bmattock
Veteran
For those who have expressed an interest in A. Schacht lenses - history and so forth - this is the best information I have found, though it pertains mostly to Exakta lenses by the same manufacturer.
Best Regards,
Bill Mattocks
http://captjack.exaktaphile.com/Schacht page.htm
Best Regards,
Bill Mattocks
http://captjack.exaktaphile.com/Schacht page.htm
doubs43
Well-known
bmattock said:
Exactly so. I wanted to buy a Schacht lens for my Leica-copy Tower RF camera in the early 1970's - new - and the salesman in the NY store informed me that it was garbage, maybe worse! I didn't buy it and later heard similar opinions about Schacht lens. Sometimes conventional wisdom isn't all it should be. Schacht is obviously better than the rumors suggested.
Walker
bmattock
Veteran
doubs43 said:
Well, I can only speak for myself and my experiences, of course. I find the build quality on mine to be high - although the lenses are obviously made of aluminum (very light weight), the fit and finish is exemplary - a nice rich shiny black. Now, they may not make a good knock-about lens - I would wager that they would not hold up well in a war zone - and many Leica lenses (and Nikkors, et al) did in fact end up in war zones.
As to the image quality - well, I feel that they speak for themselves. Yes, there are points I like better about my Canon lenses - and overall, they may be the tiniest bit sharper. But I like the overall sharpness and contrast on my Schachts (especially the 90mm) and I feel that between the size and weight, and the fact that they take 48mm filters just like my Canon 50mm f1.4, combine to make them my favorite 'kit' lenses - they tend to go with me when I pack the Bessa to gad about.
I bought my first A. Schacht Travenar at Central Camera in Chicago last Christmas. At the time, I had only two LTM lenses - a Russian Industar 50mm and a Canon 135mm f3.5. I wanted something in between 50 and 135, so I was offered a choice of two lenses: This 90mm Travenar and a new 75mm f2.5 CV Color-Heliar. Both more or less the same price. The Travenar was obviously very old, but essentially unused in the original box.
I checked both carefully. One thing that I noticed was that the Travenar had more aperture blades than the CV 75mm. I thought it would make better OOF effects. And I thought that the 90mm would be an ideal portrait length. So I got the Travenar. Did I make a mistake? Dunno!
Haven't regretted it, but have gotten the other Schachts for MUCH less money on eBoy - nobody likes these things - what a shame, but good for me!
They have held up well for me - and I am more than satisfied with both mechanical quality and image quality. And they look nice, which is good.
I have seen the older Schachts - silver tubes that resemble the Steinheils and the Hektors - I don't really want one of those. I like the shorter black ones that I have.
Best Regards,
Bill Mattocks