APO enlarging lenes

[Chuck_P]

I'll soon be getting a new enlarging lens and I am looking for opinions from other experienced printers on APO lenses. I did a thread search to see what has been said, but did not find too much and honestly did not spend a whole lot of time searching either.

I've read that even in black and white printing the enlarging lenses should be color corrected and that this can lend a certain crispness to the end result. Currently, I'm using an old Wollensak 90mm for my 6x7 negs and it is just not a very good lens----light fall-off and edge sharpness, especially beyond 8x10, is annoying.

I have the money to spend on a Schneider Componon APO 90mm HM lens and am asking if others have used it and feel it is worth it. Or, just the use of APO lenses in general in B&W printing.

Please only comment if you have practical experience to compare APO vs. non-APO lenses and can provide objective information. Thanks.

Chuck

 

[tleirtro]

Have you read the book "Post exposure" by Ctein? He seems to have done a lot of research around lenses.

Regards,
Thor Egil

 

[Petzi]

I have the money to spend on a Schneider Componon APO 90mm HM lens and am asking if others have used it and feel it is worth it. Or, just the use of APO lenses in general in B&W printing.

I think the Schneider lens is worth it.

There used to be a time, when color aberrations were not an issue with b/w printing, because the papers were only blue sensitive. But now people use Multigrade paper, and it is also sensitive to green. So the correction of color aberrations is more important now.

Also, you may want to try color printing at some point, it's not that difficult.

 

[percepts]

all lenses have an optimum magnification. If the enlarging lens you are using is optimised for the enlargement factor you are using, then whether it is APO or not will make very little if any visble difference.
However, the more you deviate from the lenses optimum enlargement factor, the better an APO lens will perform compared to a non APO lens.
In short, buy a lens which is optimised for the enlargement factor you want to use. Spend the saved money on an enlarger allignment tool which will give you far greater increase in sharpness. Besides, if your enlarger is not perfectly alligned, your money will be wasted on an APO lens.

 

[Petzi]

all lenses have an optimum magnification. If the enlarging lens you are using is optimised for the enlargement factor you are using, then whether it is APO or not will make very little if any visble difference.

AFAIK, the issue of magnification mostly influences distortion, not color aberration. "APO" is about color aberration.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Given the fact that prices have plummetted on these things, I'd say they're well worth it. I upgraded to Apo-Rodagons and an Apo-Componon a few years ago and noticed an improvement over various El-Nikkor, Rodagon, and Componon-S lenses I had previously.

 

[Chuck_P]

Given the fact that prices have plummetted on these things, I'd say they're well worth it. I upgraded to Apo-Rodagons and an Apo-Componon a few years ago and noticed an improvement over various El-Nikkor, Rodagon, and Componon-S lenses I had previously.

I'm glad to hear that you noticed an improvement over other non-APO lenses, it certainly would make the decision to buy one easier to make. But one reasons for the post, is that I have noticed that the price (at B&H and others) for the Schneider APO lens that I am interested in has increased from $659 in the summer '06 B&H catalog to $777 listed currently on B&H's web site----but, the winter '06/07 B&H catalog also has it listed at $659. So, either they mispriced the item in the catalogs or it has gone up a $118, just since the release of their latest catalog. Adorama has it listed on their website at $792.

Does this change your mind on it's worth or do you still think it is worth the cost?

Thanks,
Chuck

 

[Chuck_P]

Given the fact that prices have plummetted on these things....

David,

I began thinking more about this statement and thought that maybe you meant that they have plummetted down to the current prices that I mentioned. I do not know the historical prices of this item as I never was in search of one until recently.

Thanks
Chuck

 

[Richard Wasserman]

I believe that David, if I may speak for him, was refering to eBay prices for used lenses, not new ones from retailers. I too have bought apo lenses and I think I can see a difference, but I find it pretty subtle.

Richard Wasserman

 

[Petzi]

Don't break the bank to buy the lens. If you can afford it, get yourself one of these.

 

[jeroldharter]

I have the Apo-Componon 45, 90, and 150 mm lenses. I haven't taken time to compare them to others but they are very sharp. I agree with the comments about enlarger alignment as well.

I managed to pick up an Apo-Rodagon 150 mm lens on Ebay for $49 but have not had the chance to use it yet.

Be aware that the Apo-Componon 150 mm lens is larger than normal and requires a psecial lens board on my Beseler 45 enlarger.

 

[Chuck_P]

I believe that David, if I may speak for him, was refering to eBay prices for used lenses, not new ones from retailers. I too have bought apo lenses and I think I can see a difference, but I find it pretty subtle.

Richard Wasserman

OIC,

You are probably right on that Richard, it just did not cross my mind because I'm not going to buy it used. I've found that sometimes buying used stuff is risky and in the end quite bothersome. Although I know that it makes sense to try and get it cheaper off of e-bay. However, admittedly, I'm a finicky (spelling?) buyer of certain "things". I definitely will buy used on some items, but not all. I've saved my money and I think I want a new one, warranty and all.

Thanks for the info and I would still like to hear other opinions if there are any.

Chuck

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

There are lots of fine second hand enlarging lenses out there. They tend to stay indoors and don't have shutters or many moving parts, and aren't subject particularly to wear, so the warranty isn't likely to be of much value. I think I paid around $150 each for the 50mm and 90mm Apo-Rodagons--maybe a little less for the 50mm, and around $250 for the 150mm Apo-Componon.

 

[craigclu]

One thing that I've appreciated with APO lenses is the fact that they perform so well when used 1-2 stops from wide open. Some film/developer combos that I've been using over the past couple of years end up working best with a bit more density and to keep my paper exposure times in the time length I prefer, this has been handy. My experience has been that good examples of the 6 element traditional choices are hard to distinguish from their APO counterparts up to about 8X10 (medium format). At this point, I can begin to see the difference and again, the ability to shorten my times at this end of the enlargement scale is appreciated.

I understand your trepidation with used equipment but the cost ratio of new/used on APO lenses is pretty extreme right now and may be worth the gamble? If you don't own a solid alignment device, this might be a good place to spend a few darkroom $$'s. If you are shopping APO's, it's likely you already appreciate that aspect and have it covered but if not, I would highly recommend the Versalab units.

 

[Early Riser]

I own the APO Rodagon N 80, 105, 150 & 180mm enlarging lenses. I also own the nikkor 135, 210 and 240mm enlarging lenses and the rodagon 120WA 180 and 300mm enlarging lenses. And with extensive use and testing of all of them as well as testing with older componons that I also have, that the APO Rodagons are easily the best. They have the best sharpness, detail and contrast.