Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/01/24
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 10:58 PM 1/24/98 -0500, you wrote: >Eric, >With this discussion of enlargers, it dawned on me to ask if you remember >the Vivitar EL lenses from about 20 years back. They were made in Germany, >and the 80mm and 50mm ones that I have were very very good- so much so that >I kept them when I sold my old Durst and got a 23C. >Were they actually made by Schneider ( rumor I heard ) or by some other >concern. Sorry, I don't know, but I do know that Vivitar is pretty good at designing lenses if they want to. They had a 90-180 f/4.5 zoom that was one of the best zooms ever made. But I wouldn't doubt Schneider could have made the lens. They seem to do a lot of work for other companies, including Leica. If they were better than Nikkor enlarger lenses, they were darn good. (But I'll take a 40mm focotar on a V35 any day). Since I scan all my photos these days, darkrooms have become a moot point for me, but I do remember with great fondness the process of printing black and white. There's nothing like it to really see what Leica glass can do. ========== Eric Welch St. Joseph, MO http://www.ponyexpress.net/~ewelch If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor. Albert Einstein