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Question about my enlarger lenses

glassbox

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Las Vegas, NV
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I recently acquired an Omega D-2V with a few lenses.
I'm pretty new when it comes to the darkroom so I'd like to know if these lenses are of any good quality. Thanks for the help

 
Welcome to APUG

I use a 50mm lens for 35mm, an 80mm lens for 120 film and a 135mm lens for 4"x5". Work with what you have. Later, you may [or may not] upgrade for better quality. For now enjoy them and learn about the equipment you have rather than dwell on the other possibilities.
 
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They are all of reasonable quality - most likely 4 (or 3) element design.

Try them, you may be pleased.

If you need lenses for more demanding circumstances like unusually large enlargements, you can improve on them.
 
I would never use an omegar for anything. A used Componon-S, Rodagon, or comparable EL-Nikkor can often be found for less than 75 dollars. After the exposing stage, the enlarging lens is the most important part of the quality chain. a 50/2.8 and a 80/4 or 80/5.6 from any of these labels will cover all of your bases up to 6x6/6x7 and you can add a 135 if you decide to try out 4x5.
 
Don't know much about the Fujinon, but the El-Omegars are 4-element lenses - OK quality but you may want to upgrade to a better 6-element lens at some point. The most common top-quality lenses are El-Nikkor, Schneider Componon and Rodenstock Rodagon. You can often find used examples for very little money in varying focal lengths.

I use a 50mm/2.8 El-Nikkor for 35mm negs, an 80mm/4 Componon-S and an El-Nikkor 105mm/5.6 for medium format, and a 135mm/5.6 Componon-S for 4x5. There are some older discontinued brands that can also give very good results. I also occasionally use a 1950s Kodak Ektar 75mm lens and an Ilex 135mm. Both give nice results, but the odd thread mount sizing made it difficult to find lens boards for them.

Here's a link to some more information http://www.jollinger.com/photo/enlargers/guide-to-enlargers.htm#Lens
 
I had a feeling these weren't going to be the best lenses money could buy. I'll give them a try once my lens board comes in. I'm still on the fence in regards to how deep I want to get into this darkroom madness
 
glassbox said:
I had a feeling these weren't going to be the best lenses money could buy. I'll give them a try once my lens board comes in. I'm still on the fence in regards to how deep I want to get into this darkroom madness
Click to expand...

Much too late! You have been bitten as the infection has taken over. Your only salvation is to not resist the pressure of G.A.S. [Gadget Acquisition Syndrome]. You can start now by spending as much money or more than you have to buy, buy and buy equipment and supplies. Your life as you know it has irrevocably changed and you are so screwed. Sorry about that.
 
You might just be pleasantly surprised by the quality of the lenses especially the Fujinon unless you want to make monster prints. Try them first. It is true that a lot of enlarging lenses can be had pretty cheap these days if you look around. Good luck and have a ball.
 
50 will be for 35mm film
77 for 6x6cm film and the 105 for 6x9cm film

All are good enough to get you started. The "Better" lenses you might want to acquire later will be sharper at the corners on big enlargements. In terms of practical information, I'd predict that if you limit enlargements to 5x7" paper, all those lenses will be fantastic and better lenses will likely be no different. If you want to do full-frame printing to 11x14, 16x20 or bigger, you may have difficulty getting all 4 corners perfectly sharp with those lenses.
 
If those are 4 element lenses the image quality will be just fine, especially w/ the Fujinon.
 
The Fujinon is a fine lens. There was one of a higher grade, the EX, but you should be very pleased with it.

The El-Omegars are El-Omegarbage.

Lenses are so cheap now, though, not to worry.
 

You guys have no idea! After 8 years and about $10,000.00 I pretty much have the darkroom of my dreams, but if I could just have that one more gadget.....

And I still don't have the dark!

:crazy:
 
...
 
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The EL-Omegars were kit/basic lenses. OK until you gain a bit of experience.

Nikon 50/2.8, Rodagons, Componons, Rokkor 50/2.8 were all very good.
Beseler and Vivitar had some Schneider Componons rebranded with their names.
 
The Fuji is the pick of the litter. I'd simply use it for everything from 35mm to 6x9, unless you just have to have something shorter for bigger
enlargements with small film. But as long as you have these lenses, just test print with each one for its strengths and weaknesses. You need
a bit of track record printing before you can appreciate the distinction in an expensive enlarging lens. These should do fine for awhile.
 
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