180mm Apo-Rodagon Enlarging Lens

[neil poulsen]

I'm curious about this lens. From posts I've seen, I gather it predates the 150mm Apo-Rodagon N enlarging lenses.

Any information regarding this lens would be appreciated.

[Bob Salomon]

It was replaced with the 150mm Apo Rodagon-N which is a much better performer. What specifically do you want to know?

[AnselAdamsX]

Bob do both cover 5x7?

[neil poulsen]

Bob, thanks. What's its coverage, and is it an 8 element lens? I kind of doubt it, but is it multi-coated? When did it come into, and go out of, production?

[Bob Salomon]

Bob do both cover 5x7?

Neither cover 5x7. The 180mm Rodagon and, if you are only doing mural sized prints, the Rodagon G 210mm. No Apo Rodagon or Apo Rodagon-N enlarging lens covered 5x7.

[Bob Salomon]

The 180mm Apo Rodagon was optimized for 6x and covered 4x5. It was not multi-coated. The only MC Rodenstock enlarging lenses are the Apo Rodagon-N series. In addition, the 180 has a 58mm mounting thread while the newer 150 has a more convenient 50mm mounting thread. The 180 was a 4.8 and the 150 is a f4.0. In addition, the 150 was corrected for 2 to 15x so it has a greater working range then the 180. The 180 was made from sometime in the late 80's till the Apo Rodagon-N series was introduced in the 90s.

[Chauncey Walden]

Please don't tell my 180mm APO-Rodagon that it doesn't cover 5x7 because that is where I use it;-)

[neil poulsen]

I suspect that Rodenstock specs guard-band to ensure optimum performance under a variety of circumstances.

[ic-racer]

Please don't tell my 180mm APO-Rodagon that it doesn't cover 5x7 because that is where I use it;-)

"Coverage" with enlarger lenses is always magnification dependent and needs to be specified for a given magnification.

[neil poulsen]

I was thinking about the 6X optimization spec that Bob quoted for this lens. I know that a lot of the older lenses are optimized for higher magnifications. (Although, the 90's isn't that old.) 6X seems a bit much, given that I don't think people generally print 24x30 prints.

Then it occurred to me that, as magnification decreases, one doesn't need as much resolution in a lens to achieve the same sharpness on the print. Put another way, it's when one prints the largest that they would want the best resolution.