[Leica] OT: which enlarger lens

[msmall at infionline.net (Marc James Small)]

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 
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