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Gretag f=120 fixed aperture industrial lens
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2023 9:56 pm    Post subject: Gretag f=120 fixed aperture industrial lens Reply with quote
So I got one of these on ebay a while back and for some reason never tried it. I was rearranging my gear cave and rediscovered it decided to try it. I did a scan on Google and the only thing I could find was Robert O'Toole's use as a barrel for stacked lens phomacrography.

https://www.closeuphotography.com/gretag-120-lens-test/2019/11/1/tube-lens-test-gretag-120mm-lens

This hinted that it was a well corrected optic. So I cobbled together an adapter using a RAFcamera 50mmx.0.75 to m42. The adapter is too short to reach the threads but it slipped nicely inside and using 2 layers of electric tape and a layer of scotch tape it fit very snugly. I used a layer of blue tak just to insure it didn't come loose. A pixco m42 helical and 19-32 m42 helical gave me a lot of focus throw. It goes quite a bit past infinity but not quite enough for a short m42 extension tube. I can get an MFL of about a foot.

Some shots:



























Some bokeh shots:








The contraption:














PostPosted: Sun Feb 26, 2023 3:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Great results, sharp and organically looking images! They do not leave a "vintage" feeling but have a large dynamic range, pretty similar to a Som Berthiot I tested recently, as far as I may judge.


PostPosted: Sun Feb 26, 2023 6:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Yes I was surprised at how well it performed in so many different circumstances. I bought it on a whim but don't recall what I paid. I know it was well under a hundred as I would never spend that much for an unknown lens. It seems to do better for close images but even infinity is as good as most of the 135s I have tried. Gretag Imaging is, I guess, a Swiss outfit that specializes in optics for photocopy machines and such like. This lens has a fixed aperture at, just guessing, f8. I didn't try it yet at macro range but intend to. Just from the images so far and it's likely design parameters I suspect it will do well. I have on order a mamya sekor 645 120mm macro. Supposedly one of the sharpest you can get in that range. It will be interesting to compare them.


PostPosted: Mon Feb 27, 2023 7:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Here's a couple of pictures at macro range. I used stacked lenses with this as the objective. The tube lens I used was a Minolta AF 200 2.8 APO. I included a short helical for a bit more flexibility.

An agate imbedded in an arbosculpture apple tree I am working on.


Screw head.


Rosemary flower.


Apple buds.





PostPosted: Mon Feb 27, 2023 8:57 pm    Post subject: Re: Gretag f=120 fixed aperture industrial lens Reply with quote
Very interesting - thanks for sharing. Robert mentioned he wanted to do some more testing with it, but because he is often very busy with new projects, he didn't seem to have managed to try it more. From what he concludes it's an unbelievably good tube lens (on par with the Makro-Symmar 120 mm, which he deems to be among the best there is).

Your images look very good. It's hard to judge though, if it's similar to how the Makro-Symmar 120 mm performs as a taking lens... I own one of those (the one optimized for 0.33x magnification), but I've mostly used it for stacked shots inside, so it's not a good basis for a comparison.

jamaeolus wrote:



It looks like the Gretag lens shows minimal CA in this image. I've never seen the Makro-Symmar do that, but to be honest, I haven't tried it enough in challenging situations outside to say for sure.


jamaeolus wrote:



Bokeh is really smooth and beautiful here.

jamaeolus wrote:



Here correction seems very impressive in this image. I'm pretty sure a vast majority of lenses would show significant color fringing around the bright spots.

Maybe I'm able to get my Makro-Symmar 120 mm out in the next couple of days and try to create a couple of somewhat comparable shots, if you're interested. I'm not sure who made the Gretag lens, it's not even completely out of the question that Schneider could have been involved in the creation of this one...

I'm curious though: Why did you use the lens as the front lens in a stacked setup? I always thought this doesn't make a lot of sense with a 120 mm focal length... Aren't those usually better as the tube lens in combination with a shorter front lens? But I absolutely may be wrong on that one...

Congrats on this high quality lens - I'm sure there are great use cases for this one!


PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 11:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Like 1 Like 1 Like 1

GRETAG made a lot of (high quality) printers, so I guess that came from one...


PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 2:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
kds315* wrote:
Like 1 Like 1 Like 1

GRETAG made a lot of (high quality) printers, so I guess that came from one...


Very interesting - thanks for the info! Were those printers some kind of minilab or something different? They even used a custom Docter/Rodenstock Zoom lens in one of them, here's a thread about the Docter version:

http://forum.mflenses.com/docter-optics-3-3-13-9x-wide-angle-zoom-t42004.html

It's quite a massive lens compared to the 120 mm here though. I guess this makes Rodenstock an even more likely possibility as manufacturer of the lens. Or was Gretag able to produce their own lenses? I always just knew them for the devices for print proofs, so it would come as a surprise to me.


PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 3:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I wish I knew what happened to those two lenses - as massive as they were, they've been missing for years, they must be somewhere in my house but god only knows where!


PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 6:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
iangreenhalgh1 wrote:
I wish I knew what happened to those two lenses - as massive as they were, they've been missing for years, they must be somewhere in my house but god only knows where!


Glad to know I'm not alone on the location of some lenses in my collection!

I read through the linked post from 2011. Some interesting shots there. I think that lens, like mine, performed much better up close than at infinity. I have to commiserate on your lack of comments lament. This post was up for 2 days before anyone said anything and I felt the images were remarkably good for lens used well outside its design goals. I was feeling ignored.

I had a schneider betavaron that was like that gretag zoom. Focus changed with zoom. Remarkably sharp but just a real pain to use. I sold it. I also am a big fan of the off design lens use. I have a lot of fun figuring out how to get images on my Sony a7riv from lenses not designed for that purpose.


PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 9:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
jamaeolus wrote:

I read through the linked post from 2011. Some interesting shots there. I think that lens, like mine, performed much better up close than at infinity. I have to commiserate on your lack of comments lament. This post was up for 2 days before anyone said anything and I felt the images were remarkably good for lens used well outside its design goals. I was feeling ignored.


I agree - Ian's shots are very impressive as well!

I'm sorry for my late reply - I actually wanted to write as soon as I saw the thread, but I decided not to do it on mobile and wait till I had a chance to look at the full-res shots on my computer. They are indeed very good and apart from some (very minor) CAs there's not much differentiating it from the Schneider Makro-Symmar 120 mm f/5.6 Robert compared it to as a tube lens. I don't want to post any pictures without you agreeing because it would be uncalled for, but I managed to take a couple of shots with my Makro-Symmar today outside, so if you're curious I will post them and you can take a look yourself.

You should probably also try it without an additional tube lens for 1:1 macro - the Makro-Symmar is excellent at that in spite of it not being designed for this magnification specifically. It's only okay at infinity (at least wide open) but a bit stopped down it's very good (Rob de Loe even did some tests on it used as a shift lens for landscapes). Judging by your distance shots it could be a similar case with the Gretag 120 mm, so if you can find a way to use it with a diaphragm, it might improve in that regard as well.

Do you know anything about its construction (groups/elements)?

jamaeolus wrote:

I had a schneider betavaron that was like that gretag zoom. Focus changed with zoom. Remarkably sharp but just a real pain to use. I sold it. I also am a big fan of the off design lens use. I have a lot of fun figuring out how to get images on my Sony a7riv from lenses not designed for that purpose.


That's great. I have a Betavaron as well and while I wasn't very impressed by its image quality, it's a interesting and unique lens, that's for sure.


PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 10:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Ah, thanks. I could find nothing on the net regarding this lens aside from Robert's post. I count 6 reflections in the element count technique. It appears the aperture/barrel is one piece construction. I did try to open it with my Japan Toy and Hobby lens wrench but using quite a bit of torque I couldn't get the mounting rings to budge.


PostPosted: Sat Mar 04, 2023 11:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
jamaeolus wrote:
I have to commiserate on your lack of comments lament. This post was up for 2 days before anyone said anything and I felt the images were remarkably good for lens used well outside its design goals. I was feeling ignored.


The forum lives its strange days. Looking at visitors stats, at moments it fits the high activity of the previous years, like 180-230 visitors in the same moment. Meanwhile hits of new posts go down continuously as well as comments of each post, with a few heated exceptions. One might say new MFL users discover the realm searching for the info in old posts throughout the whole treasure of threads.

In such a condition, when you don't have enough feedback to your post, you might always switch your perception from the community dimension of the forum to its purpose of an MFL encyclopedia.


PostPosted: Sat Mar 04, 2023 7:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Gretag most definitely manufacturered minilabs or relabeled somebody else's. There is one for sale on ebay. I'm wondering if they outsourced the optical components to Rodenstock. I have seen several things that hint at a relationship there.


PostPosted: Sat Mar 04, 2023 9:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
alex ph wrote:

The forum lives its strange days. Looking at visitors stats, at moments it fits the high activity of the previous years, like 180-230 visitors in the same moment. Meanwhile hits of new posts go down continuously as well as comments of each post, with a few heated exceptions. One might say new MFL users discover the realm searching for the info in old posts throughout the whole treasure of threads.

In such a condition, when you don't have enough feedback to your post, you might always switch your perception from the community dimension of the forum to its purpose of an MFL encyclopedia.

You're certainly right - I've been here many times through google searches etc. while looking for some information before joining the forum.

However I feel like engagement when it comes to special industrial optics has always been pretty low, no matter the place or time. I might be biased in the other direction (because I love adapting really unusual and uncommon lenses) but to me it seems like people prefer to read about the same handful of established classic taking lenses over and over again, instead of thinking about a way to adapt a lens like this one or the Rodenstock Wide Range Zoom...


jamaeolus wrote:
Gretag most definitely manufacturered minilabs or relabeled somebody else's. There is one for sale on ebay. I'm wondering if they outsourced the optical components to Rodenstock. I have seen several things that hint at a relationship there.


Indeed, they did. And while those were likely their own designs and could have been high-quality machines I somewhat doubt that they manufactured the optics themselves. I've seen some lesser known minilab makers who used Rodenstock lenses as well (albeit standard enlarging lenses with custom adapters) and some who used El-Nikkors. The Zoom-lens which was mentioned seemed to have existed in at least two variants (Docter and Rodenstock). The 120 mm lens is a different thing though... we don't even know if it was used in the print part of the minilab or the scanner.

I'm glad you got it out though to see what it does provide as a taking lens. In my experience some of these optics are real gems.


PostPosted: Sat Mar 04, 2023 10:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Well, I can certainly register my interest in this.

I enjoy special industrial equipment, particularly macro stuff like this, but it can sometimes feel like playing whack a mole with needing to know specific names in advance for them to appear in an eBay saved search. And then they approach 'needs justification' price ranges (for me), which then makes me consider how I'm generally alright for macro stuff at the minute.

If anyone has any general tips let me know, but macro industrial equipment often escapes my general eBay saved searches. And looking in Business, Office and Industrial requires even more particular keywords to sift stuff out.

Now - this doesn't make my enjoyment of the results conditional on being able to get one. I should just appreciate the really nice photo results. Would I have the same care if a large aperture lens was being discussed? I suppose I just want to register how much I've struggled to seek these out more than other obscure lenses, which are nominally going to be more common than some 1960s limited production large aperture 70mm film lens, but I should expect that for industrial equipment of very limited names.

Last edited by eggplant on Sat Mar 04, 2023 10:34 pm; edited 2 times in total


PostPosted: Sat Mar 04, 2023 10:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Well if I ever happen on another I might pony up the money to have it remounted with proper variable aperture and helicoid. As it is the only one I have ever seen for sale it is staying intact, for now.


PostPosted: Sat Mar 04, 2023 10:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
simple.joy wrote:
However I feel like engagement when it comes to special industrial optics has always been pretty low, no matter the place or time. I might be biased in the other direction (because I love adapting really unusual and uncommon lenses) but to me it seems like people prefer to read about the same handful of established classic taking lenses over and over again, instead of thinking about a way to adapt a lens like this one or the Rodenstock Wide Range Zoom...


That's a fair point. Unusual and out-of-purpose lenses commonly provoke less animated reactions than well known ones, also because there is an entry cost to adaptation practice which is less material than moral. I hesitated several years before I dared to unscrew the first helicoid of a conventional lens and belated even more before venturing into the first and easy minded adaptation avoiding a ready-made adapter.

As for the lens maker, the barrel of this one currently sold at ebay explicitly names Rodenstock.


PostPosted: Sun Mar 05, 2023 12:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
The 120mm works best around 1:1. I'm surprised at the nice results at infinity. I have used them for coin imaging of small coins and they work great. Far as I can tell they are apochromatic.


PostPosted: Sun Mar 05, 2023 9:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
alex ph wrote:
simple.joy wrote:
However I feel like engagement when it comes to special industrial optics has always been pretty low, no matter the place or time. I might be biased in the other direction (because I love adapting really unusual and uncommon lenses) but to me it seems like people prefer to read about the same handful of established classic taking lenses over and over again, instead of thinking about a way to adapt a lens like this one or the Rodenstock Wide Range Zoom...


That's a fair point. Unusual and out-of-purpose lenses commonly provoke less animated reactions than well known ones, also because there is an entry cost to adaptation practice which is less material than moral. I hesitated several years before I dared to unscrew the first helicoid of a conventional lens and belated even more before venturing into the first and easy minded adaptation avoiding a ready-made adapter.

As for the lens maker, the barrel of this one currently sold at ebay explicitly names Rodenstock.


I have two salvaged lenses of a Umax Mirage II A3 scanner. No brand name. The approx. 110mm focal length one is not that special. Mounted it in an M42 extension tube so it can be used reversed and normal. The 75mm 5.6 lens is very good, even at infinity. Had it mounted the same way but later embedded it in the barrel of a Panagor 135mm 2.8 lens for infinity and a nice MFD.
An Epson Perfection 3200 scanner lens, Plasmat type, got a similar M42 mount.
All done with 3D printed parts as well.


PostPosted: Sun Mar 05, 2023 11:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
eggplant wrote:
Well, I can certainly register my interest in this.

I enjoy special industrial equipment, particularly macro stuff like this, but it can sometimes feel like playing whack a mole with needing to know specific names in advance for them to appear in an eBay saved search. And then they approach 'needs justification' price ranges (for me), which then makes me consider how I'm generally alright for macro stuff at the minute.

If anyone has any general tips let me know, but macro industrial equipment often escapes my general eBay saved searches. And looking in Business, Office and Industrial requires even more particular keywords to sift stuff out.

Now - this doesn't make my enjoyment of the results conditional on being able to get one. I should just appreciate the really nice photo results. Would I have the same care if a large aperture lens was being discussed? I suppose I just want to register how much I've struggled to seek these out more than other obscure lenses, which are nominally going to be more common than some 1960s limited production large aperture 70mm film lens, but I should expect that for industrial equipment of very limited names.


I'm glad you find it interesting. I don't have any specific tips, however looking for the devices those lenses were used in is sometimes a better solution, even though it might mean higher shipping costs and you'll have to remove them yourself. Robert (on Closeuphotography) provides some great insights in how to spot the correct devices and also remove the lenses properly.

Another thing is 'trial and error': without anyone taking the risk of trying some random lens for the first time, no one knows how good or bad it is as a taking lens. Gotta give credit to the people who are taking some risks and just going for something without having the insight in what they are getting. I'm thinking of Ian here, who has seemingly tried a lot of lenses no one has given any attention to and of course Robert, Ray and others who surely had multiple instances when they got a lens that looked promising but turned out to be a complete failure. I know I certainly had that experience numerous times...


jamaeolus wrote:
Well if I ever happen on another I might pony up the money to have it remounted with proper variable aperture and helicoid. As it is the only one I have ever seen for sale it is staying intact, for now.


That sounds like a great idea. If you can get another cheap one and have the necessary skills and tools to do a lot of it yourself, you might get a viable Makro-Symmar 120 mm alternative for a fraction of the cost. If you have to rely on 3rd parties for lots of it, it might not make that much of a difference compared to a reasonable prices Makro-Symmar (they do appear from time to time...) I guess.

alex ph wrote:
simple.joy wrote:
However I feel like engagement when it comes to special industrial optics has always been pretty low, no matter the place or time. I might be biased in the other direction (because I love adapting really unusual and uncommon lenses) but to me it seems like people prefer to read about the same handful of established classic taking lenses over and over again, instead of thinking about a way to adapt a lens like this one or the Rodenstock Wide Range Zoom...


That's a fair point. Unusual and out-of-purpose lenses commonly provoke less animated reactions than well known ones, also because there is an entry cost to adaptation practice which is less material than moral. I hesitated several years before I dared to unscrew the first helicoid of a conventional lens and belated even more before venturing into the first and easy minded adaptation avoiding a ready-made adapter.


When it comes to my postings about those lenses I'm sure the lack of variety in different kinds of shots may be partly to blame for a lack of interest by some. I'm mostly doing macro/close-ups so that might not speak to a lot of people. However I think it's so rare that one of these scanner/enlarging lenses turns out to be on par or better than very good regular taking lenses, that it might not be worth it to keep searching, if what you're after is a good landscape or architecture lens. Only exception seems to be photography of the nightskies, where certain aspects a couple of high-end industrial lenses show, are a real benefit. (I seem to recall that astrophotographers are actively looking for S-Orthoplanars, Apo-El Nikkors and stuff, which is interesting given the original applications...)


alex ph wrote:
As for the lens maker, the barrel of this one currently sold at ebay explicitly names Rodenstock.


Yeah, that's true for a number of those lenses that I've seen so far. I think the one Ian showed also shows Docter as the manufacturer... So we know of two possible candidates, both from Germany.

Ray Parkhurst wrote:
The 120mm works best around 1:1. I'm surprised at the nice results at infinity. I have used them for coin imaging of small coins and they work great. Far as I can tell they are apochromatic.


Thanks a lot for that assessment - I'm not surprised that you have one of those. Have you compared it to the Makro-Symmar? If so, is it as similar in terms of coin-rendering as Robert described the results of his tests? And do you have any clue on the construction. Is it one of the more common 6/4 constructions or something different?

Ernst Dinkla wrote:


I have two salvaged lenses of a Umax Mirage II A3 scanner. No brand name. The approx. 110mm focal length one is not that special. Mounted it in an M42 extension tube so it can be used reversed and normal. The 75mm 5.6 lens is very good, even at infinity. Had it mounted the same way but later embedded it in the barrel of a Panagor 135mm 2.8 lens for infinity and a nice MFD.
An Epson Perfection 3200 scanner lens, Plasmat type, got a similar M42 mount.
All done with 3D printed parts as well.


That's very interesting -thanks for sharing that. I've read about the Umax Mirage scanners, however never really looked into them.

I've seen that you described the adaption of the 40mm lens and also showed some results here:
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4476274

Do you have some samples from the 75 mm lens as well? Your adapter-solution looks great btw. - excellent work.


PostPosted: Sun Mar 05, 2023 12:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
simple.joy wrote:

I'm glad you find it interesting. I don't have any specific tips, however looking for the devices those lenses were used in is sometimes a better solution, even though it might mean higher shipping costs and you'll have to remove them yourself. Robert (on Closeuphotography) provides some great insights in how to spot the correct devices and also remove the lenses properly.


I have read a fair few of his articles and need to ask him about how he gets, for example, quality Schneider Componons so cheap and regularly.

I haven't seen the articles on spotting correct devices though, so I would be interested to see.

simple.joy wrote:

Another thing is 'trial and error': without anyone taking the risk of trying some random lens for the first time, no one knows how good or bad it is as a taking lens. Gotta give credit to the people who are taking some risks and just going for something without having the insight in what they are getting. I'm thinking of Ian here, who has seemingly tried a lot of lenses no one has given any attention to and of course Robert, Ray and others who surely had multiple instances when they got a lens that looked promising but turned out to be a complete failure. I know I certainly had that experience numerous times...


Yes, this is exactly what I'm here for...

I have an Imtech 2000 21x microfiche lens that works out to 58mm f5.6~. It's likely some sort of Plasmat or Double-Gauss, it's certainly optically long, but has a bit of seperation near what I assume is the rear.

Looking at what I think is the front





(Do ignore if a bit grubby, if it doesn't come off with dry brush it was probably already there)

It turned out to really not be very good, but perhaps I didn't try high enough magnifications?. Blue/yellow fringing towards edges of APS-C frame, not brilliant sharpness. But the working distance was very small.

At 'normal' distances which I tested it with to find the focal length, it was plenty sharp/indistinguishable from my Helios 44-2 stopped down, so not sure what's up.


PostPosted: Sun Mar 05, 2023 1:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
For example-

https://www.closeuphotography.com/blog/this-just-in-admon-918-industrial-inspection-lens

Quote:
This is the Admon 918 105mm f/2.8 industrial lens, other than name, focal length and aperture that’s the extent of what we know about this lens. This lens came from a seller in South Korea for the absurd price of $25 (lens only)... These 3 photos from the eBay seller’s ad, sorry for the poor quality, are interesting.


I do a search for Admon and find https://www.ebay.com/itm/283581658518 which appears to be identical photos/listing:



So ignoring the $3,000 probably make me an offer price tag, this was listed under

Listed in category: Business & Industrial > Electrical Equipment & Supplies > Other Electrical Equipment & Supplies

So assuming you don't know Admon, you could find this-

- saving the category "Other Electrical Equipment & Supplies", which is one of many "Other xyz" categories under Business & Industrial you could save and find odd stuff in (quite a few of these you'd have to save)
- save Electrical Equipment & Supplies or higher and probably do a keyword search for 'parts' (not a bad idea)
- save a keyword search for "semiconductor" and similar industrial fields where inspection lenses of some kind can be found (pretty good idea)
- EDIT: Missed a big trick - do condition search for 'used' for one of the last three, which greatly reduces results

On closer inspection, "Other Electrical Equipment & Supplies" is quite a broad category when you put "semiconductor" keyword in.

But not everything comes under semiconductor keyword, so then what...


PostPosted: Sun Mar 05, 2023 5:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
simple.joy wrote:
Ernst Dinkla wrote:


I have two salvaged lenses of a Umax Mirage II A3 scanner. No brand name. The approx. 110mm focal length one is not that special. Mounted it in an M42 extension tube so it can be used reversed and normal. The 75mm 5.6 lens is very good, even at infinity. Had it mounted the same way but later embedded it in the barrel of a Panagor 135mm 2.8 lens for infinity and a nice MFD.
An Epson Perfection 3200 scanner lens, Plasmat type, got a similar M42 mount.
All done with 3D printed parts as well.


That's very interesting -thanks for sharing that. I've read about the Umax Mirage scanners, however never really looked into them.

I've seen that you described the adaption of the 40mm lens and also showed some results here:
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4476274

Do you have some samples from the 75 mm lens as well? Your adapter-solution looks great btw. - excellent work.


Yes:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/62096078
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/62096302


PostPosted: Sun Mar 05, 2023 6:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Search for "Machine Vision" yields interesting stuff https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?kw=machine%20vision


PostPosted: Sun Mar 05, 2023 10:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
eggplant wrote:

I have read a fair few of his articles and need to ask him about how he gets, for example, quality Schneider Componons so cheap and regularly.

I haven't seen the articles on spotting correct devices though, so I would be interested to see.


Of course he doesn't really write articles about how you find unknown lenses in general, but he often provides hints inside of his lens tests and shares the name of the machines those lenses were used in. In a majority of cases that's enough to see if there's one available in a reasonable distance to where you live. And by looking up those devices and let's say some old comparison test of those (like scanner tests from magazines etc.) you can find viable alternatives, where you could find other interesting candidates for lenses to adapt. Of course you are the one doing the majority of the work, but I guess there's just no way around that. And to be completely honest, it still takes lots and lots of luck to find the right thing at the right time and get it, particularly, when it's a 'newly discovered' outstanding lens, like the Minolta DiMage scan elite lens or stuff like that, where many others may be aware of it as well. Word gets around very quick in our day and age after all...

eggplant wrote:

I have an Imtech 2000 21x microfiche lens that works out to 58mm f5.6~. It's likely some sort of Plasmat or Double-Gauss, it's certainly optically long, but has a bit of seperation near what I assume is the rear.

It turned out to really not be very good, but perhaps I didn't try high enough magnifications?. Blue/yellow fringing towards edges of APS-C frame, not brilliant sharpness. But the working distance was very small.

At 'normal' distances which I tested it with to find the focal length, it was plenty sharp/indistinguishable from my Helios 44-2 stopped down, so not sure what's up.


There's a good reason why microfiche lenses are usually not recommended for adaption. They can be great, but lots of them are not. Seems very hit-or-miss, and I have a couple of both presumably. Tried my Agfa Mikrogon last week and while I think it can produce very interesting and unique looking images, I doubt it's a great lens for most real macro-enthusiasts who're often looking for 'edge to edge sharpness'. Here are a couple of samples:
https://flic.kr/p/2oi2WXh
https://flic.kr/p/2oi8LrN
https://flic.kr/p/2oieB6A

Ernst Dinkla wrote:


Yes:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/62096078
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/62096302


Thanks - that looks quite impressive.

visualopsins wrote:
Search for "Machine Vision" yields interesting stuff https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?kw=machine%20vision


While true, that's just way too broad of a category in my opinion. As far as I know the vast majority of machine vision lenses is for tiny/low resolution sensors and even 'high-resolution' doesn't mean a thing there. But if you've got time to sift through of course that category may contain a lot of interesting lenses as well.
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