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.
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.
It was replaced with the 150mm Apo Rodagon-N which is a much better performer. What specifically do you want to know?
Bob do both cover 5x7?
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?
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.
Please don't tell my 180mm APO-Rodagon that it doesn't cover 5x7 because that is where I use it;-)
I suspect that Rodenstock specs guard-band to ensure optimum performance under a variety of circumstances.
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.
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