Compare macro results from 2 different enlarger lenses.

Just bought that first macro lens? Post here to get helpful feedback and answers to any questions you might have.

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sapstar
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2021 5:01 pm
Location: London

Compare macro results from 2 different enlarger lenses.

Post by sapstar »

Hi All, I am new to the forum and new to macro photography.

Sorry this is going to be a boring post. Recently bought couple of enlarger lenses to try out some macro over 1:1. Attached are photos I shot with EL Nikkor 50mm f/2.8N and Rodenstock Rodagon 60mm f/4. Can you please let me know which lens is producing better results?

I have seen a lot of praise for the el-nikkor online, but when seeing the photos side by side the Rodagon photos look sharper.

I only tried taking photos of a ruler as I was trying to measure the magnification I was getting. But will be trying other subjects soon. First 4 photos are from El-Nikkor (Magnification - Nearly2:1, Over2:1, Nearly3:1 and Over3:1) and the rest are from the Rodagon (Magnification Over1:1, Nearly2:1, 2:1, Over2:1).
Nikkor-Nearly-2to1.jpg
Nikkor-Over-2to1.jpg
Nikkor-Nearly-3to1.jpg
Nikkor-Over-3to1.jpg
Rodegon-Over-1to1.jpg
Rodegon-Nearly-2to1.jpg
Rodegon-2to1.jpg
Rodegon-Over-2to1.jpg

lothman
Posts: 952
Joined: Sat Feb 14, 2009 7:00 am
Location: Stuttgart/Germany

Re: Compare macro results from 2 different enlarger lenses.

Post by lothman »

sapstar wrote:
Sat Feb 13, 2021 5:12 pm

I have seen a lot of praise for the el-nikkor online, but when seeing the photos side by side the Rodagon photos look sharper.
downscaled to forum size both look OK to me, but on the Nikon your camera was not perpendicular to the ruler thus the blurred edges because the are out of focus due to the small DOF at this magnification.

sapstar
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2021 5:01 pm
Location: London

Re: Compare macro results from 2 different enlarger lenses.

Post by sapstar »

Thanks very much for the feedback. I have done one more test which may be a bit easier to compare.
I took photos of a small mark on a wine bottle roughly at 1:3 with both lenses. On these, to my eyes the sharpest areas in the El-Nikkor image were a bit more sharper.
I was working with an effective aperture of around f/25 so there's a very shallow depth of field and there was varying sharpeness across the image in both photos.
I used an extension of about 16cm on el-nikkor and 19.5cm on Rodagon to shoot these. Aperture is 5.6 on El-Nikkor and 6.7 on Rodagon.
What's your opinion?
Full size jpeg files are available here. I am unable to upload the photos to forum as I was getting an error that they were too big even when reduced to 1024px wide.
EL-Nikkor: https://www.dropbox.com/s/sjf30dvj9g5c6 ... r.jpg?dl=0
Rodagon: https://www.dropbox.com/s/itjlf610bc9pw ... n.jpg?dl=0

joshmacro
Posts: 82
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2020 5:25 pm
Location: New York

Re: Compare macro results from 2 different enlarger lenses.

Post by joshmacro »

I think you have the same issue that lothman mentioned. Your subject is not perfectly parallel to the camera sensor. As you can see in both images the top is in focus and the bottom is not. You should probably focus stack.

Sym P. le
Posts: 245
Joined: Thu Jul 04, 2019 9:53 pm
Location: BC

Re: Compare macro results from 2 different enlarger lenses.

Post by Sym P. le »

At magnification, the depth of field is extremely shallow and as such, most of the images are still out of focus and do not leave much for comparison. I'd say you're a better photographer with the El-Nikkor but I doubt very much that's the feedback you're looking for. #-o

rjlittlefield
Site Admin
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Location: Richland, Washington State, USA
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Re: Compare macro results from 2 different enlarger lenses.

Post by rjlittlefield »

Welcome to the forum!

These test shots look fine for sharpness. Both lenses have good reputations and both appear to be in good condition. I see no trace of motion blur.

At effective f/25 on 43 megapixel fullframe, you are stopped down as far as you possibly can be, without losing detail to diffraction.

So, the only way to get more DOF is to use focus stacking, as noted by other people.
I was getting an error that they were too big even when reduced to 1024px wide.
There is also a limit on file length, 300 kilobytes max. Probably you needed to adjust the amount of JPEG compression / image quality in order to fit inside the file length limit. Some extra improvement can also be made by removing metadata (Exif and IPTC). With Photoshop, this is done with Export > Save for Web (legacy). I see from your images in Dropbox that you use Capture One. I have no idea how to make Capture One remove Exif and IPTC.

--Rik

sapstar
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2021 5:01 pm
Location: London

Re: Compare macro results from 2 different enlarger lenses.

Post by sapstar »

Thanks very much for the feedback guys. I am quite new to macro photography and have done a focus stacked photo, but there was the issue that things start going in and out of focus alternately. More photos were probably needed. I bought couple of macro bellows. One of them is quite sturdy and stable, but I don't have all the adapter rings to fit my camera and lenses to that at the moment. The other one is not as stable so it is not precise in terms of movement.

One I sort out the issues with the setup, I will definitely try focus stacked photos properly. I made sure my subject is standing straight and also the camera is level... but due to the extremly low dof, I think even slight changes are being exagerated...

But based on the feedback, it looks like both lenses seem to be producing good results... I need to decide which one to keep... may be after comparing proper focus stacked images :). Or may be will keep both.... 60mm gives me a bit more working distance, but needs more extension for the same amount of macro.

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