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Thread: Macro lens set

  1. #11

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    Re: Macro lens set

    Quote Originally Posted by John Layton View Post
    Also with the set of Nikkors that came with a Nikon Multiphot which I'd rescued from being basically put into a dumpster! (later sold it...ugh!) The 120mm Nikkor from this set especially - if you can find one you just might love it!
    I've heard stories of people resurrecting Multiphot systems from dumpsters... I was never that lucky. In the 1980s through the mid 1990s put together a Multiphot system very slowly part by part. You are right, the 12cm f/6.3 Macro-NIKKOR is an optic that is very easy to fall in love with. I also acquired a 12cm f/4.5 Leitz Wetzlar Summar which I found to be a very different animal. The NIKKOR exceeds the resolution of the Summar, but by not enough to be significant in practice. But the Summar seems to defy the laws of diffraction. For 3 dimensional objects it can be stopped down almost 2 stops more than the NIKKOR. Both lenses are truly gems for shooting 120 and 4x5. In the past years I have never seen a 12cm NIKKOR go for under 1K, and they are frequently sold for more than 1K. The 12cm Summar on the other hand I've seen offered up for sale for 200-300 dollars and go unsold. Last year I picked up an 8cm Summar in mint condition for a bit under 200 dollars. Another "gem" of a macro lens is the 65mm f/3.5 Leitz Elmar. Since it doesn't come with a focusing mount, it tends to be very undervalued and comes up every now and then at a bargain price. One newer black one was up for audition at a really bargain "Buy It Now" price, and I am still kicking myself for not acquiring it. It amazingly went unsold in the end. As far as I know the earlier chrome version is optically the same as the later black version. Although it was offered as a 35mm camera lens, I've known other photographers who have used it for 4x5 photomacrography and praised the optic.

  2. #12

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    Re: Macro lens set

    Greg, other undervalued gems worth looking for are the 90, 120 and 165 CZJ Mikrotars and the 100/6.3 Reichert Neupolar, all f/6.3 reversed (cemented doublet faces the subject) Tessars and all very good.

  3. #13

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    Re: Macro lens set


  4. #14

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    Re: Macro lens set

    I see that two of my 4x5" macro lens are on this list -- the Minolta Rokkor-X Bellows Macro 100 mm f4, and the Tomioka Tominon 75 mm f4.5. The latter was very inexpensive, the former, not so much, but worth it. On the review of the Minolta it is noted that a lens shade would be a good addition. The lens, when sold new, was supplied with a removable lens shade. The Tomioka? Maybe, maybe not.

  5. #15

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    Re: Macro lens set

    Quote Originally Posted by xkaes View Post
    I see that two of my 4x5" macro lens are on this list -- the Minolta Rokkor-X Bellows Macro 100 mm f4, and the Tomioka Tominon 75 mm f4.5. The latter was very inexpensive, the former, not so much, but worth it. On the review of the Minolta it is noted that a lens shade would be a good addition. The lens, when sold new, was supplied with a removable lens shade. The Tomioka? Maybe, maybe not.
    Joe, the Tominon was part of the Polaroid MP-4 system, was intended for copy stand work and nothing else. No shade offered.

  6. #16

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    Re: Macro lens set

    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Fromm View Post
    Joe, the Tominon was part of the Polaroid MP-4 system, was intended for copy stand work and nothing else. No shade offered.
    The 75mm Tominon is a Tessar design, a good lens for macro work.

    I guess there are two version, the first is mounted in a shutter with a front and rear cell, this is a Tessar in the classical way, two single elements in the front and the cemented achromat in the rear.
    This lens is made for ratio between oo-1:3

    The other version were sold in a barrel mount with a thread of the size I shutter front, an M40x75mm.

    This is a reversed Tessar and recommened for a ration 1:3-3:1

    The Zeiss 25mm Luminar has a similar design and some other famous macro lenses as well.

    The Tominon lenses are a good choice for small money.

  7. #17

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    Re: Macro lens set

    Quote Originally Posted by Bernice Loui View Post
    It just seemed unfortunate that this lens review simply states that the Minolta 100 f4 (there were actually two versions) would have better contrast if a lens shade were used -- when the second version of the 100mm f4 (the one tested) was always sold with a lens shade. Perhaps the reviewer was unaware of this. The lens needn't be recessed because it was designed to be used with a lens shade.

    Anyway, I normally use a lens shade for macro and non-macro work. The main exceptions are when I want some glare, or with "microscope" lenses -- where the lens is millimeters from the subject.

    I can't speak to there being two versions of the Tominon 75mm. If there are, I have the right one for my purposes. Mine is a barrel lens with a 40mm (#1) thread and f-stops to f32. I use it on a Prontor #1 shutter which lacks a diaphragm, so they are a perfect, VERY INEXPENSIVE, match. I also use it for smaller formats -- 35mm, digital, etc.

  8. #18
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    Re: Macro lens set

    I’ve been experimenting a bit myself. The Schneider Componon-S 50/2.8, reversed, is supposed to be excellent for magnifications greater than 1:1. I’m adapting it to a Pentax 67 bellows for starters, using a P67-49mm reversing ring and a 43/49 step-down ring, the latter of which is on the way. (Now, if I could find an M39 female to 52mm female adapter, I could mount my Yashica slide copier attachment to it, adapt the bellows to my 645z, and have a high-quality slide duplicator. I’ve enquired with Grimes. But that’s off-topic.)

    It would be relatively easy to adapt it to M39, if you could find an M39 reversing ring for your M39 setup. Was there ever an M39 reversing ring made? I’m sure S. K. Grimes could fab one up easily and relatively cheaply, given that it’s just threads.

    Rick “who found the reversed Takumar 105 to me so-so, but who uses a reversed micro-Nikkor 55/3.5 and Nikon bellows on a Canon” Denney

  9. #19

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    Re: Macro lens set

    Quote Originally Posted by rdenney View Post
    I’ve been experimenting a bit myself. The Schneider Componon-S 50/2.8, reversed, is supposed to be excellent for magnifications greater than 1:1. I’m adapting it to a Pentax 67 bellows for starters, using a P67-49mm reversing ring and a 43/49 step-down ring, the latter of which is on the way. (Now, if I could find an M39 female to 52mm female adapter, I could mount my Yashica slide copier attachment to it, adapt the bellows to my 645z, and have a high-quality slide duplicator. I’ve enquired with Grimes. But that’s off-topic.)

    It would be relatively easy to adapt it to M39, if you could find an M39 reversing ring for your M39 setup. Was there ever an M39 reversing ring made? I’m sure S. K. Grimes could fab one up easily and relatively cheaply, given that it’s just threads.

    Rick “who found the reversed Takumar 105 to me so-so, but who uses a reversed micro-Nikkor 55/3.5 and Nikon bellows on a Canon” Denney
    Rodenstock made and we stocked 39mm reversing rings. I imagine Schneider did also and believe Heliopan also made them, might still offer them.

  10. #20

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    Re: Macro lens set

    More about lenses for Polaroid macro and copy cameras.

    Most of the lenses for the Polaroid MP-3 copy stand were Rodenstock Ysarons in barrel front mounted on Prontor Press shutters without diaphragms. I have no experience with any of these tessar type lenses or with the equivalent Ysarex taking lenses. There was another R'stock lens for the MP-3, the 35/4 Eurygon, also in barrel and intended to be front mounted on a press shutter with no diaphragm. I've had several of them. Although they're 6 element lenses, mine were worse than mediocre.

    Polaroid Gel-Cams (CU-5, for example) and oscilloscope cameras (DS-34) used nearly the same range of Tominons as the MP-4 copy stand but in Copal Press shutters with diaphragms. Exceptions: the CU-5 17/4 is front-mounted, but is in a shorter barrel than the MP-4 version. The longest lens for the CU-4 is a 127/4.7 in shutter. The longest lens for the MP-4 is a 135/4.5 in barrel. I've had a couple of 127/4.7s. On 2x3 they are very good at all distances. I've had more than a couple of 135/4.5s. All worse than mediocre at all distances/magnifications. The shutters that Gel-Cam and 'scope camera Tominons are in don't conform to the Compur/Prontor/Copal specifications, their tubes are a little longer. And most have diaphragms that don't open as wide as the corresponding Compur/Prontor shutters.

    As I mentioned above, the short (<= 50 mm) MP-4 Tominons are usable and very cost-effective. There are better lenses, but ... The longer ones I've tested are another matter entirely. There are much better lenses. I've always sold MP-4 Tominons that came to me as parts of bundles. I can't recommend -- sorry, Joe -- any of the longer ones. Photographers' standards, needs and budgets vary so I hesitate to advise anyone not to touch any of these gems, except for the 135. Run away from it.

    The recommended ranges of magnification for the MP-4 Tominons have nothing to do with the lenses' optimal magnifications. They are simply and only the range of magnifications at which the lenses cover 4x5.

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