Xenotars vs Planars for color

[mcblue]

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I'm back in my Rolleiflex phase and I have with me a 3.5-E2 Xenotar and a 2.8F Planar. My quick question is: Is it true that the Xenotars have better color saturation than Planars? I'm not really inclined to do an A/B testing so I thought I'd get some feedback from people who've used Rolleiflexes for years.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

[egon_kirincic]

<p>Marvin, I doubt you would see any real color difference at all, the lens types are very similar. I have each (3.5f) and there is a slight difference with color rendition (cast) on slide film, but I think that has more to do with coating differences at the time they were manufactured. I imagine coating techniques were updated from time to time. The cameras are about 6 or 7 years apart in age.</p>

[mcblue]

<p>Ok, thanks Egon.</p>

[scott_murphy_photography]

<p>I don't know if one is better than the other, but I do know the Xenotar on my Rolleiflex does a damn find job for an almost 60 year old camera!</p>

[greg_jones1]

<p>The Xenotar had a reputation for providing a little better color saturation amongst certain groups. My personal experience indicates that it just might be true. More important is the condition of the lens after many years, i.e., haze, film on lens, scratches, fungus, etc., etc.</p>

[mcblue]

<p>Scott -- pretty happy with my Xenotar also, which is about 50 years old</p>

<p>Greg -- that's what I heard, and I discovered a similar comment about Xenotars on one of my online photo spaces (about prefering Xenotars to Planars for color).</p>

<p>I had really pleasing results for slide film on my Xenotar, but I haven't used the same film on my Planar camera (plus I can't duplicate the scene and natural light from past shooting...) so I don't really have a way of verifying except to keep on shooting with both cameras...</p>

[Ed_Ingold]

<p>It's hard to print (or scan) two consecutive frames in the same roll to have the same color. I wouldn't worry about minor differences between two very fine lenses.</p>

[mcblue]

<p>Thanks Edward.</p>