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I would appreciate any comments on the merits of the 75mm Grandagon N against the 80mm Super Symmer XL as I am contemplating purchasing one or the other and there is little difference in price but a lot in weight.

The schneider is a very very nice lens, super sharp and with good coverage. Tiny size and 67mm filters. Doesnt really need the centre filter in normal usage. Having had one, sold it and got another I cant imagine anything better around that focal length. Have tried a Nikon 65mm and 75mm lens and it was light years better IMHO. I have no experience of the grandagon.

The only thing with the focal length is the small number of shots I take at it - its a less than 3%er with the 90/110 almost always being wide enough and giving a stronger composition. I think 1 of my top 100 shots is taken at this focal length. Its a lot of money for a small number of shots. If you use a 90mm lens then I dont think its wide enough as a gap. Of course, ymmv.

Hello from France !
comments on the merits of the 75mm Grandagon N

On the current Rodenstock(Linos) catalogue, there is only one Grandagon-N listed in 75 mm focal length : the 8-element 4.5 model.
Up to the beginning of this century, there was another 75mm grandagon-N model, the 6.8, 6-element. I own this model, cheaper and ligther than the 4.5-8 element.

My understanding is that you refer to the current 4.5-75 Grandagon-N with 8 elements. Yes it is heavier than the 80mm Super Symmer XL,
the reported weights (with copal shutter) are :
- 340 grams for the 6.8/75 grandagon-N
- 440 grams for the 4.5-75 grandagon-N
- 274 grams for the schneider super symmar Xl 80

but I would not expect any significant difference in terms of image performance. In fact aspherical elements allow a more compact design but no real improvement vs. a conventional design like the 8-element 4.5-75 grandagon N.

So if weight is a real issue, for a similar price you can go for the aspherical Schneider 80 mm, however before making a final decision I would recommend to have a look at the second hand market for a Grandagon-N 6.8-75. It uses 67 mm filters as well.
I am the happy owner of this "small"' 75 grandagon-N "6 elements only" and this lens gives outstanding results if you can live with 102° of coverage (image circle of 187 mm) instead of 105° (image circle 195 mm) for the 8-element 75 grandagon-N
The 80 SSXL is listed for 105° this yields 212 mm of image circle.

I have the 80mm SSXL and soon found that I needed to add the centre filter (CF) if anything more than the slightest camera movement is being deployed for E6 film. With the CF, it soon gains size! This also necessitates the push-on Lee Filter holder with donut spacer. Another expense....

Previously I'd had a SA 75mm without the CF. Much bigger lens and this too needed the CF. A lens rethink/shopping spree entailed selling the SA75mm.

The extra 1 1/2 stops of the CF can be a real pain. Recently shooting at Porth Nanven and I now have one shot with an 8 minute exposure to process.