I was at Photo Plus last night and saw a new lens by Schneider. It is a 28mm focal length designed for digital backs and has a 90 mm image circle which is huge for that focal length. I was told that the usable f/stops would be 5.6 to 8/10 and that it gets 60 to 80 line pairs (not sure if this is throughout or just on the edge). Unfortunately it was ship from Germany to them just two days before Photo Plus and they had no images to look at created with this lens. Has anyone used this lens or have seen images taken with it? Do you know of its quality?

By the way the thing is huge; it has to be about 5 inches in diameter.

Hi Joe:

Uli said the lens will be available in January along with the new 43mm and their software based neutral density graduated filter. He was not shooting the lens due to flare in the Cambo camera he had it mounted to. He was also shooting with the Phase b/w back. Pretty cool. The 28 is their answer to the Rod 23HR. I like that Schneider sticks with the symmetrical designs and does not get tempted by retro-focal solutions. The 23 is really nice however, just needs some distortion correction with PT Lens.
Thinking of going to MF?

Hey Jeff,

Did you have on a red baseball cap at Photo Plus, I could have sworn I walked by you, but did not realize it till later. And what is MF?

So did I hear right that phase has a back solely for black and white photography; that would be pretty cool since color sensors where never intended to capture black and white images. Also, how is the Schneider 35 when it comes to working with strobes? I hate gelling windows and usually use strobes with gelled fresnels for about 60% of my shots and am concerned that the fall off correction filter will limit my ability to use strobes.

The Schneider 28 looks like it could be a great lens with a good deal of movements and I have heard that the Rod 23HR is nice too only I try to stay away from super wide because they have a tendency to stretch the edges of the photograph(I would rather stitch). How is the 23 when it comes to this? And I do think that symmetrical focus is the best way to go.

May I know more about their 43mm, please?

Is there a link available?

Thank you,
Billy

Yup, that might have been me. MF referring to medium format. The 35 XL Digitar is great. There is some falloff but not enough to worry about. They make a center filter but this new software solution is better, no 2-stop loss, so working with strobes it easy. When you need to go wide with movement the 23HR is great. I had the 24XL, and just sold it. Not enough movement in that lens. The 23 has some distortion for sure but can be corrected. Any wide lens will have a stretch factor, you have to be aware of when and how to use the lens to avoid this or compensate for it.
What system are you working with?

I am still working with the 5D with tilt shift lenses and it is driving me insane. I am getting pretty descent results but I really want to be able to correct both perspectives optically at the same time in stead of choosing the one that needs the most adjustment and correcting the other digitally. I am also dying to have the the optical resolution that Schneider and Rodenstock lenses offer. Being that I am only one month older then the recession I do not have the capital or client base to justify financing a digital view camera at this time but I have been making plenty of head way with a lot of a architectural and interior design firms and it appears like next spring will be the breaking point.

If I had a choice though I would be working with an Alpa 12max with a Schneider 35 mm, Rodenstock 70 HR, Rodenstock 50 HR and a Rodenstock 28 HR (but now I would most likely go with the new Schneider 28 mm depending if the resolution is there). I like the new Leaf back but am not sure if it could hold up to the long exposures us architectural photographers need, so the p45 plus-x back seems the most appropriate.

You are using an Alpa now? After seeing a 12max at Photo Plus I am convinced that alpa is the best camera out there.

For BJNY, I do not know anything about the 43mm and am not interested. I figure the 35 if the lens I want and do not see a point in getting a lens so close to it. Also, sorry that the conversation diverged from its original topic.

How do I sign up for the architectural forum at the asmp? I was never aware that it existed.

any pdf, any picfs of that new lens ?

A PDF with detailed specs for both the new 28mm and 43mm would be great. I didn't see any mention of these on the Schneider website.

The only info I can add is that the 43mm should have a image circle of 110mm, which would be HUGE.

Bump

Any word or PDFs available on these lenses?

Not that I heard of.

I'm on the verge of picking up something wider than my 35mm. I have always favored long lenses (in conjunction with 1 point perspective ; ) but do get into trouble having nothing wider and the 35 doesn't really have enough movement to make stitching practical.

Whaddaya like on a P65+? Does the Schneider 24 cover? I like that it's way smaller than the Rodie 23. Perhaps I should hold out for this new 28mm.

Hmm....

The 24XL barely covers the P45+ but the 23HR will cover it and with movement. Now add Alpas lens distortion correction software and its a perfect wide lens. The new 28 will have a decent circle, I'm guessing (remembering what Uli told me) it is around 90mm, and probably will not need any corrections since its likely a symmetrical design unlike the 23HR which is retrofocal, hence the size and weight and price.

I think that the Schneider 24 vignettes on the corners and does not offer any shift. I have not seen any images taken with the new 28 but it is suppose to give around 15 mm of shift so stitching should be an option. If I had my choice, I would go with this new 28 and stitch instead of dealing with a lens with little movement and the stretch factor of a lens as wide as a 24 or 23. The only disadvantage is that it is huge, not so much in length, but in diameter.

On a 24 does not cover the P65, the 23 has nearly no movements with the P65, the new 28 will probably have the same amount of movements as will the 40HR-W and Schneider 35. The new 43 will have a lot more movement. As far as I know there are no news about price and shipping date. (Some say beginning of 2010, I guess more towards 2Q10)