Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/11/11
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 04:14 PM 11/11/05 -0800, Aram Langhans wrote: >OK. Don't laugh at me, but many years ago, when I was even a poorer >teacher >just starting out I bought an 80mm Vivitar VHE enlarging lens. It says >"made in germany" but I don't know by whom. A friend had a the latest and >greatest Schneider at the time and he brought it over and we made some >comparison prints. The Vivitar was sharper in the corners and equal in the >center. The contrast looked the same. He ended up buying one for himself. >So, if you can find one it is worth the $10 bucks or so you might pay. As noted by another poster, the VHE Vivitar enlarging lenses were badge-engineered Rodenstock Rodagons. For many years, I used a 5.6/80 VHE lens on my 23 CII Beseler enlarger until I upgraded to an APO-Rodagon. And as others have noted, the costs on used enlarging lenses is falling dramatically. I have two enlargers, the Beseler and a Leitz V-35, and the principal lens I use on the V-35 is the 2.8/40 WA-Focotar, a most satisfactory lens. On the Beseler, I generally use either a 2.8/50 APO-Rodagon or a 4/80 APO-Rodagon, again finding both of them most satisfactory. I am awash in a number of oddball lenses, and occasionally have been known to try them out on enlargers. Among these are a Zeiss 4/60 S-Planar which works quite well, on par with the APO-Rodagon, along with a 4/60 Novoflex Staeble-Katagon which I also find works well as an enlarging lens. I have a bunch of others for which I should make M39 adapters if I ever get my father's Unimat set up again, not a project likely to happen again as my wife and I will be relocating to Richmond, Virginia, over the next six months and all such projects are on hold until the move is completed. For instance, I would like to know how my 4/74 Zeiss S-Planar works in MF printing. Marc msmall@aya.yale.edu Cha robh b?s fir gun ghr?s fir! NEW FAX NUMBER: +540-343-8505