155 Grandagon-N vs. 150mm Nikkor-SW..... Which Would You Choose and Why ??

Old-N-Feeble · Nov 6, 2014

I'm aware that the Grandagon specs are a bit underrated and the Nikkor specs are a bit overrated so I suspect both are pretty close to the same. I'm sure I can find center filters that will work well enough for both. As long as the lens covers sharply to the corners (with wiggle room) not much else matters to me in this focal length on 8x10. Size and weight aren't concerns either since the camera is a Toyo 810G. Let's skip the 150mm SSXL due to cost. In fact, I recently sold a 150 SSXL for far too cheap.

Which lens would you choose and why?

EDIT: I hope to be making mural-sized prints several feet wide so sharpness is very important to me. I'll be using a Rodagon-G or G-Componon enlarging lens.

Richard Man · Nov 7, 2014

Which one puts an image on the ground glass? That's the one you should buy.

JohnArs · Nov 7, 2014

I'm very happy with my Grandagon 155mm but would prefer the Nikon because its wider and not so big and heavy if I remember correct the Grandagon is f 6.8 the Nikon is f8 this is a plus for the Grandagon.
Booth are good lenses anyway, the Nikon has a bit more covering power but not much!

Cheers Armin

Richard Man · Nov 7, 2014

Can we see some of these proposed images? I mean, you must have some some ideas what you want to print mural size?

Old-N-Feeble · Nov 7, 2014

didjiman said:
Can we see some of these proposed images? I mean, you must have some some ideas what you want to print mural size?

I'm sorry but I have no 8x10 images yet. I do like very large prints.

Ian Grant · Nov 7, 2014

I'm a big fan of Rodenstock lenses, I'd go for the Grandagon personally.

Ian

ic-racer · Nov 7, 2014

I'd flip a coin and move on. You will have many, many more issues of more importance to complete this grand project.
Have you used the Rodagon-G before? It should work well for you. Of course its specs show 8x to 30x, so that is 80" to 300" Realize that paper rolls are about 55".

Old-N-Feeble · Nov 7, 2014

ic-racer said:
I'd flip a coin and move on. You will have many, many more issues of more importance to complete this grand project.
Have you used the Rodagon-G before? It should work well for you. Of course its specs show 8x to 30x, so that is 80" to 300" Realize that paper rolls are about 55".

Right... 56" max, IIRC. If I crop to 5x10 that's approximately 12x after considering loss of edges from the film holder and a tiny bit of cropping. If I crop to 4x10 then the enlargement is greater. I may also try splicing two prints together to achieve 112" on the narrow side.

RalphLambrecht · Nov 7, 2014

I would chose the NikkorbecauseI always had ga good experience with Nikkors

ic-racer · Nov 7, 2014

That sounds like a fantastic project. The cropped format will be a great match for paper roll spread out lengthwise. My enlarger is designed to project on to a paper roll that hangs down so you can splice multiple 55" strips together.

This lower print (cropped 8x10 negative) in this picture is a mock-up using five 16x20 sheets. For the 'real' one I'd use 5 strips of the paper roll. Still working on ways to process the long sheets, so at this point I just have the 'little' mock up.
Keep us updated with your project.

Old-N-Feeble · Nov 7, 2014

ic-racer said:
That sounds like a fantastic project. The cropped format will be a great match for paper roll spread out lengthwise. My enlarger is designed to project on to a paper roll that hangs down so you can splice multiple 55" strips together.

This lower print (cropped 8x10 negative) in this picture is a mock-up using five 16x20 sheets. For the 'real' one I'd use 5 strips of the paper roll. Still working on ways to process the long sheets, so at this point I just have the 'little' mock up.
Keep us updated with your project.
View attachment 97430

I saw a video recently (I can't remember where) of a guy who made a floating tube out of PVC with the ends sealed. It was something like 24 inch diameter, I think. This was floated in the chemistry atop a U-shaped trough that was filled with chemicals at one end and dumped at the other end. The exposed paper was held on with multiple clips. The tube was geared on one end and turned by electric motor. This seemed to work quite well. I do hope he had some sort of GFCI installed... or was using a low voltage DC motor.

DREW WILEY · Nov 7, 2014

Big tube processors floating in baths were commercially made by Colex, Kodak, and Metz. Needed a lot of chemistry. I'd rather use the chem one-shot inside a conventional drum, which can easily be made to just about any size using irrigation pipe. But with fiber-based paper there would have to be a bit of prototyping to keep the soggy paper from collapsing during rotation. Some of the older drums had a kind of retainer
mesh in there. I can't comment, since the biggest drum I use is for 30X40" paper, and I only use it for color processing. Gearmotors etc are
easy to get, but 316 SS drive rods etc all add up. If the chem were strictly inside the tube, you could just roll it back and forth on any smooth
surface, which some people are already doing.

DanielStone · Nov 9, 2014

I (had) a Grandagon 155mm lens.

BIG, HEAVY, but the illumination was very even. In this "class", I believe it's actually the most even(well, unless you have the Schneider Super Symmar 150mm XL and the center filter for it)

-Dan

analoguey · Nov 9, 2014

Old-N-Feeble said:
I'm aware that the Grandagon specs are a bit underrated and the Nikkor specs are a bit overrated so I suspect both are pretty close to the same. I'm sure I can find center filters that will work well enough for both. As long as the lens covers sharply to the corners (with wiggle room) not much else matters to me in this focal length on 8x10. Size and weight aren't concerns either since the camera is a Toyo 810G. Let's skip the 150mm SSXL due to cost. In fact, I recently sold a 150 SSXL for far too cheap.

Which lens would you choose and why?

EDIT: I hope to be making mural-sized prints several feet wide so sharpness is very important to me. I'll be using a Rodagon-G or G-Componon enlarging lens.

Following this thread.
Even though I'm not going 8x10 yet, definitely interested in what printing mural sizes might involve!

ic-racer said:
I'd flip a coin and move on. You will have many, many more issues of more importance to complete this grand project.
Have you used the Rodagon-G before? It should work well for you. Of course its specs show 8x to 30x, so that is 80" to 300" Realize that paper rolls are about 55".

Are all enlargements measured only via the long side measurement?

darkroom_rookie · Nov 9, 2014

Old-N-Feeble said:
I saw a video recently (I can't remember where) of a guy who made a floating tube out of PVC with the ends sealed. It was something like 24 inch diameter, I think. This was floated in the chemistry atop a U-shaped trough that was filled with chemicals at one end and dumped at the other end. The exposed paper was held on with multiple clips. The tube was geared on one end and turned by electric motor. This seemed to work quite well. I do hope he had some sort of GFCI installed... or was using a low voltage DC motor.

Was it perhaps this video?

[video=youtube;7gGeG2oIwrA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gGeG2oIwrA[/video]

BTW, did you ever receive that 150mm Rodagon-G from England?

Old-N-Feeble · Nov 9, 2014

^^^ Yes, that's the one.

I did receive the 150mm Rodagon-G and it was very nice. I had to sell it during a rough time though. Now I'm trying to catch up financially so I can reacquire the things I need (want) and build the darkroom.

155 Grandagon-N vs. 150mm Nikkor-SW..... Which Would You Choose and Why ??

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