What's a good 39mm thread 70mm enlarger lens?

pbromaghin · Aug 16, 2011

My durst F60 came with only a 50mm lens but I plan to do 6x6 negatives. I don't need the best and want to avoid junk. What's a good lens to fit a 39mm mount?

Thanks to you all.

removedacct3 · Aug 16, 2011

Although it is not a 70mm lens, I'm using a Schneider 80mm f/4 Componon-S which serves me well for all my medium format negatives.

Klainmeister · Aug 16, 2011

I second the Componon-s, but El-Nikkors are quite good too. Oh, and Rodenstock lenses, especially the APO are quite amazing.

There's lots of good choices, thankfully.

David Brown · Aug 16, 2011

Any good 75 or 80mm lens.

Nicholas Lindan · Aug 16, 2011

75mm El-Nikkors are very good performers and reasonably priced as they are 4 element designs. But as used enlarging lenses sell for very little these days you can probably find plenty of 80mm 6-element El-Nikkors, Rodenstock Rodagons or Schneider Companons that are real bargains. Don't pass up el-Rokkor (Minolta), Computar or Fujinon enlarging lenses, they are often the equal of the big-3. The APO-Nikkors are the highest performing lenses with stratospheric prices to match, APO-Rodagons are less pricey but also spectacular performers.

Rodenstock and Schneider budget lenses usually have names ending in -or or -ar and have a variable reputation. Omega and Beseler private labeled Rodenstock and Schneider lenses but you need to have a magic decoder ring to figure out which are the good ones and which were the low-cost 'kit' lenses: "Omegar", "Omegaron", "Beslar" etc..

Some of the Meopta lenses were good - I think the Meogons, somebody will correct me, I'm sure.

mwdake · Aug 16, 2011

The Vivitar VHE and Minolta CE lenses are very good and can be had very cheaply when they show up.

Nicholas Lindan · Aug 17, 2011

Nicholas Lindan said:
el-Rokkor (Minolta)

As Mwdake said -- that should be CE Rokkor.

Durst also private labeled some very good lenses. But they also private labeled some perfectly horrid Isco lenses - seek advice before buying Durst lenses.

jp498 · Aug 17, 2011

MrclSchprs said:
Although it is not a 70mm lens, I'm using a Schneider 80mm f/4 Componon-S which serves me well for all my medium format negatives.

I'm using one of these too. The backlit aperture display and the open/close lever behind the aperture dial is a nice bonus. El-Nikkors are good too, but I like the combination of quality and features on the componon-s mentioned.

GRHazelton · Aug 17, 2011

This is indeed a good time to buy enlarger lenses. Within the last 9 months I picked up a new old stock 50 mm f2.8 Schneider Componon S - 6 elements I think - for about $85, a 80mm Componon and a 105 mm Fujinon each for around $50. The 50mm origininally sold for about $300, according to the price tag still on the box!

Don't forget that your Durst may have lens boards available for other size mounts. For my Besler 23C I had to turn up additional lens boards for the 50mm which had a different thread than the other boards.

Now if only paper and film were as inexpensive and available as enlargers....

mwdake · Aug 17, 2011

As Mwdake said -- that should be CE Rokkor

Yes, I think that's what I meant to say.

Rick A · Aug 17, 2011

I think the OP is looking for a slightly wide angle MF lens, the Durst machine he picked up has a short column. I bought my daughter a small Vivitar enlarger and a 40mm lens for printing 35mm up to 11x14, otherwise a standard 50mm would only go to 8x10. I'm not sure, but I may have a 70mm in a box somewhere.

pbromaghin · Aug 17, 2011

Rick - Yes, I plan to print only up to about 8x10 for now. It came with a 50mm but it has both condensers. I'm pretty much a newbie in the darkroom having spent 2 nights printing back in 1974.

Love the quote, btw. Who said it?

ath · Aug 18, 2011

Just yesterday I read in a schneider brochure (page 9, in german) that one should not use wide angle enlarger lenses with condensors.
That said Rodenstock and Schneider do and did make wide angle enlarger lenses (60mm for 6x6). They tend to be more expensive.

Having used the same condensor intended for 80mm with both 50mm and 80mm lenses without any visible drawback I doubt that this is a real problem (at least with opal lamps; point light sources might be different).

Rick A · Aug 18, 2011

pbromaghin said:
Rick - .

Love the quote, btw. Who said it?

Don't know the origin, my sister sent it to me, knowing I'm a rabid conservative.

Monito · Aug 18, 2011

pbromaghin said:
Rick - Love the quote, btw. Who said it?

Rick A said:
Don't know the origin, my sister sent it to me, knowing I'm a rabid conservative.

It was the winner of a 2007 definitions contest at Texas A&M. It is also attacking a straw man and demolishing it, as if empathy, politeness, and unity were not conservative values. However, that is a topic for a different thread in a different sub-forum.

Rick A · Aug 18, 2011

Well, I've checked through all my enlarger lenses and no W/A for medium format. I do have a couple of inexpensive 75mm's. Why did you buy the F-60 when there are plenty of longer columned machines available? If it was to save space, there are many enlargers with the same footprint, but taller, and not much heavier. I know it has multiple format capability with one negative carrier, but I don't see that as much of a convenience, that leaves price, hopefully you got it free or real cheap.

Nicholas Lindan · Aug 18, 2011

The F60, and other Dursts like it, were designed to fit into the average kitchen drawer. They were aimed at amateurs with temporary darkrooms. A similar series, the Newporter/Reporter, was aimed at pros who had to turn hotel bathrooms into temporary darkrooms.

I had the 35mm version [M30?] in college - very handy for turning a small dorm room into a darkroom.

I may be imagining it, but I have a vague memory of extension columns for these machines.

Monito · Aug 18, 2011

Sometimes it is possible to reverse the column's front-to-back orientation with respect to the base and project onto the floor with the base weighted or clamped to a table. Or build a simple enlarger bench / table with a drop panel (three position) to allow a longer throw.

pbromaghin · Aug 18, 2011

Yes, I got it cheap! The whole bathroom setup was $80 from a college physics professor who did color 35mm but could no longer find time to use it. It was his second darkroom and you can tell that the equipment was accumulated by a logical mind. It's a nice little system that seems to fit together really well - he even included an apron.

It took 6 months watching craigslist to get this complete system at such a good price. I got it intending to learn and see if it's a viable hobby for me. If so, I plan to build a permanent darkroom (with better equipment, maybe 4x5) in the basement for when I retire in 10 years or so and will need a place to hide from my wife.

The small size of the enlarger is a plus for me at this time. And yes, the column will reverse to project on the floor. The head will also turn 90 degrees to project on the wall.

darkroom_rookie · Aug 20, 2011

Another vote for a CE-Rokkor, an 80/5,6 is immensely sharp. I managed a very large (close to 35x45") colour print from cca. 75% of a 645 negative with lots of detail and the print looks brilliant.

What's a good 39mm thread 70mm enlarger lens?

pbromaghin

removedacct3

Klainmeister

David Brown

Nicholas Lindan

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mwdake

Nicholas Lindan

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jp498

GRHazelton

mwdake

Rick A

pbromaghin

ath

Rick A

Monito

Rick A

Nicholas Lindan

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Monito

pbromaghin

darkroom_rookie

What's a good 39mm thread 70mm enlarger lens?

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