This lens was part of a nice group of Rodenstock industrial lenses that became available from the same eBay seller. Industrial lenses are attractive since they are usually sold for just a fraction of the original list price so even if these are not as easy to install or setup as a consumer market lens like an enlarging lens, they can be a very good buy for the experienced macro photographer. The maximum aperture of f/8 is going to limit the resolution potential of this lens due to the effects of diffraction. In most cases the aperture can be changed by modifying the original aperture disk or simply removing it. Usually this takes 2 minutes, unfortunately in this case the operation isn’t simple and requires removal of the front retaining ring and handling some of the lens element groups. It’s an easy operation but a mistake can ruin the lens so I wouldn’t recommend this lens modification unless you have done this kind of work before.
Quick look at the ROGONAR-S 35mm
f/8 aperture disk is removable (some disassembly required)
Very good chromatic aberration correction
All-metal body
Low-cost
Small compact design
Free shipping from the seller
Standard 25mm x 0.5 mounting threads
2.6x TEST: 2500 PIXEL SAMPLE IMAGE
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 size of the screen being used. 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.
The image quality at 2.6x is better than I expected, the sharpness and contrast are very good, and the chromatic correction is better than most 4 and 6 element lenses.
Center area at 100% view at 2.6x at f/4.5. Sharpness is very good and LaCAs are nonexistent. This is very unlike enlarger lenses.
2.6X TEST: SETUP
Front lens: Rodenstock Rogonar-S 35, ID label towards the subject
Rear lens: Mejiro 5.6/90, line-scan lens normally mounted focused at infinity
Stacked lens nominal aperture: f/4.5
Stacked lens effective aperture: f/11.7
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. Images were 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.
ROGONAR-S 35 TECHNICAL DETAILS
Rodenstock Rogonar-S 1:8 f=35mm
Lens applications: industrial
Part number: Unknown
Filter threads: none
Mounting threads: 25mm x 0.5 mounting threads (these are standard Schneider threads)
Barrel type: All-Metal
Optics: 4 elements 3 groups
Mount: none
Iris: aperture disk
Nominal aperture: f/8
Measured aperture: f/7.8 forward, f/7 in reverse
Modified aperture: f/4.5 forward, f/4.38 in reverse
Coverage: APS-C coverage is good
Used market Price: $6 for new-old-stock
WHERE TO FIND THE ROGONAR 35
These lenses are available now from a eBay seller now for $12.99 for 2 lenses with free shipping. I don’t usually recommend eBay sellers but this one is special:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2-USED-RODENSTOCK-ROGONAR-S-1-8-f-35MM-LENS-0801-356-021/174065000145?
OTHER RODENSTOCK LENSES TESTS ON CLOSEUPHOTOGRAPHY.COM
This group of industrial lenses that has been available online over the last couple of weeks all perform at a higher level than I expected. In August I spent some considerable time testing a group of 4 and 6 element 50mm enlarging/printing lenses and I don’t even want to waste time taking about the results, soft corners, LaCAs, fuzzy details, it wasn’t pretty but these Rodestock industrial lenses are all good performers. So far I’ve tried the 35, 50, 57, 60 with all good results, the 25 and 30mm lenses still need to be tested.
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 Rodagon 5.6/43: https://www.closeuphotography.com/rodagon-43-lens-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
LINKS FOR MORE INFO ON THE RODENSTOCK INDUSTRIAL LENSES:
Rodenstock indus. lenses: Rodagon - Rogonar S - Ysaron Info:
https://www.photomacrography.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40502
$5 Rodenstock Rogonar-S 50 vs APO-Rodagon-N 50 Test Results:
https://www.photomacrography.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40509
$2.50 Rogonar-S v $250 APO-Rodagon-D v $1K Canon MPE Test:
https://www.photomacrography.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40477
Sharp Rodenstock 57mm Lens For $2.50 - Too Good to be True?:
https://www.photomacrography.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40472
LINKS FOR MORE INFO
Rodenstock Linos machine vision lens lineup at the Qioptiq site: https://www.qioptiq-shop.com/en/Precision-Optics/LINOS-Machine-Vision-Solutions/LINOS-Machine-Vision-Lenses/?