Xenon

Schneider Xenon

I decided to continue my exploration of the faster lenses that started showing up in the late 1930s by shooting my post-war Retina IIc.  The IIc has a very sharp and nicely coated six-element Xenon which makes excellent images.  The camera incorporates many design innovations that set a pattern for future developments, but also included some features that today seem more novel than useful.  The placement of the advance lever on the bottom of the camera seems awkward to me, as does the coupling of the aperture and speed controls.  The shroud around the bellows helped to avoid light leaks, but the side-opening front door just about rules out one-hand shooting.  One does get used to those features with use, however.  My own example looks almost new and works very well, though the viewfinder would probably benefit from a little cleaning.

Curiously, the IIc on the lower left below has a maximum aperture of f2.8 while the earlier II and IIa models and the later Retina Reflex all offer an f2 maximum f-stop.

Putting the cameras head to head clearly indicates that the lenses are the same in all four cameras, so it is not obvious why the IIc lens was limited to the f2.8 aperture.  A possible answer may be found in the need to fit the Xenon into the rather small housing of the IIc's Synchro-Compur shutter.  It is possible that the interchangeable front lens group had something to do with the restriction also, but the slr has an identical removable front mount and retains the f2 maximum.   At this point it seems that only the ghosts of Kodak know the real answer. 

My opinion is that the Xenon lenses on the Retinas were as good as anything being made in their time, as was the general design and construction of the whole camera line.  Kodak continued for a couple decades to develop the Retina cameras, incorporating additional innovations including coupled light metering.  However, the improvements were quickly matched by Japanese makers who were also ultimately able to attain an insuperable lead in price competitiveness.

I have seldom posted landscape images on the blog.  My excuse has always been that I am just not good at seeing the compositional possibilities of the broad view. That is probably not true, though.  I likely have just as much (or as little) talent for landscape as other forms, but I just haven't made an effort in the past to come to grips with the challenge.  So, my plan is to start devoting a few frames of every roll of film to landscapes to see if I can develop some actual practical skills.

And, lastly, a goodbye to my loyal friend, Rio, who patiently endured many photo sessions, including this one with a Retina Reflex.