martin_casper Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 I don't want to start another debate about the technical merits of Schneider vs. Rodenstock lenses because my skills don�t push modern lenses to their limits. Rather, I�m looking for *opinions* on who has the �coolest� lens line. Of course each brand has its stars, like the awesome Super Symmar 110 XL, but which brand is the coolest overall�the unfiltered Gaulois of large-format optics? Which one would James Dean have used? I�m excluding Japanese lenses because I have already concluded that, like Japanese motorcycles, they are uncool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
per_volquartz1 Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 Lenses are not cool. Instead, they really are quite stupid, just letting light in through one end and light out the other... However, there are some cool photographers out there.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donald_brewster Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 Oy vey. This gets my vote for the all time troll posting -- "the unfiltered Gaulois of large-format optics?" Well, that would have to be Goerz (which ended up being purchased by Schneider). I don't think you could go wrong with any of the 4 big lens makers for "coolness". Fortunately, none of the LF lens producers have become "Zeissed" or "Leicad". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brooks short Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 Schneider lenses are waaaay cool ! Especially when they are wearing a those little black B&H filter. #8^) But if you're looking for a telephoto design, Nikon lenses are the coolest Fuji telephotos are medium cool ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_t Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 I've got an old Schneider which makes things look like they were shot in late afternoon or early morning, so I guess that's a 'warm' or maybe 'seriously uncool' lens (I think it's radiation browning. Works great for BW though). So don't get one of those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walter_glover Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 Martin, It's winter here in Sydney - nothing harsh, just chilly. I did a dawn shot at 7:00am of a house on the harbour. In my Pelican case are 13 Schneiders, 2 Rodenstocks and a Nikkor. When I opened the case none of them were cool and displayed the fact by misting up for anything up to 5 minutes. By the time I'd set the camera on the tripod and checked colour temperature and light levels the misting had simultaneously cleared on all the optics - a sure sign that they were all equally cool. But my breath! Every time I exhaled clouds of vapour streamed from my facial orifices (orifii?) - where had I left my unfiltered Gauloise? Damn, maybe I'd sallowed it. (Actually I don't smoke - the vapour must have been my pent up passion for my cool lenses finding release.) Just to safeguard the kids - Smoking is injurious to your healt. No fages are cool. WG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_feldman Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 Oy Vey again. "Cool" is my circa 1955(?) Crown Graphic Special with a 203mm f7.7 Kodak Ektar. F8 and be there is also "cool". A sticky shutter on any lens is "un-cool". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_frank Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 I have 2 schneiders, a 150/5.6 and a 47/5.6. I'd say they're "dope" or maybe "hella cool." But I also have a rodenstock 90/6.8 that is much bigger than the others, so I guess that one is "phat." what a toss up. why don't you worry about more important things in life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramy_sadek Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 Fortunately, none of the LF lens producers have become "Zeissed" or "Leicad". What does Zeissed and Leicad mean? Are you saying those puppies are no good? Or that they are over-priced, or what? -Ramy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean_mcentee2 Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 I have a Busch Vademecum "Casket Set" (convertible lens) Seven focal lengths 150-750mm in 100mm increments that allow 29 (or something bizarre and unneccesary like that) combinations. LET ME TELL YOU, *this* lens is SO COOL, so cool you could keep a side of beef in it for a month! This lens is so cool that when I take it out of my camera case, the furnace kicks on! No, let me tell you, this lens is so cool that the state of Alaska has asked to borrow it to shore up their perma frost. This lens laughs at all others. (but it doesn't have a shutter) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_schneider Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 I think that there is absolutely no doubt that the Schneider lenses are the coolest. Dave Schneider Now if you ignore the family affiliation I'm not sure what is cool. Cool sometimes refers to rare or out of the ordinary. I'm guessing there are about equal numbers of Rodenstock, Schneider and Nikkor so maybe the Fuji is the cool one. Sometimes cool is what the popular people are using, about the same split there I would guess. The fact that none of the modern lenses have been Leica'd or Zeiss'd I assume means that none of achieved legend status that far outweighs any measurable and quantifiable criteria. The closest to cool in this regard are probably the Goerz lenses. You're right, this is a sillier topic than we usually undertake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marv Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 Ok folks, you all want to know why us regulars are staying away.........? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pvp Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 Nobody gives a darn about your lens when you're shooting LF. Large format <EM>cameras</EM> are cool. You don't need a lens. Try putting a pinhole on your 4x5 sometime... You'll draw the same stares, questions and wierd comments as with glass hanging out the front... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daniel_ingram1 Posted June 20, 2002 Share Posted June 20, 2002 I wonder which kind of lens Fonzie uses? Aaaaaaayyy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrian_tyler Posted June 20, 2002 Share Posted June 20, 2002 My Leica 90 mm is so cool that is doesn't wear any underpants. All the Schnieders are really jelous, because the Leica gets all the girls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
photojoe Posted June 20, 2002 Share Posted June 20, 2002 Well, Mr. Dean wouldn't hang out with a Schneider... Schneider sounds like the name of some "white trash" bar-fly we all knew at some point or another. Mr. Rodenstock on the otherhand sounds like a stuffed shirt. Do would Dean hang out with eithe rof these guys? I guess not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ole_tjugen Posted June 20, 2002 Share Posted June 20, 2002 Don't know which is coolest, but old Voightländer APO-Lanthars are hot! And even give a slightly warm image due to yellowing from internal radiation... The same goes, to a lesser extent, for (equally old) Carl Zeiss Planar lenses (e.g. 135m/f3,5). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim_hicks Posted June 20, 2002 Share Posted June 20, 2002 I dont know about cool but my Kodak Aero Ektars are hot because they used radioactive glass for some elements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jose_angel Posted June 20, 2002 Share Posted June 20, 2002 Cool? In my surroundings cool are the lenses completely made in Germany (not "lens made in Germany" -and the rest, where are made the rest...?) Some lenses have painted (not engraved) numbers on its barrels... I wonder if it is cool!! (You can ask this to yourself after you received a 1500EUR lens, with a really cheap aspect, also if the lens cap is so loose... Here the Rodenstocks are the winners... I agree about japanese motorcicles are uncool, but everybody wanted my GSXR750R... why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugene_singer Posted June 20, 2002 Share Posted June 20, 2002 Wasn't Schneider the apartment maintainance man on the TV show, "One Day At a Time", several years ago? He was cool! I must be un-cool. I really like Fuji lenses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason_greenberg_motamedi Posted June 20, 2002 Share Posted June 20, 2002 No doubts, Goerz is the hippest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sal_santamaura Posted June 20, 2002 Share Posted June 20, 2002 What Marv Thompson said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_owen Posted June 20, 2002 Share Posted June 20, 2002 Martin, without a doubt the coolest lens I have seen was a Schneider 150mm that had its front barrel a cooooool gold finish!! I believe Robert White may still have it for sale? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emile_de_leon9 Posted June 20, 2002 Share Posted June 20, 2002 My 135 f3.5 and 210 f3.5 are my fastest LF lenses and so, so, cool man....a real groove....but not as cool as my f1.0 Noctilux which is the baddest, bad ass lens ever made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donald_brewster Posted June 20, 2002 Share Posted June 20, 2002 Remy -- what Dave said. Certainly not dissing Zeiss or Leica product -- just the sometimes overwrought cult following (and I do happily own and use products made by both). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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