Comparing "Golden Busch 610mmf12 W.F." and "Schneider XXL FineArt 550mmf11"

[lynux]

I currently have a "Golden Busch 610mmf12 W.F." lens, and I was wondering how it would compare to the new Schneider lenses. Are there any owners of the Schneider lens on the forum? I have not tested yet the Golden Busch lens, but Doug Busch claims it to cover 20x24" at infinity; I have neither a technical datasheet nor a lens cross section diagram.

 

[JG Motamedi]

For what it is worth, both lenses, as I recall, are the same Dagor-type 6/2 design.

 

[Oren Grad]

Michael Mutmansky has tested the 550XXL and reported on it in View Camera magazine.

 

[lynux]

Thanks for the information that both lenses should be of same type (Dagor 6/2), that helps quite a lot. The GoldenBusch must be very rare, despite quite a lot of research, even contacting Doug Busch, I was not able to get hold of a technical datasheet or a cross section diagram. The intended use is for a 20x24" under construction.
I will also try to locate a copy of the ViewCamera article.

Is nobody selling a used Fine Art XXL 550mm?

 

[Michael Mutmansky]

lynux,

They do show up very occasionally.

If you can't wait for a used one, Jim at Midwest normally has one 'in stock'!?!

The modern manufacturing techniques (grinding, and centerring) and the modern coatings make this lens a winner. Haven't used the GB lens, though, so I can't compare them directly.

For contact prints, either one is likely to exceed your requirements for sharpness. If you need lots of movement, the longer one will probably have a slightly larger IC.

All things created equal, I'd probably get the Schneider to support a modern lens maker. (I do think they produced a winner of a lens in the 550XXL, so their support is warranted).


---Michael

 

[MarkS]

Somewhere, perhaps in "View Camera" or "LensWork", is an interview with Doug Busch where he talks about his cameras and lenses. As I remember...both were very limited in production because his financial backer err, backed out. The lenses were designed by Rodenstock and assembled by Melles Griot in Rochester, and total production was in the dozens. This was in the early 1980's. But you should look up the article or contact Douglas Busch himself to get the correct story.

 

[cp goerz]

The 612mm isn't a dagor type it has a far larger and asymmetrical front cell, performance at the negative end though is very similar to a dagor. Wide open the lens is pretty soft but slight stopping down really brings it into focus. I was given a copy of the tech drawings but they are too big to scan in.