Xenotar 80mm f/2.8 (6000)
Schneider-Kreuznach · Rollei 6000 · 1988
Also known as: Schneider-Kreuznach Xenotar 80mm f/2.8 HFT Rollei · Rollei Xenotar 80mm F2.8 HFT · Schneider Xenotar 2.8/80 HFT PQ · Xenotar 80mm f/2.8 PQS Rollei 6008 · AF-Xenotar 80mm f/2.8 HFT PQS · Schneider AF Xenotar 2.8/80 Rollei 6008 AF · AFD-Xenotar 80mm f/2.8 Hy6 · Rolleiflex 6000 Xenotar 80mm 2.8 · シュナイダー クセノター 80mm F2.8 HFT ローライ · ローライ AF クセノター 80mm F2.8 PQS · ローライフレックス 6008AF クセノター 80mm
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xenotar 2.8/80 HFT PQ, manual focus, 1/500 s (by 1993; discontinued late 1990s) · 7 elements in 5 groups, 0.9 m closest focus (Japanese Wikipedia; Kamerastore, which also gives 5 blades and 593 g); Rolleigraphy gives 7 elements in 6 groups · Linear-motor leaf shutter, 30 s–1/500 s | Rollei 6000 | 1988 | — | — |
| Xenotar 2.8/80 PQS, manual focus, 1/1000 s · Linear-motor leaf shutter, 30 s–1/1000 s | Rollei 6000 | — | — | — |
| AF-Xenotar 2.8/80 HFT PQS, autofocus, 6008 AF standard lens (2002–), order no. 54 001 · Linear-motor leaf shutter, 30 s–1/1000 s | Rollei 6000 | 2002 | — | — |
| AFD-Xenotar 2.8/80 HFT PQS, no aperture ring, Hy6 (2007–) · Linear-motor leaf shutter, 30 s–1/1000 s | Rollei 6000 | 2007 | — | — |
- Element and group counts by version. The PQS, AF-PQS and AFD-PQS lenses are 7 elements in 6 groups in the Wikipedia list (from Rollei's brochures and the Hy6 manual), in Rollei's May 2003 brochure (AF-Xenotar: 7/6) and in Japanese Wikipedia (PQS and AF: 6群7枚). The manual PQ lens is 7 elements in 5 groups with 0.9 m closest focus in Japanese Wikipedia (5群7枚) and in Kamerastore's listing of a PQ copy (7 elements, 5 groups, 0.9 m, 5 blades, 593 g), but 7 in 6 on Rolleigraphy. A 7/5 Xenotar of 593 g focusing to 0.9 m and a 7/6 Xenotar of 520 g focusing to 0.8 m would be two optical designs; no Schneider or Rollei data sheet has been found to settle it.
- Closest focus of the AF lens: 0.8 m in the Wikipedia list and Japanese Wikipedia (as for the PQS), 1.0 m (3.281 ft) in Rollei's own 2003 lens table. Size and weight (84.5 × 66.5 mm, 520 g) and the 52°/38° field agree.
- Filter: Bay VI for every version in Rollei's brochure, on Rolleigraphy and in the Wikipedia list; Japanese Wikipedia alone gives the manual PQS a 95 mm screw thread, which would not fit an 84.5 mm barrel.
- Dates. The manual PQ lens is undated: PQ lenses began with the 6008 professional in 1988, Greenspun owned a Schneider 80/2.8 between buying his system in 1989 and its theft in 1993, and in 1997 wrote that it 'has been discontinued'. The AF lens came with the 6008 AF, announced by Komamura on 6 September 2002 (Japanese Wikipedia); the AFD with the Hy6, announced 2006 and sold from 2007. The family year of 1988 is therefore the PQ line's introduction, not a documented first delivery of this lens.
- Number of aperture blades: five on Kamerastore's PQ copy only; not given for the later versions. Left empty at family level.
- Prices: none found for the lens alone. Greenspun's 1995–97 B&H figures of $4,500–6,500 cover the fast Schneider trio (80/2, 180/2.8, 300/4), not this lens.
How to tell them apart
- Schneider-Kreuznach Xenotar 1:2.8 f=80mm HFT on the front ring with the Rollei ten-contact bayonet and a type word (PQ, PQS, AF, AFD) by the aperture scale; the AFD has no aperture ring at all
- Smaller and lighter than the Planar it stood beside (520 g, 66.5 mm long against 590 g and 63 mm) and focusing closer (0.8 m against 0.9 m) in its 7/6 form (Rollei brochure)
- Not the Xenotar 80mm f/2.8 fixed to the Rolleiflex 2.8C–2.8F twin-lens cameras, a five-element lens in a Synchro-Compur, and not the Xenotar 2/80 PQ, a 960 g f/2 lens with a 97 mm barrel
Xenotar 2.8/80 HFT PQ, manual focus, 1/500 s (by 1993; discontinued late 1990s):
- 'PQ lens' to the right of the aperture scale; Schneider-Kreuznach Xenotar 1:2.8 f=80mm HFT on the front ring; Bay VI bayonet (Japanese Wikipedia; Kamerastore)
- Heavier and closer-focusing than the PQS: 593 g and 0.9 m on Kamerastore's copy against 520 g and 0.8 m for the PQS (Rollei brochure; Wikipedia)
Xenotar 2.8/80 PQS, manual focus, 1/1000 s:
- 'PQS lens' to the right of the aperture scale; 7 elements in 6 groups, 0.8 m, 84.5 × 66.5 mm, 520 g, Bay VI (Wikipedia)
- Needs a 6008, 6003 or 6001 (or a Hy6 in manual focus); will not run on an SLX, 6006 or 6002
AF-Xenotar 2.8/80 HFT PQS, autofocus, 6008 AF standard lens (2002–), order no. 54 001:
- 'AF' before the name; an aperture ring is still present, unlike the AFD (Rolleigraphy)
- Catalogue number 54 001 (Rollei brochure 2003; Rolleigraphy); 7/6, 84.5 × 66.5 mm, 520 g, Bay VI
AFD-Xenotar 2.8/80 HFT PQS, no aperture ring, Hy6 (2007–):
- 'AFD' before the name and no aperture ring: the aperture is set from the Hy6 body, which makes the lens unusable on any 6000-series camera, none of which can set an aperture (Rolleigraphy; Wikipedia)
- Xenotar 2.8/80 HFT PQ, manual focus, 1/500 s (by 1993; discontinued late 1990s): The manual-focus Schneider alternative to the Planar 2.8/80 in the PQ era. Greenspun owned one between 1989 and 1993, called it the sharpest lens in his outfit and 'a joy to use', and by 1997 reported it discontinued. Rolleigraphy and Japanese Wikipedia list it; the Wikipedia list drawn from Rollei's brochures does not, and Rollei's 2003 brochure has only the AF lens. Whether its glass is the 7/5 design the Japanese sources give or the 7/6 of the later lenses is unresolved; see the notes.
- Xenotar 2.8/80 PQS, manual focus, 1/1000 s: The manual 1/1000 s version, listed by the Wikipedia list (from Rollei's brochures) and by Japanese Wikipedia with the same 7/6, 0.8 m optics as the AF lens. Japanese Wikipedia gives it a 95 mm screw-in filter, against Bay VI everywhere else; treated here as an error. Not in Rollei's 2003 brochure or on Rolleigraphy's list, so its dates are unknown.
- AF-Xenotar 2.8/80 HFT PQS, autofocus, 6008 AF standard lens (2002–), order no. 54 001: Rollei's own standard lens for the 6008 AF of 2002, the first autofocus body of the line: 'the classical standard focal length for fast general-purpose AF shooting' with 'legendary sharpness' and 1/1000 s (Rollei brochure, 2003). Autofocus works on the 6008 AF and the Hy6; on a 6008 integral, 6003 or 6001 it focuses manually with every exposure mode. Rollei's 2003 table gives its closest focus as 1.0 m, the Wikipedia list and Japanese Wikipedia 0.8 m.
- AFD-Xenotar 2.8/80 HFT PQS, no aperture ring, Hy6 (2007–): The Hy6 version of 2007, the same 7/6 optics without the aperture ring. The Hy6 was built by Franke & Heidecke and sold also as the Leaf AFi and Sinar Hy6; later Hy6 Mod2 bodies from DHW and DW Photo took the same lens.
Specifications
- Formula
- Xenotar (Schneider's five-element double Gauss type, here with 7 elements): 7 elements in 6 groups on the PQS, AF and AFD lenses; the earlier manual PQ lens is given as 7 elements in 5 groups by Japanese Wikipedia and Kamerastore, 7 in 6 by Rolleigraphy
- Construction
- 7 elements / 6 groups
- Aperture range
- f/2.8–f/22
- Shutter
- Electronically timed leaf shutter in the lens, linear-motor driven: 30 s–1/500 s on the manual PQ lens; 30 s–1/1000 s on the PQS, AF-PQS and AFD-PQS
- Min. focus
- 0.8 m
- Dimensions
- 84.5 × 66.5 mm
- Weight
- 520 g
- Filter
- Rollei Bay VI
- Years manufactured
- 1988
- Country
- Germany
- Coating
- Rollei HFT multicoating
What reviewers say
- Philip Greenspun (photo.net), Schneider 80/2.8 on a Rolleiflex 6008 over four years of professional use, 1989–93 (blog) — Of his four lenses (Zeiss 50/4, Schneider 80/2.8, Zeiss 120/4 macro, Zeiss 250/5.6) "the Schneider was the sharpest lens and a joy to use" — and, writing in 1997, already discontinued. If forced to buy a medium-format SLR again he would take a 6008 with the Schneider 80.
- Chuck Jones (The Camera Forum), Rollei Schneider 80mm f/2.8 adapted to a Sony A7RV, wide open (blog) — On a 61-megapixel sensor at f/2.8 the 80 is "every bit as sharp" as his Tele-Xenar 180/2.8: "this is not a lens fighting its aperture", with depth of field falling off naturally and the micro-contrast he associates with the Schneider lenses for the 6000 system. He notes that adapted, the lens has no aperture control unless the adapter provides one.
- Volker Muth (35mmc), Rolleiflex 6008 professional (blog) — Mentioned rather than tested: the Schneider 80 "can be an attractive alternative if you favour a different rendering and bokeh" to the Planar, and in the comments he judges it the Schneider lens with the least difference from its Zeiss counterpart in bokeh, sharpness and rendering.
History
Schneider’s Xenotar 2.8/80 is the second standard lens of the Rollei 6000 system, and the one that outlived the Zeiss Planar. It appeared first as a manual-focus PQ lens: Greenspun, who bought a 6008 outfit in 1989, owned one and rated it the sharpest lens he had, “a joy to use”, and by 1997 it had been dropped. A manual PQS version with 1/1000 s is listed in Rollei’s brochure-derived tables with seven elements in six groups, 0.8 m closest focus and 520 g, and that same 7/6 lens is what Schneider rebuilt with an autofocus motor as the AF-Xenotar 2.8/80 PQS, catalogue 54 001, the standard lens of the 6008 AF in 2002 and, as the AFD without an aperture ring, of the Hy6 of 2007. Rollei’s 2003 brochure sells it on “legendary sharpness” and a 1/1000 s top speed; the Planar 2.8/80 was never made in autofocus form.
Whether the early manual lens is the same glass is an open question. Japanese Wikipedia gives the plain Xenotar 80mm f/2.8 seven elements in five groups and 0.9 m closest focus, and a dealer’s listing of a PQ copy agrees on 7/5, 0.9 m, five blades and 593 g; Rolleigraphy gives the same lens 7/6. A 593 g lens focusing to 0.9 m and a 520 g lens focusing to 0.8 m would be two designs, and no Schneider sheet has turned up to settle it. The manual lens also carries a smaller oddity: Rollei’s own 2003 table gives the AF lens a closest focus of 1.0 m where every other source says 0.8 m.
Like every lens of the system it holds its own linear-motor shutter and diaphragm behind ten gold contacts, which is why the versions are not interchangeable across bodies: the PQ lens runs on anything from the SLX to the Hy6, the PQS and AF lenses need a 6008-generation body or later, and the AFD, having no aperture ring, works only on a Hy6, since no 6000-series camera can set an aperture from the body. Autofocus itself needs a 6008 AF or Hy6; on a 6008 integral, 6003 or 6001 the AF lens is a manual-focus lens with every exposure mode.
What reviewers say is consistent. Greenspun found it sharper than his three Zeiss lenses. Chuck Jones, shooting a Rollei Schneider 80/2.8 wide open on a 61-megapixel Sony, found it as sharp as his Tele-Xenar 180 and not “fighting its aperture”, with the micro-contrast he credits to the Schneider lenses of the system. Volker Muth, a Planar user, allows it as an alternative for those who prefer a different rendering and bokeh, and judges the two 80s closer to each other than any other Zeiss–Schneider pair in the range. Used, the AF lens is the one most often sold with a 6008 AF or Hy6; when buying, note the type word, the presence or absence of an aperture ring, and that the electronics in the lens have no manual fallback.
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 Xenotar 80mm f/2.8 (6000)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
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