If making prints on B&W paper, absolute highest performance enlarger lens is not that important as the print paper simply cannot present in the finished print all the information projected on to it. This is why enlarging lens manufactures do not put extreme optical performance into the majority of their enlarging lenses. Color balance is a whole different aspect of enlarger lens performance.
If projecting high res film to high res film, that is an entirely different kettle of image. This is where lenses like a APO EL Nikkor can and will make a difference over lesser enlarger lenses. This also places extreme demands on the projection system's precision, alignment, illumination quality and more.
Example that comes to mind is the enlargement system used for cold war aero-recon film that was done in 5"x5" rolls then projected to 10"x10" roll film or 2x. Absolute image quality was a must. This resulted in lenses and projection systems and films that were very high performance but highly specialized.
Know image quality alone does not define a good-expressive print as this is just one aspect of what makes a "Fine" artistic expressive print.
Bernice
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