Rodenstock or Wollensak??

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I have the choice of two 75mm enlarger lenses. One is a Rodenstock Ysaron f4.5, the other a Wollensak Velostigmat f4.5. Both are at a great price. Does anyone have any info and/or advice re these lenses? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

-- Norm Goodall (goodys@acay.com.au), December 21, 2000

Answers

I have used wollensak's before and have always found them soft. Although I haven't used rodenstock enlargering lens I have one for my 4x5 that is very sharp, so I guess I'd go with the rodenstock.

doug

-- doug (dmcgoldrick@usa.net), December 21, 2000.


I have used a Rodenstock and EL Nikkor enlarging lenses for over 15 years both are sharp edge to edge. My experience with Wollensack is not good. My first enlarger had a Wollensack lens, it was soft at the edges at all aperatures.

-- Robert Orofino (rorofino@iopener.net), December 23, 2000.

Wollensaks were always the "budget" lens, frequently the one packaged in kits with the enlargers. (Or so my dad tells me: when we got our Omega D-3 in the late 50s, it came with a set of three Wollensaks.) You'll do better with the Rodenstock, or look for a nice used EL- Nikkor.

-- Michael Goldfarb (mgoldfar@mobius-inc.com), December 26, 2000.

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