As I remamber i was in contact with leading technician from Schneider, they were really frustrated with the development of the new sensors.
everything was fine with big 60 MP Dalsa sensor and smaller Kodak 39 and 50 MP sensors. No microlenses, no extreme color cast that cant be fully removed without destruction of the image quality. Then the negative develope began: 80 MP bis sensor and small 40 MP ( same pixel density), with micro lenses, therefore too strong color cast).
Over night the very popular and price-wise very atractive schneider lenses like 35xl and 28xl become useless. Rodenstock retrofocus lenses made of very complicated 14-16 elements were the only way to go, especially in the wide angle area. The rodenstock prices are extremly high, it is a big difference if you make an easy 8 elements design or a very complicated 16 elements.
The biggest reason for use of technical cameras are the movements, especially for architecture, where wide angle lenses are the most used lenses, the 90% use.
If you cannot produce lenses for that usement you are done. In this situation Schneider could only produce longer lenses, macro lenses, but this semms not to be enough to survive on the marked. At the same time the sale of analoge large format lenses tends to zero. Analoge large format seemed to be done and there were so much used lenses on second hand market.
Nowerdays the analoge large format is still alive, it is even growing! not in professional but in artistic and hobby area.
In this situation Schneider stopped the production of planned lenses like Apo Digitar aspheric 100 mm, that would be the same lens-design like the 120 aspheric but shorter.
The whole lens development was stopped.
For all Photo-friends it was a horrible development, becouse this was the start of the end of Schneider lensproduction.
Schneider shows with some very spectaculer lenses that the company was still be able to produce high end lenses for digital use on the highest level.
The new develope phase one blue line 35 mm was the only one modern wide anle in the middle format that could resolve the modern backs. Simply on the similar level like Rodenstock digaron 35 mm 32 mm. I was hopping that schneider will mount this lens into the PC T/S mount for 35 mm camera systems as the best 35 mm T/S lens! It would be the only one lens in this segment without any concurence products. intead they still sale the 30 or 50 years old lens design in the PC mount ( 50 mm and 28 mm) and what a surprise that nobody buy it, where canon/ nikon deliver opticly better lenses for a much cheaper price.
What the most people dont know is that the really big buissness, that means production of the new 35 mm lenses for all camera systems was also stopped.
These new lenses were already shown and wre avertised. The traditional lens designs like xenotar, curtagon, Tele-xenar made for modern digital 35 mm systems, with manual focus, like Zeiss lenses. In the last second somebody stopped it. What a great decision to commid a suicide. Zeiss did the righ way, they start to produce even lenses on much higher optical level with the Zeiss Otus, but not made in germany but made in japan. Why? becouse zeiss gemany cant produce lenses any more. The income in Japan is higher than in germany, so the production would be even cheaper, but there are no production or people who could produce it. Schneider could do it at the time, but the managment find the suicide as a better option.
Schneider knows that they never can compete with low end production from china. Thats true, but the high end would be always the right place for good technology made in germany.
Now the high end lenses are wanted then never before. All camera systems have high resolution sensors, better lenses are needed more than ever before.
Fuji come now with tilt shift lenses for GFX where Schneider could shine, the prices for modern T/S lenses are high, look Nikon 19mm T/S.
Hasselbald XD still needs T/S lenses, Schneider could offer here also some lenses. Could, if they would have still a lens production.
Let us imagine what would happen when Sony back ulluminated sensors would apear some years sooner.
Schneider lenses , aspecially the wide angle would be wanted as never before. The lens design of the Super Digitar xl 28 mm could be converted on the new Super Digitar 35 xl and 24xl,
the prices of these lense would be even cheaper than the rodenstock ( 10 glasses or 16 glasses, this make a big difference), maybe a new 70-80 xl, new 47 mm XL, for sure the already planed 100 mm aspheric, maybe later new longer lenses...
When the production of the digital lenses where there, so the production of a small amount of analoge large format lenses would be still possible.
When new lenses still would apear, this would have also a possitive influance on camera development and digital back production. A win - win situation for the whole production.
There was already a interesting moment in the large format lenses development whre Zeiss West and Zeiss East wanted to show who is the best lens producer in the world- end of the sixties. Both made some revolutionery lens designs, some prototapes were produced, even showed to public, but at the end both sides did not start a mass production, becouse of the high cost of the producton. Both sides develope lenses that were opticly on the much higher level that the large format lenses produce by Schneider/ rodenstock at the time.
After unification in the 90 ties Doctar company buyed zeiss east large format buissness with the aspiration of rebirth of this aim: to buil simply the best lenses.
All this revolutionery lens designs should be done on the new level, but the owner of the company unexpectedly died.
The following owners were not able to continue this way.
