sharpest lens for macro sl66 - planar or el nikkor ?

hi,

 

was wondering if anyone out there could comment on the sl66's

120mm macro planar. is it worth hanging out for or should i just hack

a reversed el nikkor ( fujinon maybe? ) 135mm onto my sl66.

 

my primary criteria of interest is sharpness...

 

 

thanks.

Both would work. Differences in sharpness would be hard to tell. The Makro-Planar and the S-Planar are corrected for 1:10. The reversed enlarging lenses might work better at other ratios. Among the 120mm lenses, the 5.6 version has been slightly sharper, at least in my hands. There was a 5.6 Macro Planar and a 5.6 S-Planar. They come around from time to time. Also the S-Planar/Makro-Planars can be reversed, making it about even. The only significant difference would probably the automatic diaphragm of the Rollei/Zeiss lenses.

If you want to get into beyond 1:1 - I'd suggest a rodagon. But 120-135mm

is WAAAAYYYY too long! You'll need to rack out the bellows about 10

inches... which would entail accessory bellows. I'd suggest a 50mm or

shorter rodagon or nikkor - or even componon. I'm not so impressed with a

lot of the 'boutique' macro lenses.

When shooting at magnifications below 1:1, there's no reason to reverse the lens. Especially if it is an enlarging lens. Above 1:1, reversing usually gives better results.

If distortion is your sole criterion then you should use the 135mm f/5.6 El Nikkor (no distortion).

 

The 120 f/5.6 S-Planar is a better lens in terms of image sharpness. It is generally better than most common enlarging lenses from Nikon, Fjui, etc.