AF Tele-Xenar 180mm f/2.8 (6000/Hy6)
Schneider-Kreuznach · Rollei 6000 · 2002
Also known as: Rollei AF Tele-Xenar 180mm f/2.8 HFT PQ · Rollei AF-Tele-Xenar 180mm f2.8 · Schneider AF Tele-Xenar 2.8/180 HFT Rollei 6008 AF · Rollei AFD Tele-Xenar 180mm f/2.8 HFT PQ · AFD-Tele-Xenar 180mm F2.8 Hy6 · Rolleiflex 6008 AF 180mm 2.8 · Rolleiflex Hy6 180mm f2.8 Tele-Xenar · ローライ AF テレクスナー 180mm F2.8 HFT PQ · ローライ AFD テレクスナー 180mm F2.8 · ローライフレックス 6008AF 180mm F2.8 · ローライフレックス Hy6 テレクスナー 180mm
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AF-Tele-Xenar 180 mm f/2.8 HFT PQ (Cat. No. 54 701), autofocus with aperture ring | Rollei 6000 | 2002 | — | Not published by any source consulted |
| AFD-Tele-Xenar 180 mm f/2.8 HFT PQ, Hy6 only, no aperture ring | Rollei 6000 (AFD — Hy6 only) | 2007 | — | Not published by any source consulted |
- Construction. 7 elements in 7 groups in Rollei's May 2003 table, on rolleigraphy.eu, in Wikipedia's list and in Japanese Wikipedia (AFテレクスナーPQ 180mm F2.8, 7群7枚); the manual-focus Tele-Xenar 180 is 6/6 in the same sources, which is why the autofocus lens has a page of its own.
- Shutter class. Rollei's 2003 table prints the AF-Tele-Xenar as PQ with 1/500 s; rolleigraphy.eu, Japanese Wikipedia and the 2013 Japanese listing of the AFD version ('HFT PQ') agree. The English Wikipedia list alone types it AF-PQS; the maker's table is followed.
- Size and weight. Rollei's 2003 table is internally inconsistent: its metric row repeats the manual lens's 150 mm and 1525 g, while its imperial row gives 5.315 in and 52.205 oz, which are 135 mm and 1,480 g, the figures Wikipedia also gives (100 × 135 mm, 1480 g). The imperial row and Wikipedia are followed; the autofocus lens is 15 mm shorter and 45 g lighter than the manual one.
- Dates. Announced in Rollei's March 2002 press release for the second half of 2002 and by Komamura on 6 September 2002 for the fourth quarter in Japan; 2002 is therefore the launch year, though the month of actual delivery is not documented. The AFD version's first year is that of the Hy6, 2007 by Wikipedia, 2008 in Japan by Japanese Wikipedia.
- Price. ¥861,000 is the AFD version's Japanese price at the Hy6 Mod2 launch of March 2013, the only price found for any version; a Rollei or dealer price for the 2002 AF lens has not been found. Blades are not given by any source.
How to tell them apart
- An autofocus lens, 135 mm long and 1,480 g, seven elements; the manual Tele-Xenar 180 is 150 mm long, 1,525 g and six elements, with no focus-motor coupling (Rollei 2003 table; Wikipedia)
- AF with an aperture ring (6008 AF autofocus; manual focus on the 6008 professional and integral, 6003, 6001, 6006 and 6002; not on the SLX) or AFD without one (Hy6 only) (Wikipedia compatibility table)
- M95 × 1 filters and the 104 mm hood bayonet shared with the manual 180 and the Planar 110 mm f/2 (Rollei 2003 table)
- Marked PQ, top speed 1/500 s: no PQS version of either 180 was made (Rollei 2003 table; rolleigraphy.eu)
AF-Tele-Xenar 180 mm f/2.8 HFT PQ (Cat. No. 54 701), autofocus with aperture ring:
- AF-Tele-Xenar on the barrel, a focus-motor coupling in the bayonet and a distance window; the aperture ring is kept, so the lens also focuses by hand on the 6008 professional, integral, 6003, 6001, 6006 and 6002 (Wikipedia; Rollei 2003 brochure)
- Shorter and lighter than the manual lens: 135 mm long and 1,480 g against 150 mm and 1,525 g, the same 100 mm diameter, M95 × 1 thread and 104 mm hood bayonet (Rollei 2003 table, imperial row; Wikipedia)
- 'PQ' on the barrel: Rollei's own table, rolleigraphy.eu, Japanese Wikipedia and the 2013 Japanese listing all give the lens as PQ with 1/500 s; Wikipedia's list alone types it AF-PQS
AFD-Tele-Xenar 180 mm f/2.8 HFT PQ, Hy6 only, no aperture ring:
- AFD on the barrel and no aperture ring: the aperture is set from the Hy6 body, and the lens does not work on any 6000-series camera (Wikipedia; rolleigraphy.eu)
- Same seven elements in seven groups, 1/500 s shutter and M95 × 1 filter as the AF lens (rolleigraphy.eu; Digital Camera Watch 'HFT PQ')
- AF-Tele-Xenar 180 mm f/2.8 HFT PQ (Cat. No. 54 701), autofocus with aperture ring: One of the three Schneider autofocus lenses announced with the 6008 AF in March 2002, with the AF-Xenotar 80 mm f/2.8 and the AF-Variogon 60–140 mm f/4.6; Rollei promised them for the second half of 2002 and Komamura, the Japanese importer, for the fourth quarter. Rollei's 2003 brochure describes it as a 'high-speed and high-performance telephoto lens particularly well-suited for portraiture, sports and fashion', and marks it 'only Rolleiflex 6008 AF' for the autofocus; the AF-Longar 1.4× (Cat. No. 56 701) makes it 'a high-speed 250 mm f/4' with 'no change in minimum focusing distance'.
- AFD-Tele-Xenar 180 mm f/2.8 HFT PQ, Hy6 only, no aperture ring: The Hy6 form of the lens, with the aperture ring removed and its control moved to the body, which Wikipedia dates with the Hy6 to 2007 (Japanese Wikipedia dates the Hy6's sale in Japan to 2008). It was still current for the Hy6 Mod2: Kenko Professional Imaging's launch of 22 March 2013 listed it as the AFD-Tele-Xenar 180mm F2.8 HFT PQ at ¥861,000 beside the AFD-Super-Angulon 50, AFD-Apogon 80, AFD-Tele-Apogon 150 and AFD-Variogon 60–140, 'all of them without an aperture ring'.
Specifications
- Formula
- Tele-Xenar, autofocus recomputation, 7 elements in 7 groups (Rollei 2003 table; rolleigraphy.eu; Wikipedia; Japanese Wikipedia 7群7枚); the manual-focus Tele-Xenar 180 mm f/2.8 is 6/6
- Construction
- 7 elements / 7 groups
- Aperture range
- f/2.8–f/22
- Shutter
- Rollei direct-drive electronic leaf shutter in the lens, 30 s–1/500 s and B (PQ class), timed and powered by the body through ten gold-plated contacts
- Min. focus
- 1.8 m
- Dimensions
- 100 × 135 mm
- Weight
- 1480 g
- Filter
- 95 mm, M95 × 1 screw-in filters; 104 mm Bayonet VIII on the front for the hood
- Years manufactured
- 2002
- Country
- Germany
- Coating
- HFT multicoating
- Original price
- ¥861,000 (AFD-Tele-Xenar 180mm F2.8 HFT PQ in the Rolleiflex Hy6 Mod2 line-up, Japan, March 2013, Kenko Professional Imaging via Digital Camera Watch). No price for the 2002 AF version has been found. (today ¥984,000)
What reviewers say
No reviews aggregated yet — this family is still in the research queue. Written one? We'd love to index it.
History
The AF-Tele-Xenar 180 mm f/2.8 is the autofocus successor to Schneider’s manual Tele-Xenar 180, and a new lens rather than a motorised one: seven elements in seven groups where the old lens had six in six, 135 mm long and 1,480 g against 150 mm and 1,525 g, on the same 100 mm barrel with the same M95 × 1 filter thread and 104 mm hood bayonet, the same 1.8 m closest focus and the same 1/500 s direct-drive leaf shutter. Rollei announced it in March 2002 as one of three Schneider autofocus lenses for the 6008 AF, ‘the world’s first 6 x 6 medium-format system camera with autofocus’, for delivery in the second half of the year; Komamura, the Japanese importer, promised it for the fourth quarter. The 2003 brochure sells it for portraiture, sports and fashion, ‘selective focusing, available-light and action photography’, and pairs it with the AF-Longar 1.4×, which makes it a 250 mm f/4 without changing the closest focus.
Two versions exist. The AF lens of 2002, Cat. No. 54 701, keeps an aperture ring, so it autofocuses on the 6008 AF and the Hy6 and works as a manual-focus lens on the 6008 professional and integral, 6003 and 6001 and, with reduced modes, on the 6006 and 6002; Rollei’s table marks it ‘only Rolleiflex 6008 AF’ for the autofocus itself. The AFD lens made for the Hy6 from 2007 has no aperture ring, the body setting the diaphragm, and works on nothing earlier. It outlived the 6008 AF: at the Hy6 Mod2 launch in Japan on 22 March 2013 it was listed as the AFD-Tele-Xenar 180mm F2.8 HFT PQ at ¥861,000, the second dearest of five lenses, all without aperture rings. Both versions are PQ lenses with a 1/500 s top speed; the English Wikipedia list’s ‘AF-PQS’ is contradicted by Rollei’s own table, by rolleigraphy.eu and by the Japanese sources, and Rollei’s table has a slip of its own, repeating the manual lens’s length and weight in the metric row while its imperial row gives the correct 135 mm and 1,480 g.
No test or review of it has been found, in English or Japanese, and no price before the 2013 Japanese one. What is known of its handling is inherited from the manual lens: a kilogram and a half on the front of a 6008 that forum users called heavy and in need of care below 1/250 s. A buyer should settle which version is on offer, since the AFD is useless without a Hy6, and should check the autofocus drive on a 6008 AF or Hy6 as well as the shutter and diaphragm, all of which run only on the body’s current through the contacts.
This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.
Example photos
Sample photo wanted — shot with a AF Tele-Xenar 180mm f/2.8 (6000/Hy6)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
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