Yes, so back to my initial though that our 240 lenses are the latest ones. The B barrel is described as follows:
The barrel type ”B”, with a built-in aperture, is the only unit which is offered in all four sizes (00, 0, 1, and 3).The f-stops are adjustable in half- step click stops.This durable metal barrel can be used in those situations where additional features like the illuminated aperture, click-stop over- ride, and pre-set aperture are not required.
When you " upgraded" to the more recent lens was there any real difference in the sharpness of the print? I have the silver Componon 360 and of course want the newer Rodagon, but is it really a noticeable difference in sharpness?
I rather doubt that you'll see much-if any- difference. You're already using a good enlarging lens.Originally Posted by Torontoamateur
Lens performance has incrementally improved. Given a few steps down the line, the difference can indeed be seen in print, but only if all other things are properly calibrated and so forth. I use a true Apo 360, and it's quite a leap from any old chrome barrel lens. In the shorter focal lengths, Apo Rodagon N's do have really nice contrast and detail rendition. But regular Rodagons are excellent too, and offer intermediate focal lengths, like the 180mm I generally use for 4x5 printing. My fast 360 is an El Nikkor 5.6 - excellent quality, but way too big and heavy for many enlargers. With the L184, you'd have to use the single-hole board, and not the turret.
With the turret, Apo Nikkor f/9's - 240, 305, 360, etc, easily fit into standard turret rings. Unless you need an especially bright focus aperture, that's the way to go. These are now common and affordable used, and BETTER CORRECTED than any official enlarging lens - just make sure they're the superior 4-element dialyte design, and not Nikon's cheaper line of processes lenses (which I've never even encountered). Apo Nikkors were originally quite expensive, but fell out of usage when print shops resorted more to scanning than huge copy cameras.
The upgrade was more for lens surface quality.
The new lenses were pretty clean from the start:
Comparison of new-to-me lens and the older silver barrel lens.
Of course the rear-lighting exaggerates the poor condition of the coating. If you hold the lens away from a light source and just look through it, it appears clear. My B&W prints from the new and old lenses are essentially identical.
Here is my silver Componon 360mm. This is after cleaning. It still has a little haze, but nothing that makes me want to replace it at this time. It is not nearly as bad as the other silver ones I have.
So, the old turret contained:
Componon 150mm
Componon 210mm
Componon-S 240mm with some scratches
New turret:
Componon-S 135mm
Componon-S 210mm
Componon-S 240mm swapped barrels with pristine lens elements. Took two lenses apart and built one good one from the best parts of each.
I see that Drew got some new enlarger glass recently and I'm considering the same this winter.
One carrier is AN + Plain, the other is Plain + Plain.
I see Drew recommends AN + AN.
Anyone else want to comment on the choice of glass.
Kind of what I just said
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