Author Topic: My first enlarging lens  (Read 855 times)

Zang

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My first enlarging lens
« on: December 02, 2022, 15:10:01 »
I have an enlarging lens laying around for years. It was dirty inside out. I just took it apart for cleaning and put on my camera using some plumbing stuffs :) It is fixed focus distance now but I might be thinking about giving it a helicoid.

MEPER

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Re: My first enlarging lens
« Reply #1 on: December 02, 2022, 16:22:00 »
It looks like a Schneider Componon 75/4.5.

Zang

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Re: My first enlarging lens
« Reply #2 on: December 02, 2022, 16:58:58 »
It looks like a Schneider Componon 75/4.5.

Bingo!

Zang

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Re: My first enlarging lens
« Reply #3 on: December 02, 2022, 16:59:37 »
...it is badly scratched on the front, though.

MEPER

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Re: My first enlarging lens
« Reply #4 on: December 02, 2022, 23:41:28 »
I have some of these older Componon's in small metal body with the many aperture blades and butter like click stops for the aperture.
They are very well made. One is a 105/4.5 which is "Durst" branded so it probably was part of a Durst enlarger system. Another one is a 50/4.
They are small miniature lenses. Never tried them.....but no scratches on my samples :-)
The Componon-S types are reported to be better optical but aperture not as nice with fewer blades. Like you I tried a Componon-S just for fun and found out that it is a fine lens for macro.
Then there are also APO Componon types. Never had one of those. For fun "macro play" with special lenses I found out that high-end scanner lenses are very nice.

Zang

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Re: My first enlarging lens
« Reply #5 on: December 03, 2022, 00:55:50 »
Yeah, they are well made. They do not make stuffs like that these days :(

I got the lens from a junk Durst enlarger. The stand became my copy stand and the lens a magnifier that I used to check old lenses when buying them from the local sellers. I kept it in my jacket pockets for long time then it ended up in the cup holder of my car for another year. It had fugus, dust and it is badly scratched. Not sure if it earned the scratches before I got the enlarger or during the journey in my car and my pocket. Despite the poor condition, I can tell that it produces very sharp images.

Nasos Kosmas

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Re: My first enlarging lens
« Reply #6 on: December 03, 2022, 15:14:05 »
All these componar- componon lenses was always in my wish list ;D
The one and only enlarging lens for 35 film was an industar 50 f 3.5  M42 fit that is still around on good shape :)

MEPER

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Re: My first enlarging lens
« Reply #7 on: December 03, 2022, 20:48:22 »
The EL-Industar 50/3.5 seems more expensive than a EL-Nikkor 50/2.8?

Is it the one on picture you have?
Looks quite special.

Nasos Kosmas

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Re: My first enlarging lens
« Reply #8 on: December 03, 2022, 22:16:06 »
Mine is here
https://www.amazon.com/Industar-Russian-mount-cameras-Canon/dp/B01JP2D9HO
Probably is the same in different metal mount
It’s a flat field with good sharpness on center and corners that’s the reason I adapted on my enlarger a Krokus 6x6 but only for 35mm film
I also used as a macro lens with bellows, it was the time that with one lens we could cover almost everything 8)

Matthew Currie

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Re: My first enlarging lens
« Reply #9 on: December 04, 2022, 00:04:52 »
I have a Componon 28 and a Componar 50 (both F4).  They're both reasonably sharp macro lenses.  The 50 works OK on a bellows, but the 28 gets to something in the 1:1 vicinity on a short mount. I can't quite remember where they came from, but I think the 28 was on a small Durst enlarger that turned up in a free pile (and that is now somewhere in the barn).  They both work pretty well as macro lenses, and they're very nicely made.

The short mount is part of some broken zoom lens and part of a broken movie camera. Of course it doesn't focus but it's so light that it's pretty easy to hand hold and just move in and out.

Zang

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Re: My first enlarging lens
« Reply #10 on: December 12, 2022, 04:28:50 »
I have a Componon 28 and a Componar 50 (both F4).  They're both reasonably sharp macro lenses.  The 50 works OK on a bellows, but the 28 gets to something in the 1:1 vicinity on a short mount. I can't quite remember where they came from, but I think the 28 was on a small Durst enlarger that turned up in a free pile (and that is now somewhere in the barn).  They both work pretty well as macro lenses, and they're very nicely made.

The short mount is part of some broken zoom lens and part of a broken movie camera. Of course it doesn't focus but it's so light that it's pretty easy to hand hold and just move in and out.

I like your custom mounting plate! Actually, I made a very similar one. I cut the mount out from the enlarger element and sanded it to fit a 52mm filter frame. Them I mount the plate to a Nikon reverse macro ring and mount them all to a Nikon adapter.