Rodenstock Rodagon 1:8 f-60mm machine vision lens
The utilitarian look of this lens and the slow aperture don’t exactly make it attractive, but this Rodagon shares the same complex, high-quality 6 element, 4 group design with the 60mm f/4 Rodagon enlarging lens so it’s definitely worth a look. This is especially true with a price of $5 plus shipping for a new-old-stock lens. I just couldn’t pass the opportunity to pick up a couple.
The attraction of this lens and most industrial lenses really, is professional grade image quality, for a sub entry-level price. Generally speaking enlarging lenses are found in 4 performance levels; basic with 3 elements, mid-level 3 or 4 elements, professional with 6 elements, and high end with 6 or more elements. The performance of these 4 levels are blurred since a less complex lenses can out perform a 6 or 7 element lens (see the Rogonar-S 50mm test: https://www.closeuphotography.com/rogonar-s-50-lens-test). The goal of testing this Rodagon, which cost almost nothing by the way, is to find out if it has the goods to produce a professional level image.
Industrial optics like this with preset apertures use a disk to stop down instead of an iris. Typically the design of this type of lens make changing the aperture disk easy, so it should be possible to modify this lens for a faster maximum aperture, remember, a wider aperture = higher potential resolution. Removing the aperture disk from this lens was very easy, taking maybe 2 minutes at the most. Disk removal takes the aperture from a very conservative f/8 to a measured f/4 reversed, and f/4.28 forwards!
Simply unscrew the front cell you can see above, these are only finger-tight. You can see the aperture disk on the left above, with a small pair of pliers you can pop the disk out. The material is very thin and is glued down so you might have to use a little force. You can see the before and after disk removal in the image above. Take care not to lose the shims, located between the front cell and the center section, when you remove the lens cell.
The important question is, now that the lens is faster, exactly how good is the image quality at f/4 anyway?
IMAGE QUALITY AT 2 X MAGNIFICATION
For best results I use this lens in a stacked configuration. Stacking lenses, also called coupling lenses, is a technique where you mount a lens in reverse, or face-to-face, on a second lens, usually a telephoto lens, in this case the Schneider Makro-Symmar 5.6/120. With the rear lens set to infinity focus and with the front lens reverse mounted there is no loss of light due to extension. Together the combination has the potential to resolve more than either of the lenses setup for close-focus with extension.
An f/4 lens focused at 2x magnification by extension would have an effective aperture of f/12 using the simple formula, effective aperture = nominal aperture * ( Magnification + 1 ). With the same lens setup in a stacked configuration the effective aperture would be only f/8 using the formula effective aperture = nominal aperture * Magnification. Remember you can predict the maximum possible resolution from a certain lens by using the simple fact that a wider aperture = higher potential resolution.
2500 PIXEL IMAGE SAMPLE
Click on the image below to view a larger version in a Lightbox viewer, but the size of the image sent to your device is based on the screen size. To open the image in a new window or tab, right click, or two-finger press, and select Open in a New Tab or New Window from the menu. You can also right click, or two-finger press, and select Save Image As and compare the images in the image viewing app of your choice.
To check the size of the image you are looking at, look up at the URL window at the top of the browser, the address should have 2500w at the end. If the image size is anything smaller you can easily change the number to 2500 manually and press enter to bring up the largest image.
Rodagon 60 machine vision lens with Schneider 120 makro symmar tube lens at 2x.
The image quality produced at 2x with this Rodagon very good, consistent from corner to corner with well controlled chromatic aberrations. The performance here is as good as any high-performance, top-of-the-line series enlarging lens that I have tested. Now would be a good time to mention price. This lens was $5 before shipping, in new-old-stock, never-used condition. When was the last time you paid $5 for a lens?
2X TEST: Rodenstock ROdagon 60MM LENS VS SK APO-Componon 4/60
For this test the Rodagon was stacked lens ID label side facing the sensor, the APO-Componon was set to f/4.
Front lens: Rodenstock Rodagon 8/60, tested at f/4, and reverse mounted, that is with the lens ID label towards the sensor.
Rear lens: Schneider Makro-Symmar 5.6/120 line scan lens normally mounted focused at infinity
Stacked lens nominal aperture: f/4 with disk removed
Stacked lens effective aperture: f/8
Front lens: Schneider APO-Componon 4/60 line scan lens, tested at f/4, and reverse mounted
Rear lens: Schneider Makro-Symmar 5.6/120 line scan lens normally mounted and focused at infinity
Stacked lens nominal aperture: f/4
Stacked lens effective aperture: f/8
Camera: Sony α6300, model # ILCE-6300, also known as: A6300
Sensor size: APS-C 23.5 × 15.6 mm. 28.21 mm diagonal. 3.92 micron sensor pitch
Flash: Godox TT350s wireless flash x 2 with one Godox X1s 2.4G wireless flash transmitter
For this test I ran a stack of images in 4 micron steps for each aperture. The sharpest frame was then chosen using Photoshop at 100% actual pixel view. Separate images were selected for center, edge, and corner if needed. Each image was processed in PS CC with identical settings with all noise reduction and lens correction turned off, all settings were zeroed out (true zero) and the same settings were used for all of the images.
100% VIEW CENTER CROPS: Rodenstock ROdagon 60MM LENS VS SK APO-Componon 4/60
Click on the image below to view a larger version in a Lightbox viewer, but the size of the image sent to your device is based on the screen size. To open the image in a new window or tab, right click, or two-finger press, and select Open in a New Tab or New Window from the menu. You can also right click, or two-finger press, and select Save Image As and compare the images in the image viewing app of your choice.
In the center the Rodagon is slightly sharper, it’s close but if you don’t see a difference, look at the micro-lettering on the left side next to the little silver square, m-e-t-a-l, and 1.00-1.40.
With chromatic aberrations its a different story though, the APO-Componon has better correction, it’s not perfect, and it’s definitely not an APO in my opinion, but its better than the Rodagon for sure.
The sharpness and resolution from the Rodagon is better than the APO-Componon but the Schneider has better CA control here no doubt.
100% VIEW edge CROPS: Rodenstock ROdagon 60MM LENS VS SK APO-Componon 4/60
Click on the image below to view a larger version in a Lightbox viewer, but the size of the image sent to your device is based on the screen size. To open the image in a new window or tab, right click, or two-finger press, and select Open in a New Tab or New Window from the menu. You can also right click, or two-finger press, and select Save Image As and compare the images in the image viewing app of your choice.
Sharpness levels are very close here at the edge. Both lenses are showing red fringing here, the APO-Componon showing slightly less.
The two lenses are too close in sharpness to make a call but in terms of CA control the APO-Componon is just a little better.
100% VIEW corner CROPS: Rodenstock ROdagon 60MM LENS VS SK APO-Componon 4/60
Click on the image below to view a larger version in a Lightbox viewer, but the size of the image sent to your device is based on the screen size. To open the image in a new window or tab, right click, or two-finger press, and select Open in a New Tab or New Window from the menu. You can also right click, or two-finger press, and select Save Image As and compare the images in the image viewing app of your choice.
In the corner the two lenses are very close in sharpness, almost to close to call, some areas have better detail in the Rodagon crop, others with the APO-Componon.
The CAs in the Rodagon image are better controlled than the image from the APO-Componon.
Sharpness is equal here but the CA control is better in the Rodagon image, not the APO-Componon, that’s a surprise!
100% VIEW extreme corner CROPS: Rodenstock ROdagon 60MM LENS VS SK APO-Componon 4/60
Click on the image below to view a larger version in a Lightbox viewer, but the size of the image sent to your device is based on the screen size. To open the image in a new window or tab, right click, or two-finger press, and select Open in a New Tab or New Window from the menu. You can also right click, or two-finger press, and select Save Image As and compare the images in the image viewing app of your choice.
The APO-Componon is a little sharper in the far corner, especially noticeable with the micro-lettering while the Rodagon has a lot less red fringing. So much for the APO designation.
In the far corner, APO-Componon is sharper, the Rodagon has better CA control.
2X TEST RESULTS: Rodenstock ROdagon 60MM LENS VS SK APO-Componon 4/60
The APO-Componon and Rodagon are very close in performance in terms of sharpness and chromatic aberration control overall. There is really not much difference between the two lenses at 2x.
When you consider price the Rodagon is a much better buy costing about $5 for the new-old-stock unit that you see here in this test to about $40-60 in used condition on eBay and $600 retail price. At the other end, the APO-Componon costs anywhere from $300 to $400 dollars for a clean unit on the used market and $1000 for the enlarger lens body and $1500 new in a V-mount body.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
Rodenstock Rodagon 1:8 F=60mm
Lens applications: industrial machine vision
Part number: Unknown
Filter threads: none
Barrel type: All-Metal threaded body
Optics: 6 elements 4 groups
Mount: M25 x 0.5 (common Schneider lens thread size so adapters are easy to find)
Iris: aperture disk
Aperture: f/8 as supplied,
Tested aperture: f/4 after disk removal
Coverage: APS-C
Used market Price: $5.00 for new-old-stock. New about $600 in an enlarger lens mount.
RATING
What I Like:
Unbeatable price vs performance ratio
Good image quality
All-metal housing
Standard mounting threaded body
Removable aperture disk
Good chromatic aberration correction
What I Don’t Like:
What’s not to like?
MOUNTING THE Rodagon 60mm threaded barrel
This Rodagon has a threaded body with standard M25 x 0.5 threads, the same size is used on some older Schneider lenses like the Xenon, so you should be able to find the correct adapters on RAF Camera and eBay without any problem.
Mount the lens on a Makro-Symmar 5.6/120 was simple using two step-down adapters. First I used a M25 x 0.5 thread > M42 x 1.0 step-down adapter with a second adapter to lock the threads. Next I used a Thorlabs M42 to SM2 flat adapter with a lock ring. The lens and adapters screwed right into my standard SM2/52mm studio setup with the Makro-Symmar 5.6/120 already installed as a tube lens.
Other Rodenstock Lenses here on Closeuphotography.com:
Rodenstock Ysaron 1:4 f=25: coming soon
Rodenstock Ysaron 1:3.5 f=30: coming soon
Rodenstock Rodagon 4/28: https://www.closeuphotography.com/rodagon-28mm-lens-test
Rodenstock Rogonar-S 8/35: https://www.closeuphotography.com/rogonar-s-35mm-test
Rodenstock Rogonar-S 1:3.5 f=50: https://www.closeuphotography.com/rogonar-s-50-lens-test
Rodenstock Rogonar-S 1:8 f=57 : https://www.closeuphotography.com/rogonar-s-57mm-lens-test
Rodenstock Rodagon 1:8 f=60: https://www.closeuphotography.com/rodagon-60mm-lens-test
LINK FOR THE more info on the Rodagon 60
Rodagon 4/60 enlarging lens data sheet PDF on the Qioptiq site:
https://www.qioptiq-shop.com/out/Graphics/en/00120669_0.pdf
Test of the APO-Componon 4/60 here on Closeuphotography.com:
https://www.closeuphotography.com/schneider-apo-componon-60mm-f4-test