4x5Australian
Well-known member
The SK individual datasheets have the date on the lower right of the page of MTF graphs, placed sideways, as a six-digit number DDMMYY.
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Schneider 47mm f/5.6 Variants Questions
- Thread starter Doppler9000
- Start date
4x5Australian
Well-known member
Yes, I'm aware of a few mistakes here and there, so it's always good to cross-reference where possible.
However, I've also seen small but distinct changes in the barrel or front surround of several lenses, so changes really do happen.
Another example: The 1966-09 technical brochure for the Super-Angulon 5.6/47 gives an effective focal length of 47.2mm and an FFD of 51.6mm.
Rod
rdeloe
Well-known member
rdeloe
Well-known member
Would that be the version with the writing on the beauty ring (see picture above in my post)? That does look like a different physical design.
4x5Australian
Well-known member
Hmm. The date codes on all SK data sheets in my collection of Apo-Symmar, Apo-Symmar L, Apo-Componon and Super-Angulon XL (but no Super-Angulon) are all six-digit DDMMYY. The pages I have saved have the "Printed in" statement in English, but your one here is in German.
EXCEPT: The collection of datasheets I have saved for the Apo-Digitar series includes several with 5-digit dates. The Apo-Digitar 5.6/47 data code is 91101, which is identical to the Super-Angulon 5.6/47 date code that you posted here.
Let's try interpreting that code provisionally as 9 November 2001. If that interpretation is correct, the datasheet for the Super-Angulon 5.5/47 you extracted from was prepared on the same day as the datasheet for the Apo-Digitar 5.6/47 XL, which was well after production of the Super-Angulon non-XL series finished. Was this datasheet part of someone's backlog project, and they accessed the wrong dataset? It's in conflict with the contemporaneous technical brochures from 1995, which was two years before production of the Super-Angulon 5.6/47 ceased.
Rod
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rdeloe
Well-known member
I looked at the codes for some of the large format and 6x9 lenses. Many are six digits but there are also five digits. Most but not all Digitar sheets I looked at are 5 digits. The Apo-Digitar 180T_MTF from Alpa I have is six digits. It seems unlikely that the vast majority of the Digitar sheets were printed on single digit days. But who knows.
4x5Australian
Well-known member
The dates on datasheets that I've looked at in the past have made sense in relation to the relative sequence and known dates of the lens introduction. Some dates reflected updates. However, it is a path of enquiry that could stand more scrutiny.
For example:
The 24XL-100° datasheet is dated 141102, which is two months after the lens was shown at Photokina 2002.
The 35XL-102° datasheet is dated 260804, which is one month before the lens was shown at Photokina 2004.
The 43XL-102° datasheet is dated 90309, which is five months before the lens was announced on 15 December 2009.
The 120 Aspheric datasheet is dated 150313, which corresponds to the later appearance of the lens in its Copal 0 form (rather than in the PC-TS form).
The Apo-Symmar 150 datasheet is dated 130600 and the later Apo-Symmar L 150 is dated 181102, just after the introduction at Photokina 2002. This is consistently the pattern for the Apo-Symmar and Apo-Symmar L lenses.
However, I see that the Apo-Digitar datasheets contain exceptions. Perhaps the operator/s at that time did not always update the date field. Perhaps the designs were ready at a certain point in time and then actual production and announcements were staggered over time in response to production constraints.
Rod
For example:
The 24XL-100° datasheet is dated 141102, which is two months after the lens was shown at Photokina 2002.
The 35XL-102° datasheet is dated 260804, which is one month before the lens was shown at Photokina 2004.
The 43XL-102° datasheet is dated 90309, which is five months before the lens was announced on 15 December 2009.
The 120 Aspheric datasheet is dated 150313, which corresponds to the later appearance of the lens in its Copal 0 form (rather than in the PC-TS form).
The Apo-Symmar 150 datasheet is dated 130600 and the later Apo-Symmar L 150 is dated 181102, just after the introduction at Photokina 2002. This is consistently the pattern for the Apo-Symmar and Apo-Symmar L lenses.
However, I see that the Apo-Digitar datasheets contain exceptions. Perhaps the operator/s at that time did not always update the date field. Perhaps the designs were ready at a certain point in time and then actual production and announcements were staggered over time in response to production constraints.
Rod
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4x5Australian
Well-known member
Yes, that's a good point to raise. The date on an individual SK lens datasheet is the date that the datasheet was prepared. Nothing more.
These datasheets are not engineering drawings signed off by the lens designer on the date the design was finalised.
Rather, they are nice clean presentation compilations that were designed for publication. It's likely that they were produced by an office admin person who filled in data fields on a standardised template using data values accessed from a database.
And, crucially, this presentation datasheet format for individual lenses was only started in the year 2000, or perhaps a year or two before.
That's why the datasheets for the entire range of Apo-Symmar lenses - which had been introduced around 1995 - show a date stamp of 13 June 2000.
Lenses introduced after that year - such as the Apo-Symmar L series in 2002 - have datasheet dates that reflect their introduction.
Rod
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rdeloe
Well-known member
I stumbled across this thread that provides a bit more information: https://www.photo.net/forums/topic/194090-48mm-helvetar/
Scroll down to the bottom for closing post that seems to be from someone who works for Alpa.
Scroll down to the bottom for closing post that seems to be from someone who works for Alpa.
Doppler9000
Active member
Yes - André Oldani, who was the head of Alpa Product and Communications until he left in 2021. André Oldani