Super Angulon vs. Caltar II-N/Grandagon

[johndc]

I'm currently using a 75mm/5.6 Super Angulon that I'm borring from my school. I

have recently seen a 65mm/4.5 Caltar II-N for sale, which I assume to be a

rebranded Rodenstock Grandagon.

 

I am very much impressed with the sharpness and contrast of the 75mm. I'm

shooting mostly 6x9 and 6x12 with a rollfilm back, and while I like the angle of

the 75mm, I think I'd like something a bit more wide, which is why I'm looking

at the 65mm. Is the Caltar/Grandagon a lens capable of the same detail,

sharpness and contrast as the Super Angulon, or should I just keep looking for a

used Schneider lens?

 

Thanks.

[leicaglow]

From my limited experience with the Caltar's, I would say so, but often 65mm's introduce problems with coverage (vignetting). While the Grandagon "may" not be as sharp as the SA, I think it makes up for it with its natural color rendition.

[justinblack]

I love my 75mm f/5.6 SA... considering the age of the design, the ones with modern

coatings are very, very good. (a center filter is recommended). That said, you will love the

Caltar II-N, which is indeed a Grandagon-N. Rodenstock makes truly excellent lenses. My

90mm f/6.8 Caltar II-N is extremely sharp (better than the Schneider 90mm f/8 SA that I

used to use), and has really lovely and natural color rendition.

 

Among 65mm lenses, there isn't a great deal of variation in quality between Schneider,

Rodenstock, Nikkor, and Fujinon. I've tested my Fuji 65mm against Schneider and Nikkor

65mm lenses, and the results were virtually indistiguishable... all ultra-wides are a pain,

but wonderful! Of course, I don't use my Fuji 65mm much since I added a 58mm XL

Schneider because the difference between 75mm and 65mm wasn't great enough to justify

lenses at both focal lengths.

[big toys are better]

I've never known Grandagons, or for that matter any other Rodenstock lens, to be inferior to an equivilant Schneider. I've even heard some well known experts say they've tested both and the Rodenstocks almost always came out at least as good if not better, especially the Grandagons.

 

Recent Caltars are great lenses, and most are Rodentocks, with a few Nikons, Fujinons and Schneiders mixed in. You won't go wrong picking a Caltar over another brand if the price is right. I do tend to think that the 65mm is rather limited given the differences in coverage between it and a 58mm XL, but if it works for you the 65mm will undoubtably have a better price point and be smaller and lighter as well.

 

One thing to carefully ponder when buying lenses, especially wideangles, it the cost and availability of filters, especially center filters which always are expensive, and their front filter size is also bigger than the lens filter threads. My Grandagons go from 82mm on the lens to 105mm for accessory filters at the front of the center filter, but they do use the same CF. Still, 105mm is a very big filter.

[michael_briggs2]

"Recent Caltars are great lenses, and most are Rodentocks, with a few Nikons, Fujinons and Schneiders mixed in."

 

Large format Caltars have been made by Rodenstock since 1984 under the Caltar II-N and II-E labels. The last time I looked, the Calumet website had the LF Caltars in the Rodenstock section. Before that, the other manufacturers were Ilex, Schneider, Komura and Topcon. The best source of information is the article by Kerry Thalmann in the May/June 2003 issue of View Camera magazine.