Looking for high resolution APO close up lens recommendation

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Davids
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Looking for high resolution APO close up lens recommendation

Post by Davids »

As the title suggests, I'm looking for high quality APO lenses for close up work (<1x magnification). Ideally, the 105mm APO El Nikkor would fit the bill, but considering the scarcity of this lens for sale I'll have to find alternatives. Has anyone done comparisons among say the voigtlander 125mm macro lanthar , Leica 100 mm APO macro elmarit, and the 105 APO en? Or maybe the sk 60 mm APO Componon? This would be for aps-c to ff frame sensors.

Thanks![/i]

Pau
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Post by Pau »

I have the Apo Rodagon D 75mm f4 optimized for 1:1 and the Apo Rodagon D 75mm f4.5 "2X" optimized for 1:2 (and 2:1 reversed) and love them. Not having any of your options I haven't my own comparisons, take a look at this test:
http://macrosmuymacros.com/index.php/en ... ation-test
Pau

ChrisR
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Post by ChrisR »

Ray_Parkhurst did a number of monster tests a little while ago. Search with him as author, on "shootout".
It does depend what FL you need. Would you even want a 150mm Printing Nikkor - that's a very long setup. (Well ok, you'd tolerate it I'd guess ;) )

You could do a lot worse than a 50mm Componon -S, according to this : http://coinimaging.com/hall_of_fame.html, though he doesn't weigh CA as heavily as many would.

Lou J would have a different choice!
Chris R

enricosavazzi
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Re: Looking for high resolution APO close up lens recommenda

Post by enricosavazzi »

Davids wrote:(...) Or maybe the sk 60 mm APO Componon? This would be for aps-c to ff frame sensors.
The Apo Componon HM 60 mm f/4 is a good lens, but at 1x it is out of its optimal zone. In my tests ( http://savazzi.net/photography/apo_componon_60.htm ), it is much better reversed at 3.5-4x. I don't have any tests in close-up photography, but I should expect it to perform well (non-reversed) at approximately 0.25x, perhaps up to 0.5x.

Modern macro lenses usually perform well in the close-up range (less than 1x). Most of these macro lenses are not, strictly speaking, apochromatic (the CoastalOpt 60 mm is an exception, and comes at a price), but you would never be able to tell from real-world photographs. Is there any special reason why you want to use an enlarger lens/copy lens instead of a macro lens? Modern macro lenses normally use floating elements to perform well at a broad range of magnifications, while almost all enlarger and repro lenses don't, and are typically optimal in a more restricted range.

There are two types of chromatic aberration, transverse (=lateral) and axial (=longitudinal). Some Apo lenses like the Apo Rodagon D 75 mm 1x, judging from the chromatic aberration diagrams published by the maker, are only apochromatic with respect to one of these, not both. Others, like the Sigma "Apo" macro lenses, are good but just not apochromatic. This is not usually a problem, since DOF at magnifications below 1x can hide a significant amount of axial CA, and transverse CA can be largely corrected in post-processing (directly in-camera if you use a lens type recognized by the camera firmware).
--ES

Davids
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Post by Davids »

Thank you all for our input!

Chris - yes, i'd "tolerate" the longer longer setup utilizing a 150mm printing nikkor ;). However I feel like it would be harder to find one of those than the 105 APO El Nikkor, and that's saying something!

Enrico - The lens doesn't have to be an enlarger/copy lens by any means. I've just seen some good results in the past and already have a setup that would allow adapting these types of lenses. I guess what I'm looking for is something to give me similar results to the SK macro varon but at lower mag than what it can do (0.5x).
I'll take a look at some of the lens shootouts conducted earlier that Chris mentioned.

Once again, thanks everyone for your feedback.

david

Lou Jost
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Post by Lou Jost »

Check out today's post on the 85mm Macro-Varon:
http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... 207#212207

Judging from the tests at www.coinimaging.com, I'd say this lens is one of the the best available lenses that cover the range of magnifications from 0.4x to 1x. It looks like it does an outstanding job, particularly at m= 0.4- 0.5. Very expensive though. Closer to 1x the Printing Nikkor is better, but the MV is certainly also good there.

RobertOToole
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Re: Looking for high resolution APO close up lens recommenda

Post by RobertOToole »

Davids wrote:As the title suggests, I'm looking for high quality APO lenses for close up work (<1x magnification). Ideally, the 105mm APO El Nikkor would fit the bill, but considering the scarcity of this lens for sale I'll have to find alternatives. Has anyone done comparisons among say the voigtlander 125mm macro lanthar , Leica 100 mm APO macro elmarit, and the 105 APO en? Or maybe the sk 60 mm APO Componon? This would be for aps-c to ff frame sensors.

Thanks![/i]
FYI, the Sigma 150mm OS macro has basically non-existent CAs and LoCAs. It has better correction than the Nikkor and Canon 105/100 mm lenses, Zeiss 100mm and the Voigtlander APO-Lanthar 180mm and 90mm which all show some CAs and LoCAs, especially the Zeiss, and about tie with the Voigtlander APO-Lanthar 125mm f/2.5 SL with shows very little CAs and LoCAs.

Hope this helps.

Robert

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