I have a 5.6 210 Caltar S II lense with a No. 1 Copal shuuter. It is the only lense I have ever owned which does not have a serial number. Does anywone know anything about this lense? It looks a lot like a Rodenstock, so I expect they are the manufacturer. Does anyone know why it does not have a serial number? There is no sign it has been removed.

-- Jon Barnard (jcbarnard@powersurfr.com), April 15, 1999

Answers

I just bought a 240 Caltar S, without a serial number also, from KEH in Atlanta. They told me the S stands for "Schneider" who made the lens as opposed to a Caltar N made by Rodenstock. I suspect no serial number is stamped on the lens to avoid leaving any Schneider origin, but it does seem like they could have put some kind of numbering on the lens. Maybe it's inside?

-- Bruce Schultz (bschultz@theadvocate.com), April 16, 1999.

I also have a Caltar S II. There is considerable confusion as to who actually built the lens. I always thought S was for Schneider and N was for Rodenstock. However based purely on cosmetics the reverse seems to be true. I have seen older Caltar N lenses advertized as being made by Schneider. Who knows - not me.

I hope you find the lens as productive as I do.

-- Tad Loving (tad@lloving.com), April 21, 1999.

Whatever confusion there is about who makes the Caltar S, there should be no confusion about who makes the current Caltar II "N" Lenses. I recently purchased 75 mm f6.8 and 150 mm IIN Caltar lenses. They both came in RODENSTOCK boxes! The 75 mm f6.8 came with a Calumet lifetime warranty, which had the correct serial number but mistakenly identified the lens as a Rodenstock, not "Caltar",lens. The specifications for the current N lenses are identical as for the Rodenstock lenses. The Calumet salesperson who took my order confirmed that they were Rodenstock lenses rebranded as Caltars.

-- Howard Slavitt (has@cpdb.com), April 22, 1999.

Call Calumet at 1-800-CALUMET and ask them. The sales people usually know, and have no objection to telling you. I at one time had a 210 Caltar II-S which was definitely a Schneider as it was afflicted with a problem common to Schneiders of the same period, but it did have a serial number.

-- Richard Deimel (Bbadger@aol.com), April 24, 1999.

I did quite a bit of checking into this designation, spoke with Calumet, saw references at various sites, etc. It's my understanding that this is a Symmar-S lens. Unless marked multi-coated, or "MC", etc., it will be a single-coated lens.

As "confirmation", I have a Caltar II S 360mm lens. This lens has a huge front filter diameter (120mm), the largest Schneider made in any Symmar on their web-page. The lens diameter of my lens checks with the diameter listed.

-- Neil Poulsen (neil.fg@worldnet.att.net), December 25, 1999.