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#1
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Enlarging lens question
I picked up a couple of enlarging lens today at a yard sale and was wondering about the quality. One is a Beslar 50mm f/3.5 and the other is a El-Omegar 50mm f/3.5 Are these lens worth using or should I dump them?? -- Colyn Goodson http://www.colyngoodson.com |
#2
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Enlarging lens question
Colyn wrote:
I picked up a couple of enlarging lens today at a yard sale and was wondering about the quality. One is a Beslar 50mm f/3.5 and the other is a El-Omegar 50mm f/3.5 Are these lens worth using or should I dump them?? The Belsar 50mm was the standard lense that came with Besler 35mm enlargers. It must be worth at least 35 cents these days?? ;-) The Rodenstock El-Omegar 50mm was the standard lense that came with Omega enlargers for 35mm film. It must be worth at least half again as much as the Belsar lense... Generally the problem you'll have with these lenses is needing to stop down to f/16 to get the edges of an 8x10 print in focus. They don't have a flat enough field to use them anywhere near wide open, which is very inconvenient to say the least. What you want is an El Nikkor, a Componon-S or a Rodagon 50mm lens for 35mm enlarging. I used to use El Nikkor enlarging lenses, but the others also have good reputations. Note that none of the good lenses are particularly expensive on eBay these days (usually well under $50 used) so there really isn't much reason for keeping the lesser quality lenses. -- Floyd L. Davidson http://www.apaflo.com/floyd_davidson Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska) |
#4
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Enlarging lens question
"Colyn" wrote in message ... I picked up a couple of enlarging lens today at a yard sale and was wondering about the quality. One is a Beslar 50mm f/3.5 and the other is a El-Omegar 50mm f/3.5 Are these lens worth using or should I dump them?? -- Colyn Goodson http://www.colyngoodson.com My Omega B-22 came with an El-Omegar... The difference was amazing when I replaced it with a Schneider (don't remember the exact "vintage"). In my case, the sharpness improved a noticeable amount, but the Omegar was giving me flare around highlights-- that dissappearred with the better lens. IIRC, the Omeger was a smaller diameter mount and I had to do some fancy cutting to mount the Schneider. Not impossible, just painstaking. -- Ken Hart |
#5
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Enlarging lens question
Colyn wrote:
I picked up a couple of enlarging lens today at a yard sale and was wondering about the quality. One is a Beslar 50mm f/3.5 and the other is a El-Omegar 50mm f/3.5 Are these lens worth using or should I dump them?? Even 3rd rate enlarging lenses make pretty fair loupes for looking at negatives and contact sheets, so they still may be useful to someone even if not for their intended purpose. Peter. -- |
#6
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Enlarging lens question
On Sat, 1 Apr 2006 22:42:21 -0500, "Ken Hart" wrote:
My Omega B-22 came with an El-Omegar... The difference was amazing when I replaced it with a Schneider (don't remember the exact "vintage"). In my case, the sharpness improved a noticeable amount, but the Omegar was giving me flare around highlights-- that dissappearred with the better lens. IIRC, the Omeger was a smaller diameter mount and I had to do some fancy cutting to mount the Schneider. Not impossible, just painstaking. My Schneider uses the same 39mm mount as the 2 lens I picked up today so I had no problems mounting it on my Durst. -- Colyn Goodson http://www.colyngoodson.com |
#7
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Enlarging lens question
Colyn wrote:
On Sat, 01 Apr 2006 19:00:06 -0800, (Floyd L. Davidson) wrote: Generally the problem you'll have with these lenses is needing to stop down to f/16 to get the edges of an 8x10 print in focus. They don't have a flat enough field to use them anywhere near wide open, which is very inconvenient to say the least. What you want is an El Nikkor, a Componon-S or a Rodagon 50mm lens for 35mm enlarging. I used to use El Nikkor enlarging lenses, but the others also have good reputations. I use a Leica 50mm f/2 Summitar lens on my D2 but needed another lens That is probably not optimum, but would certainly be much better than the Belsar or El Omegar you mentioned. Given the low price of a good enlarging lense, I'd get one. for an Omega C700 I found which will go to a friends son who is learning to process and print his own photos. I also have a Schneider lens on my Durst. The default lense supplied with a Durst enlarger is going to be just about the same quality as the stock lenses for Omega and Belser enlargers: the cheapest thing that appears to work, more or less. Schneider of course has made some very good enlarging lenses, but like all of the other lense manufacturers they made some very low cost low performance lenses too. -- Floyd L. Davidson http://www.apaflo.com/floyd_davidson Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska) |
#8
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Enlarging lens question
"Colyn" wrote in message ... On Sat, 1 Apr 2006 22:42:21 -0500, "Ken Hart" wrote: My Omega B-22 came with an El-Omegar... The difference was amazing when I replaced it with a Schneider (don't remember the exact "vintage"). In my case, the sharpness improved a noticeable amount, but the Omegar was giving me flare around highlights-- that dissappearred with the better lens. IIRC, the Omeger was a smaller diameter mount and I had to do some fancy cutting to mount the Schneider. Not impossible, just painstaking. My Schneider uses the same 39mm mount as the 2 lens I picked up today so I had no problems mounting it on my Durst. -- Colyn Goodson http://www.colyngoodson.com Schneider mounts vary with age. Earlier, chrome barrel versions of the Componon are not Leica thread mount (39mm mount), later ones are, at least up to 105mm. While the later versions of this lens are better than the older ones even the chrome barrel Componon is nothing to snear at. These were the best enlarging lenses available at the time they were made and are still very respectable. Similar Rodenstock lenses are also very good to excellent but are not very common on the used market. -- --- Richard Knoppow Los Angeles, CA, USA |
#9
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Enlarging lens question
"Colyn" wrote
needed another lens for an Omega C700 I found which will go to a friends son who is learning to process and print his own photos. [Found an el-Omegaron and el-Beselar...] I had a Nikon 50/3.5 Tessar formula lens which I replaced with a 50/2.8 6-Element. The difference in prints was startling: I couldn't tell the difference. Several hundred dollars down the drain. I have very good acuity, I spot my prints with a 30x stereo microscope, I have 'blads, Leicas and Sinars all with SOTA lenses and my requirements for 'sharp' are higher than any other anal retentive I know. Bottom line: IMO there is more hype about lenses than there is about developers - that doesn't mean there aren't some really awful lenses out there but Apo-Costalotagons don't improve anyone's photographs. Put the lenses on your enlarger and make a few test prints. Only you can say what is acceptable you. I wouldn't spend money on lenses for the kid when he may not get hooked by darkroom work. As a first lens either of these is great. Play 'Princess and the Pea': if the kid complains about sharpness then you know he is on the hook. -- Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio Consulting Engineer: Electronics, Photonics, Informatics. Remove blanks to reply: n o lindan at ix . netcom . com f-Stop enlarging timers: http://www.nolindan.com/da/fstop/ Blinking light in window: Fresh Timers Available, still warm from the solder oven. |
#10
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Enlarging lens question
On Sun, 02 Apr 2006 05:18:23 GMT, "Richard Knoppow"
wrote: Schneider mounts vary with age. Earlier, chrome barrel versions of the Componon are not Leica thread mount (39mm mount), later ones are, at least up to 105mm. While the later versions of this lens are better than the older ones even the chrome barrel Componon is nothing to snear at. These were the best enlarging lenses available at the time they were made and are still very respectable. Similar Rodenstock lenses are also very good to excellent but are not very common on the used market. I started off with a Schneider with a small mount (don't recall the size) then went to the newer versions with 39mm. I currently have a 50mm and 75mm. Both are as sharp as any I have seen. One lens I wish I had kept though was a 50mm Rokkor-X Minolta enlarging lens. -- Colyn Goodson http://www.colyngoodson.com |
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