Best 50mm?

[Sparrow]

Best 50mm

Why don’t people agonise over enlarger lenses in the same way they do with camera lenses?

 

[PaulDalex]

I agonize instead over the poor quality of scanners (in the down to earth price range) whose development the big brands have interrupted long time ago

 

[pvdhaar]

Best 50mm

Why don’t people agonise over enlarger lenses in the same way they do with camera lenses?

I guess it's because a lot of folk don't do their own printing, and leave it to a lab.

That, and because you can work at the enlarger lens' optimum aperture all the time. There's no low light conditions that require working full open to get a decent shutter speed.

 

[Abbazz]

Why don’t people agonise over enlarger lenses in the same way they do with camera lenses?

But they do indeed! Maybe you're not reading the appropriate forums...

Try googling "Zeiss s-Orthoplanar", "Zeiss S-Biogon" or "APO EL Nikkor" to read some passionate threads about the virtues of these outstanding lenses...

Cheers!

Abbazz

 

[rxmd]

Why don’t people agonise over enlarger lenses in the same way they do with camera lenses?

Because you don't notice the difference between a normal plain Rodagon, which can be had for $50 now, and an ultraexpensive APO EL whatever lens. Unless you are doing special applications, such as very large colour prints, which most of us don't do. And even then you have to know what you're looking for. For what most of us are doing, one wouldn't notice the difference between the $50 Rodagon and a good four-element lens either. For 35mm I mostly use a 2,8/50 Anaret N which can be had for $10, and I'm happy, even though I am normally a fairly picky person.

That said, people do agonise, but it's even more of a brandname and geek fest, unrelated to real-world photographic use of those lenses, than it is with camera lenses.

Whether your lens board and baseboard are parallel makes much more of a difference than whether you invested $10 or $1000 into your enlarging lens.

Philipp

 

[rxmd]

I agonize instead over the poor quality of scanners (in the down to earth price range) whose development the big brands have interrupted long time ago

That's just not true. $500 now gives you much better scanning results than $500 would have five years ago. In the down to earth price range it gets more extreme; scanning negatives with 2002's $150 scanner was not fun, today it's more or less possible with an Epson V100 or so.

Today's low end scanner may not compare favourably to yesterday's used high-end scanner for the same money, but that's an entirely different comparison.

Philipp

 

[aizan]

what abbazz said. the darkroom forum here is a subforum of a miscellaneous topic!

 

[Ronald M]

They should and I did finally settling on 50mm large element Focotar,
focotar 2, 40mm focotar on V35, 45mm APO Schneider for diffusion enlargers only.

Now that I did all the work, all you have to do is find them. and thay are useable more open than cheapies of similar speed

 

[sepiareverb]

My favorite 50 in the darkroom is the Nikon 50/2.8, old metal barrel version. I also like the 63/2.8, newer plastic barrel version.

 

[peter_n]

I have something called a Schneider Componon-S 50/f2.8. Not sure if that is good or bad. 😕

 

[rxmd]

I have something called a Schneider Componon-S 50/f2.8. Not sure if that is good or bad. 😕

That's an excellent six-element lens. I doubt you will ever need anything better.

 

[peter_n]

Good news! Thanks!! 🙂