Info on Focotar 50mm f/4.5 lens for 1C enlarger

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How does the Focotar 1:4.5/50 compare to a current industry standard enlarging lens such as the El Nikkor 50mm f/2.8? Anyone know how many elements in the Focotar.

Can anyone comment on the ability of the 1C light source to produce printable highlights vs using the color head of the V35.

-- Richard Jepsen (rjepsen@mmcable.com), March 03, 2002

Answers

According to "The Edge of Darkness" by Barry Thornton, the focotar is an extremely fine performer, easily out performing the top Schneider offering. In my own informal tests, the Leitz lens was noticably better than my Rodagon 80/4 at c. A4 size prints (which in turn was better than my old 50 2.8 el. nikkor.) As Thornton points out, there is quite a bit of unit-to-unit variation in enlarging lenses and you should really conduct your own tests to be sure. As for light sources, I don't have a v35, so I'll leave that to somebody else to answer.

-- Steve Jones (stephenjjones@btopenworld.com), March 03, 2002.

I bouight a Focotar for my V35 in place of a Rodagon and the improvenment was very marked. The professional photographer I bought the V35 from told me that he was keeping his Focotar as it was much better than his El Nikkor.

-- Tony Brookes (gdz00@lineone.net), March 03, 2002.

Ditto on the Focotar. Also if you can find one, the 100mm/4.5 V- Elmar made for the IIC. I got lucky and found one about 3 years ago for only $100 US. Poor camera store guy didn't know what he had. But as the old saying goes, "one man gathers what another man spills". Besides on the enlarger, both lenses will knock your socks off on bellows for table top or macro work. Good Luck.

-- F. William Baker (atelfwb@aol.com), March 03, 2002.

I printed with an older Focotar 1:4.5/50 this weekend. The lens had minor wipe marks on the front element and no haze. The 40mm on the V35 is much better as is the El Nikkor 63mm f2.8. On small 4x5 inch prints fly away hair strands are not crisp with the f/4.5 Focotar. Sharpness is also degraded looking at grain through a 25X magnifier.

-- Richard Jepsen (rjepsen@mmcable.com), March 11, 2002.

I evaluated a NIB Minolta 6 element 50mmf/2.8 hoping to improve on the older Focotar 50mm f/4.5. Using a 25x grain focuser, the Minolta is sharper. However, unlike the Focotar, it won't focus on enlargements smaller than 4x5 in. Both lenses were attached to a extender (17675X) which screws into the 1C helicoil. Will a 50mm El Nikkor f/2.8 also not close focus? Is the focotar -2 a much better lens than the older Focotar?????

-- Richard Jepsen (rjepsen@mmcable.com), March 14, 2002.


I hope my experience may guide others looking for a 50mm f/4.5 Focotar replacement. I returned the Minolta lens after finding a used 50mm f/2.8 Componon-S without backlite f/stops. The Componon aperture ring is located at the tip of the lens similar to the Focotar. Any aperture ring located 1/3 from the tip will be somewhat difficult to reach when mounted in the helicoil. The Componon has a smaller diameter than the El Nikkor and thus is very similar to the original Focotar. The Componon will focuses at small enlargement ratios similar to the Focotar. The Componon renders very crisp grain under a 25x focus device; much better than the older Focotar. The book Post Exposure advises the 50mm Componon has the best flat field test results of any 50mm lens. The other test results are also at/near the top in the 50mm category.

-- denmark (rjepsen@mmcable.com), March 15, 2002.

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