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  #1  
Old 13th August 2011, 10:42 PM
Knoll Knoll is offline
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Default Rodagon vs. Companon

Hello together,

I bought a Durst Laborator 138 to make enlargement of 24x108 mm negatives (a panorama of 3 135mm pictures in a line). Now I want to buy a 2,8/50mm enlarger lens. I can't make a choice between the Rodenstock Rodagon and the Schneider Kreuznach Componon-S. Has anyone experience with one of this lenses?


THX a lot!

Knoll
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Old 14th August 2011, 10:26 AM
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MartyNL MartyNL is offline
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Hi Knoll,

If I understand you correctly, you wish to print a single row of 3x 35mm negatives in 'one exposure' as a panorama? So the negative will probably measure more than 24x108mm. So for an enlargement of a negative of this size you will need at least a 135mm lens but probably easier and better still a 150mm lens.

However, if your plan is to make 3 separate 35mm exposures on one sheet of paper then I would recommend any 50mm enlarging lens of 6 element construction be it from Rodenstock, Schneider, Nikon...
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Old 14th August 2011, 10:44 AM
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paddy paddy is offline
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I have not had any experience with the rodenstocks
But the 2 componon s lens i have (50mm 2.8/80mm 4) are great lens, also
the 50mm nikon 2.8 (6 element) is a great lens.
Like marty said you cant go wrong with any 6 element lens from nikon, schneider or rodenstock
I dont know what camera you are using but i use the 50mm nikon el lens
for my 35mm nikon cameras, the 50mm comopnon s for my contax g2 and the 80mm componon s for my rolleiflex and mamiya MF cameras
paddy
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Old 14th August 2011, 11:05 AM
DougHowk DougHowk is offline
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For such comparisons, Ctein's Post Exposure is a good place to start. For 50mm lens he rates the Componon-S above the Rodagon. I have a Rodagon 80mm and Conponon-S 150mm, and they're both excellent for my needs.
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Old 14th August 2011, 03:11 PM
Martin Reed Martin Reed is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DougHowk View Post
For such comparisons, Ctein's Post Exposure is a good place to start. For 50mm lens he rates the Componon-S above the Rodagon. I have a Rodagon 80mm and Conponon-S 150mm, and they're both excellent for my needs.
I once tried out all the main high quality 50mm brands against each other (going back a long time when Minolta Rokkors were around). The best performance on 9.5x12" (looking at corner resolution) was the Componon-S, second was the Nikkor, but there was very little real difference.
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Old 14th August 2011, 03:45 PM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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To be honest I would very much doubt that you would see any difference in quality between either lens unless you were thinking of very large prints, 20x24 or bigger, at the normal sizes, say up to 20x16 then the differences would be so slight that you would not see them unless you were hyper critical, and even at large prints you would be hard pressed to see any real difference,
Richard
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Old 14th August 2011, 05:56 PM
Knoll Knoll is offline
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Thanks for so much response. I've heard quietly a small tendency to the SKR Componon-S.

@MartyNL: I want to enlarge with a small site of 25-30cm. I can't use the 135mm or 150mm lenses because I can't go enough away with the enlarger head. But I know the problem with the "screen image circle", the vignetting in the boundary area. So I will lend the Componon-S at first from a friend to try it out.

@paddy: I use a Pentax ME Super :-)

@Doug: Thank you for the link to the book! So I can also improve my English.

@Martin and Richard: Yes, I thougt also that the differences aren't so much. But I want also make posterprints in the future, maybe with a 40mm or 35mm lens. I've got a roll of 1x30 meters Kentmere FB paper. I will see...
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Old 14th August 2011, 06:12 PM
Ed Moss Ed Moss is offline
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I use a Nikon and have done loads of 20x16 prints with it, never noticed any problem and never "felt" I was missing out.
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