Fun with an old enlarger lens.

[Ralph Turner]

Back in the early summer of 2020 I thought I'd have a go at seeing what my 50mm El Nikkor would be like adapted to my 6D. I fitted it via an eos -m42 adaptor, short m42 extension tube snd m42-m39 reducing ring. I estimated that the macro ratio at about 1:10-ish so, effectively in the ball park of the lens's optimum reproduction range. Focus was achieved by moving back and forth. To say I was happy with how it behaved would be an understatement. Here are a coupke of examples from our old garden in North Yorkshire. Hope you like them.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

I’m not surprised you are happy. Very good results. Even when I stretched my iPad screen to zoom in, the focus was all there. And not harsh either, far from it.

 

[Ralph Turner]

Thanks Rob. Although the downsized view on here is fine, I might add a tight crop of the centre of the rose for closer look.

 

[Ralph Turner]

Heart of the rose.

 

[Ralph Turner]

Sadly, when I tried using this lens for camera scanning purposes, it showed a limitation with the higher magnification involved though, when used at normal enlarging magnifications, it can produce outstanding results.

 

[Pete Askew]

It certainly has worked well. Very nice indeed.

 

[Peter Roberts]

Interesting. I've often wondered how that sort of set up would work. A pity it's not so good for scanning but those flower close-ups are impressive.

 

[Ralph Turner]

... and, thank, folks

 

[Ralph Turner]

Interesting. I've often wondered how that sort of set up would work. A pity it's not so good for scanning but those flower close-ups are impressive.

I've just re-read your comment, @Peter Roberts, and have realised I went off on a completely irrelevant tangent (those responses now disposed of - I'm such an old duffer sometimes). Yes, I can thoroughly recommend this kind of set-up in the absence of a macro lens. Even then, IQ seems to rival that of a true macro at the appropriate magnifications. I even tried it recently with a three-element 75mm Componar. This also acquitted itself rather well. Worth a play if you can.

 

[Ralph Turner]

Speaking of that 75mm Componar, here are a few snaps taken with it on a Panasonic GX1 with a helicoid adaptor. Not quite in the same league as the Nikkor, but not bad.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Very nice, Ralph.

 

[Ralph Turner]

Thanks, Rob.

 

[Stevenson Gawen]

It works! And well at that... impressive. I've never really looked at enlarger lenses. Somehow in my mind I rolled them together with projector lenses, but of course that's different again.

 

[Ralph Turner]

Thanks, Steve. A site you might find interesting:-

Delta - the Alt-Lens Archive: Exploring the world of non-taking lenses.

Exploring alt-lenses: DELTA is the biggest resource for film-makers and photographers using enlarger, projector, macro, repro, process and cine lenses to create digital work.

deltalenses.com

 

[Stevenson Gawen]

Thanks, Steve. A site you might find interesting:-

Delta - the Alt-Lens Archive: Exploring the world of non-taking lenses.

Exploring alt-lenses: DELTA is the biggest resource for film-makers and photographers using enlarger, projector, macro, repro, process and cine lenses to create digital work.

deltalenses.com

Gosh... that's a big site!

 

[Ralph Turner]

Gosh... that's a big site!

Indeed. Might be of some interest if you should decide to have a play