Schneider 8-50 any good?

[Rob Skates]

Came across a Schneider 8-50 1.4 and was wondering if anyone had any experience shooting with one. How does it compare to the 6-66? It seems to be the lens that most often came with the Beaulieu 3008s. I've owned Beaulieu cameras over the years with the Angenieux 8-64, 6-80 and the Schneider 6-66 but the 8-50 is not one I know much about. Any thoughts would be helpful.

[Martin Baumgarten]

This lens which was commonly offered/sold on the BEAULIEU 3008S camera is a very good lens. It's small, fairly compact considering the outrigger zoom & iris motors.  It was offered as a lower cost alternative to the more famous and expensive (at the time) 6mm to 66mm Schneider-Krueznach lens.  It's an 8mm to 50mm zoom, is sharp and will produce fine images, just that it's smaller and thus won't go as wide or as telephoto as the larger lens.  It's a great lens if using an Anamorphic lens in front of it, as the smaller design allows a better match with many lenses.  Also, smaller filters and add on lenses can be easily fitted to this lens.  For ultra wide angle, you can fit any of the wide angle add on lenses such as those made by Bower, Vivitar and others.  If you wanted to use an add on Fisheye lens adapter, that would work easier on this smaller lens.   I would rate the overall performance along the lines of the Angenieux 8mm to 64mm, but the Schneider lenses do have a somewhat different color tone to them, slight, but everyone has their preference, and I like the Schneider lenses.  Good luck!