Thanks a lot for answering my question.
I did not realize that apo symmars and digitars are exactly same lenses. From what I read, people usually are much happier with digitars than with apo symmars.
Are these lenses really exactly same, or just similar?
Also, with Super Symmar HM 120, from what I can see, its image circle ranges from 180mm at f5.6 up to 211mm at f22, wich is only 10 or 20mm more than Apo Symmar L or Digitar Aspheric, so not that extreme. Unless I read that wrong.
Apo digitars and apo symmars are not the same lenses!
please read what i was written exactly.
Only The Apo Digitar N 5,6-120 mm is nothing more than the Apo Symmar 72° 5,6-120 mm. Yes, thay are physicly the same lenses.
but only these.
Apo Digitar lenses are all different and based on different lens designs. Apo Digitar means only that there are lenses for digital use.
Older schneider names were different and meaned the lens design like Angulon, Componon, Symmar, Xenar....
This is not the case with the name Apo Digitar.
And forget the image circle of the analoge lenses when you want to use them with digital stuff.
The image circle means nothing with digital use.
the important thing is not the physical image circle of the lens- (all analoge 4x5 lenses has much too large image circle for digital sensors)
but the question of real usable image circle for digital use with modern sensors.
For analoge 4x5 photography the bigger image circle and image angle was an advantage: more movements.
So stanadart Symmar-S was 70°, Apo Symmar 72°, Apo symmar L 75° and the Super Symmar HM 80°, and the latest Super Symmar XL was at last 105°.
But the biggest digital sensor is smaller than 4,5x6 cm Film format, and 4x5 film are 10x13 cm. look the difference.
So the Symmar-S with 70 ° design with (let me explain it ease) concentrated resolution power is much more suitable for the little digital sensors than the big stuff with extremly large image circle. And Schneider did this for they digital lenses: they took the older lens designs with smaller image circle and tranform them with new technology and new glasses to the digital time.
This is maybe confused but logic.