Originally Posted by
artflic
When you are enlarging from a 4 x 5 negative I think the lens is only one of the factors. As has been noted above, lens and negative stage alignment is most important. For what it's worth, I have been playing in the darkroom for over 40 years now and have had a number of different enlargers and used just about every type of lens, including Componon S, El Nikkor, etc. My darkroom has two Durst Lab 1200s and a Beseler 45V XL. For 4 x 5 printing my lens of choice is a Schneider Apo Componon HM 150. That having been said, I recently ran an interesting experiment. I bought out a guy's darkroom (for resale) and on his Beseler 45 MX he had mounted a Kodak Enlarging Ektanon 161mm lens. I did a bit of investigating and found several similar lenses on ebay for cheap ($15-30). These were Kodak Projection Anastigmats in 161 length as well. I had a total of six lenses of the old and much cheaper variety as well as the newer Apo Componon HM. I printed a series of 16 x 20 prints using each of the lenses, and marked the lens on the back of each print. When all was dry it was almost impossible to tell which had made the best print, my expensive Schneider or the aged and inexpensive Kodaks. All lenses were stopped down 3 stops. My wife, who does a bit of photography herself and is used to seeing decent prints absolutely could not tell the difference and, in fact, picked one of the old Kodak prints as the best. I usually top out at 16 x 20 but, on rare occasions will do 20 x 24. This primarily is limited by my tray and sink size. It may well be that the premium lenses are better performers for larger prints, but you usually buy the equipment you need to do the job you want. I'll stick with my Schneider, but would not hesitate to recommend older glass to anyone on a budget. The same recommendation would hold true for any of the better lenses from Nikon, Rodagon, or Schneider. As a post script I used Omega enlargers for most of my years, but fell into the Beseler about ten years ago and preferred it over Omegas (D5XL). The two Dursts fell into my lap over the past several years. Although these were all expensive items, the switch to digital has placed a lot of darkroom equipment on the market for dirt cheap. Compare B&H prices for new lenses with what you see offered on ebay. It's a great time to have a darkroom.- Rob Rielly
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