oct 7, 2019

Not really. Remember, consumer photography is just a small slice of optics applications. Companies operating in that market had a difficult time if they hadn’t diversified but most did fine since the world always needs new optics.

Computational imaging which can simplify lenses cannot yet (20+ years out) be done real-time. Even then, the applications are limited. For general purpose industrial use lenses for companies without their own optical designers are still important cost- and schedule-wise.

AgX · Oct 8, 2019

Nodda, I was not thinking on consumer photographic lenses, not even of photographic lenses at all. But at the optical industry at all. Seeing a lot of small designing and partial- or full-manufacturing optical firms arising over the last years, taking advantage of new manufacturing technologies.

Nodda Duma · Oct 8, 2019

I can only speak from my own current and deep familiarity with the people and companies (small and large) in the optical industry. YMMV

All info on old lenses gone from Schneider site

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