Any experience with Steinheil Pan-Quinon lenses?

[Johannes Schmalzl]

It's another topic from a long time ago, so my expectations are not too high that anybody does... but I still got to ask:

Does anyone here have some experience with Steinheil Pan-Quinon lenses?

According to this announcement they must have been released somewhere during the early 1960s and created in an exclusive cooperation between Panavision and Steinheil:

Pan-Quinon_Announcement_SMPTE_1960_05.jpg
Steinheil is of course one of the oldest names in photographic history and while it never became one of the big brands worldwide, it certainly was a respected and highly capable manufacturer of optical equipment.

So I'm wondering how these lenses were in terms of quality?
I know Kollmorgen also made new lenses for Panavision and other makers likely did as well, when it was introduced.

How did the Steinheil lenses fare against that competition?

Were they even known among projectionists of the time?

Given the limited number of lenses Steinheil made for that purpuse I guess that they probably weren't widely used, but it's hard to judge numbers from that time without any reference from some of Steinheils competitors.

Steinheil_PanQuinon_5_1-4inch_F2_YahooAuctions.jpg
I would love to hear what people think or thought about these lenses, so I appreciate any information you can provide!

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

They are just OK projection lenses in my book. They have Balsam cemented pairs and old single layer coatings. Panavision also used Steinheil Pan-Quinon primary lenses on the prismatic Ultra Panavision camera lenses, and as the primary lens on the Ultra Panavision projection attachment. That those Panavision's lenses were solely designed for the job they were doing, helps them a bit. In comparison to today's optics, they would test mediocre because of the cemented elements and the single layer coating, and mainly age, as the cement (Balsam) leans towards brown the older they get. Am pretty sure with Super Panavision they designed and made all their own lenses. In the images, the lens on the bottom (Ultra Panavision) had a Steinheil in it. While the 17mm lens (Super Panavision) was all Panavision optics.

[Johannes Schmalzl]

They are just OK projection lenses in my book. They have Balsam cemented pairs and old single layer coatings. Panavision also used Steinheil Pan-Quinon primary lenses on the prismatic Ultra Panavision camera lenses, and as the primary lens on the Ultra Panavision projection attachment. That those Panavision's lenses were solely designed for the job they were doing, helps them a bit. In comparison to today's optics, they would test mediocre because of the cemented elements and the single layer coating, and mainly age, as the cement (Balsam) leans towards brown the older they get. Am pretty sure with Super Panavision they designed and made all their own lenses. In the images, the lens on the bottom (Ultra Panavision) had a Steinheil in it. While the 17mm lens (Super Panavision) was all Panavision optics.

Thank you very much for your take on the matter - that's very interesting to know. Of course it's to be expected that these lenses don't hold up to more modern ones due to their limitations. They're mainly interesting to me because of the historical context. I've only scratched the surface when it comes to the whole Panavision tech and the implications it had on lenses and accessories... It all looks quite complicated, but once you get to know the parts behind it, it tends to get clearer. I've seen a pretty good explanation for the T-Kiptagon (Todd AO) system of lenses/attachments for example...

Because I'm writing a couple of articles (one on "Projection Optics" from the US, another one on certain ISCO/Schneider lens series for example...) a Pan-Quinon lens would be great to compare to contemporary products. So if you happen to have one of those you no longer need or know somebody who does, I would certainly be interested in one for this reason.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

There were a number of them in systems I removed to convert to digital. But all that gear was recycled. But don't give up hope. I'm sure someone on here has some. Magna-Tech jn Miami is probably a good place to start checking. They have lots of film stuff there. In the next week or so, I will get some shots of the Ultra Panavision lens for you. Its in storage, but I'll dig it out...

[Johannes Schmalzl]

There were a number of them in systems I removed to convert to digital. But all that gear was recycled. But don't give up hope. I'm sure someone on here has some. Magna-Tech jn Miami is probably a good place to start checking. They have lots of film stuff there. In the next week or so, I will get some shots of the Ultra Panavision lens for you. Its in storage, but I'll dig it out...

That's very kind - thanks a lot! I'm really motivated to archive some of the stuff which doesn't seem to be yet, and I appreciate any help by people in the know. I'm well aware how much I still need to learn about all the details and connections...