APO lenses black and white ?

[John Conway]

I am curious. I know that an APO lens is great for color photography, but does an APO lens have any effect when using black and white?

[vinny]

Yes.

[John Kasaian]

Mine are very sharp, if thats what you want to know,

[Leigh]

The film is sensitive to all colors (assuming panchromatic).

It's just the rendering that's black & white.

I'm inclined to believe that the quality control of APO lenses is tighter than for non-APOs, although I can't prove it.

All (almost) of my LF lenses are APOs, both taking and enlarging. I wouldn't have spent the extra money if I didn't think it was worth it.

- Leigh

[Vaughn]

A longer answer...

White light is made of all colors, so it is nice to have all those colors focused on the same plane. The question would be if the rest of your process can or will take advantage of the sharper image. For example if you make platinum prints on textured paper, then the loss of sharpness due to your printing style will negate any advantage of the APO lens.

[John Conway]

Thanks for the quick response guys. I'm considering a 150 Symmar 5.6 APO to add to my 4x5 set. Sounds like the Symmar would make a nice addition.

[Daniel Stone]

my (former) 150mm APO-Symmar was a tremendous lens, super light, super-duper sharp, and contrasty(in a good way ).

My B/W(in my case, Acros and TMax 100/400 in 4x5 and 120) film exposed with this lens during the time I owned it are among some of my best negatives. My color negatives and transparencies are the same. This lens has a nice "bite" to it that is kinda hard to explain. For me, it was a bit too harsh, especially on transparencies in full sun or shots with relatively high contrast.

If you're looking for a "bargain" APO lens, look at Red-Dot Artars. I'm now standardizing on them for the majority of my LF lens lineup. They're a little slower(f-stop wise) than the 5.6 symmars, but they're super sharp, and can be usually had at a fraction of the cost of the more modern glass.
I'm shooting mostly color, so APO is an almost "requirement" for me

-Dan

[Ken Lee]

APO is like the term "diet" or "natural": it's as much a marketing term as it is a technical description. Modern lenses are very well color-corrected.

[TheDeardorffGuy]

APO lenses can be great on b&w. and offer real deals now a days. A under valued one are the F10 Kodak Anastigmats. These are very sharp and inexpensive in barrel. I was given a boz load a few years ago from a graphic art house. There were a few that suffered from acid etch. but many were perfect that I use with a Packard shutter.

[Kevin Crisp]

I am sceptical of any noticeable difference in a b&w negative between a MC Symmar-S and an APO. And I've had sets of both.