There are plenty of 50's and 90's out there, Bob. Damn few 105's or 150's, unless you pay full pricing for remaining 105 new inventory, which run around five bucks a millimeter! It all relative. The folks that use Apo El Nikkors instead think of us as cheapskates. I just sacrifice that one extra stop of speed and use ordinary Apo Nikkors to the same effect, meaning for those larger film sizes the Apo-Rodagons don't cover. But that Starlite should do fine with reference to overheating if just used intermittently for common papers, which expose quickly. It was specifically engineered for slow Ciba. Reminds me of my bad ole hot Durst color mural unit which would punch a 30x40 Ciba with a .60 mask in about 15 seconds. That would equate to less than a blink of an eye to punch the same sized RA4 paper, almost like hunting quail with battleship artillery.
... But back to your grudge, Bob... The Chromira was a very complex machine. A number of them are still in use. I never cared much for the slight salt n' pepper
look of the prints; but it was better than the banding that comes with improper laser printers. I forget the name of the main ZBE engineer/owner. But it seems his skill caught the attention of Hollywood etc and very high pay incentives, so the company's time got divided. Then for analogous reasons his best engineers pulled away too, into their own projects. So it wasn't a failed business model. Had the same thing happen down the street when our successful local chem supply house was passed along to two employees who regrettably closed the business because they simply couldn't refuse the relatively enormous pay Silicon Valley offered for their specific educational niche. They had both done phD theses in gallium, a seeming arcane element that suddenly became the new frontier in chip mfg.
There were lots of old Apo Rodagon 50 and 90mm lenses sold but they were quite inferior to the newer Apo Rodagon N lenses that replaced them. The N series were made in 45, 50, 80, 90, 105 and 150mm. The 45 and 90mm Apo Rodagon N lenses were quite rare. So you must be referring to the older ones that were not, among other features, multi coated.
It's hard to tell from the posted image, but my guess that that his are N's, esp since the Schneider of allegedly the same vintage looks like an HM. Can't imagine
someone putting down that kind of money for a specialized enlarger and equipping it with anything less than the best. Mine own are N's, and yeah, they perform
wonderfully.
Here's what I can see: Rodenstock 50mm f/2.8 G; Rodenstock 50mm f/2.8 N; Schneider 90mm f/4.5 HM
Also, on the Durst 4x5, the lens is the Schneider 4/45 HM. Now, my hopefully last question would be this: If I opt to keep the Durst, would this lens alone be all I need if I mostly print 4x5? Wasn't sure if I need to keep a lens from the ZBE also. Again...you guys have been a huge help!
The Rodenstock 50 G is for especially large prints from 35mm film, so not a general-purpose lens, and potentially valuable to someone seeking to do that specific
kind of printing. The Schneider 90 HM is their expensive offering for general medium format enlarging, a distinct keeper if you plan on enlarging roll film. The
45 HM is obviously their higher end general-purpose lens for 35mm. Nothing you've listed so far would be of any use whatsoever in printing large format film.
But you have a few bargaining chips to horse trade for a nice 150 or whatever.
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