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Old 25th December 2008, 10:56 PM
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Default enlarger lens for big (20x16) prints from 35mm

My standard 50mm rodagon is pretty good but starts to run out of steam when images get past about 10X. I'm thinking that a 50mm apo rodagon N will show better sharpness on bigger prints than a standard rodagon. Don't think you'll see much difference upto 10x magnification, but at 15x quite possibly a difference.
Anyone done a comparison between a standard 50mm rodagon and a 50mm apo rodagon N?

There are other high spec lenses such as the schneider HM lenses and some older rodagon G lenses but I don't think I'll ever need the magnification that those lenses give.

What do you rekon?
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Old 26th December 2008, 04:35 PM
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The APO design is supposed to reduce colour fringing. I don't know whether that makes it sharper, but it is recommended for up to x20 magnification.
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Old 26th December 2008, 04:42 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave View Post
The APO design is supposed to reduce colour fringing. I don't know whether that makes it sharper, but it is recommended for up to x20 magnification.
Well yes that is my thinking. It should show better performance than a "normal" lens at bigger magnifications without it being designed specifically for bigger enlargments. A rodagan G may be best for really big enlargements but that is an older design and for my requirements I think its over the top. I suspect the more modern design of the apo N with modern glass would be just as good if not better at 15X magnification which is the max I would want to go to.
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Old 26th December 2008, 05:06 PM
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Given that a standard lens is working at it's designed limits at X15, whilst the APO would still be comfortably within them at that enlargement factor I would expect to see an improvement in image crispness. Whether that's worth the financial outlay only you can judge. I did own both types up till about a year ago, but never thought to do a comparison test, since by then I had stopped printing from 35mm. I was surprised at the level of interest there was when I ebayed it.
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Old 26th December 2008, 05:40 PM
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I think people get a bit over excited about the APO designation. I doubt you could see a difference upto 10x magnification between a non apo and apo 50mm lens. But the apo design apparently performs over a wider range of magnifications which is why I aksed. It's just a question of whether it really does perform better at bigger magnifications that I'm keen to know. It should, according to spec BUT a WA 40 design is claimed by Linos to have the same performance as a normal rodagon, but at the same time they claim its range is upto 20X magnification unlike only 15X for a normal rodagon. See http://www.linos.com/pages/no_cache/...09727#sid13386

They have contradicted themselves with this claim and being suspicious of manufacturers claims, I wonder if the APO claims are similar.

And infact the current Linos claim for the apo rodagon is only 15X whereas the old rodenstock site claimed 20x for the apo rodagon N.
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Old 26th December 2008, 07:20 PM
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I have an 50mm apo-rodagon here which I have yet to try. It came from the local medical school, legitimately, I hasten to add. Interestingly it says its an apo-rodagon with no mention of WA, N or D. Maybe its older but it does not look any different from the 'N' images at Linos.

Your welcome to test it Rob, if it would help your decision?

Edit: It appears that this lens was probably made around 1985.
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Old 26th December 2008, 07:49 PM
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I think that is quite an old lens as normally the lens will say N or WA on it if it a recent one so thanks for the offer but I'll decline this time.

I've attached the Rodenstock / Linos lens specs for those that interested in these things.

Rodenstock Enlarger Lens Specs.pdf
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Last edited by Argentum; 26th December 2008 at 08:48 PM.
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