Should I assume that the new Schneider 80mm XL will be in short supply for quite some time and the prices held rather high until the feeding frenzy calms down? White's prices seem somewhat inflated for perhaps this reason. Is it possible to comparatively shop ye

-- Gary Albertson (garyalb@outlawnet.com), January 24, 2001

Answers

Just to add, this would be my widest lens, then my 125mm Fuji. I am unsure how a center filter works and have read often how important it is with wider lenses. Is this an important addition if purchasing the 80mmXL

-- Gary Albertson (garyalb@outlawnet.com), January 24, 2001.

Gary, one of the benefits of the aspheric design of the SS-XLs is that fallof is very well corrected. If the 80 behaves like the 110 or 150, you might never feel the need for a center filter. As for the price, the first supplies are reaching the stores now. So it won't probably come down before a few months. I think Badger's price is quite similar to RW's at the moment.

-- Paul Schilliger (pschilliger@smile.ch), January 24, 2001.

Gary, If you can manage it then hang on!! The price will drop!! I was quoted about £1200 (UK pounds) back in the summer by Robert White, but I'm determined to wait until the price is right!! Regards Paul

-- paul owen (paulowen_2000@yahoo.com), January 24, 2001.

Gary As a matter of interest I just checked Robert White's web site, he is listing the 80XL at £975 (U.K.pounds inc VAT), it is coming down!! (SLOWLY!!)

-- paul owen (paulowen_2000@yahoo.com), January 24, 2001.

Badger Graphics sells the 80 XL for $1300. Not bad really. I am tempted.

I checked the charts, and the SS 80 XL has approx 2/3 of a stop more light fall-off in the corners than the SA 90 XL. I'm kinda getting second thoughts on this lens

-- Lars Michael (lmichael@citilink.com), January 24, 2001.

Lars, interesting discovery on light fall off! I could not find the tech specs on Schneider's site but saw a center filter 3B listed for the 80 XL, same as for the 110. However, the small size and weight of the lens is really appealing. I will gladly trade my S-A 90/5,6 for the 80 Xl to lower the backpack weight and have a wider step down from the 110.

-- Paul Schilliger (pschilliger@smile.ch), January 25, 2001.

I know at least 2 people that have had the lens in hand since late December.

I wouldn't expect the price to change much. The 110XL feel dramatically twice, the second time due to increases in production by Schneider. The 80XL is starting at only $100 more than the 110XL. Since production costs cannot be dramatically different, I would be surprised if it ever dropped by more than $100-$200. The recent strength of the Euro isn't going to help either.

The performance data posted by Schneider is interesting in that it shows more falloff of illumination and MTF than I would have expected by just scaling down the curves from the 110XL. It would be very helpful to get some "real world" perfomance feedback on this lens.

-- Glenn Kroeger (gkroeger@trinity.edu), January 25, 2001.

Paul,

The Schneider site used to carry tech specs on the 80/5.6 SSXL. If you email me your fax #, I can fax you all the info I have on this lens. Try Christoph Greiner (chr.greiner.photo@t-online.de) to see whether he can offer you a better price. Sorry, Jeff. Don't mean to hurt your biz :-)

-- Geoffrey Chen (DB45TEK@AOL.COM), January 25, 2001.

Got a PDF from Schneider today. Out of the appealing photo, a few specs are mentioned: SuperSymmar 1:4,5 / 80 XL Aspheric. 5 elements (you have to see the weird lens design!) M67 Filter tread, M41 rear filter tread, Copal (or else) #0, weight 274g, overall length 51 mm, Image circle 212 mm at f22 (covers 5x7 tight), Center filter III b (1,5 stop) same as for 110 XL. That's really impressing me if I compare it to my Super Angulon 90/5,6 at twice the weight and size.

-- Paul Schilliger (pschilliger@smile.ch), January 25, 2001.

Lars, Could you explain further how the specs you read shows the lens to be a questionable purchase?

-- Gary Albertson (garyalb@outlawnet.com), January 25, 2001.

It is interesting that Schneider has pulled the info and MTF charts on this lens off of their web site. We are left to guess why... were the charts wrong, or was Schneider unhappy about the reaction to them? It will be interesting to see if and when they return, and if they are changed.

-- Glenn Kroeger (gkroeger@trinity.edu), January 25, 2001.