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Schneider Kreutznach 35mm Apo Digitar XL soft left side

Pemihan

Well-known member
I just got a Cambo set with a SK 35mm XL and 47XL, I went out yesterday to try it out and found the 35 XL to be somewhat soft on the left side.
Today I went out to shoot a brick wall and yes indeed the upper left side is noticeable soft compared to the upper right side.

Here are some 100% crops, straight out of camera. Shot at f11 ISO25 on tripod. No shift / rise at all.
Is this what I can expect? It seems to me that it should do way better.

Left and right:
 

Pemihan

Well-known member
Here's another set of 100% crops from my living room.
The left hand softness is pretty obvious here.

Same settings, tripod, f11, ISO 25.

Left / Right
 

danlindberg

Well-known member
Don't know about Cambo, but if you had an Alpa you could mount the lens 180 degrees to see if the softness follows. Then you know if it is a lensproblem or problem elsewhere.
 

Pemihan

Well-known member
Can't do that with Cambo, but I have tried the same setups with my SK 47 XL and that's sharp in all corners, so it must be the lens.
 

danlindberg

Well-known member
Looks like a lensproblem then.

I had my 35XL calibrated by Schneider and when it returned it was noticably better allover. A truly sharp lens on the Aptus 5.
 

Pemihan

Well-known member
My thoughts exactly.
I have spoken with the dealer and will either have it repaired/calibrated or get a replacement.
 

Steve Hendrix

Well-known member
You also want to make sure that your camera position is absolutely parallel to your subject matter top to bottom/left to right, specially on a wide lens like this.

Cambo is super accommodating in these instances. You won't encounter any hassle whatsoever on their end.


Steve Hendrix
Capture Integration
 

Pemihan

Well-known member
Thanks guys...

As said I tried exactly the same setups with both the 35 XL and the 47 XL without moving the camera or tripod at all and the 47 was perfectly sharp in the whole frame.

Another thing with the 35 is the focus at infinity has to be dialed almost down to 5m in order to be at the sharpest, so something isn't right.

I spoke with the service manager at Schneider Kreutznach this afternoon, a very nice gentleman who, on basis of the symptoms, told me that the shutter probably is misaligned and whatnot. Bottom line was he advised me to return the lens and get a replacement.

Peter
 

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
Peter,

Infinity at 5m is definitely a smoking gun. Glad to hear that you're returning the lens for service because the 35XL is a stunning lens and as mentioned you shouldn't be having these issues. Ditto the 47 too btw.

Did you buy the 35 used or new?
 

Pemihan

Well-known member
Graham,

I bought the items from a dealer. It had been their demo set.
The 35XL has a couple of dents in the filter ring so it most likely have suffered some kind of blow at some point which would explain things.
I'm going to return the lens and get a new one.

Peter
 

Pemihan

Well-known member
A quick update; the dealer has agreed to exchange the lens for a new one, so here's to hoping Cambo has one in stock as I will be traveling in a little over two weeks and need it with me there.
 

Pemihan

Well-known member
I got the replacement lens today and just did a quick test shot. It's like night and day, the new lens is perfect...!

Peter
 

dougpeterson

Workshop Member
Thanks for updating everyone. Glad to see it worked out for you.

Having a dealer that will stand behind their sale does make such annoyances far less painful.
 
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