Noritsu Minilab Lens 90mm f5.6

Hello people!

 

I'm in the process of making up a film copy rig using my ennarger column and lenses (Schneider Comoponon-S 50mm f2.8, Fujinon EX 75mm f4.5), a bellows, my A7R4 and a led lightsource.

While tinkering with all this, I found a Noritsu minilab lens for cheap, a 90mm f5.6. As most minilab lenses, has both fixed aperure and focus. Some people say that minilab lenses are awesome, maybe some of you can enlight me about them.

 

Do you know something about this kind of stuff? seems to need some makeshift adapter.

 

Thanks in adavance!

I don't know but the Noritsu I worked with back in the 80's used regular enlarging lens but the focus and aperture is set fixed. This is for the machine that makes 3.5x5 prints. For the enlarger it has a Schneider motorized zoom.

The lenses fitted to minilab printers are of fully professional quality. A lot of them are made by Fuji or other top optical houses. I have a few commercial printer lenses, and the main issue is their thread or fitting. If you're lucky you'll find that the mount unscrews to reveal a standard 39mm Leica thread. If not... well they make great magnifying glasses.

 

If you can get it to fit a bellows, you'll probably find that it easily equals the quality of your Componon-S.

 

Incidentally, unless you have a very long bellows, a 90mm lens might prove too long. My film-copying rig works best with an enlarging lens between 60 and 80mm focal length, and at an aperture of f/5.6 to f/8.

 

PS. If you do a lot of colour negative copying, you might find that using a blue colour-correction filter over the lens or light source gives improved results. By fully or partially neutralising the orange contrast mask, you align the RGB histograms of the digital copy, and this gives more leeway for correcting their contrast curves to give truer colour.

Edited January 19, 2020 by rodeo_joe|1

Hmmm... the lens has no visible thread or mount, maybe there is something hidden. If not, I thought about asking help to someone with a 3D printer. The lens weights about 360 grams.

My bellows + enlarger column do not get close enough to get frame filling shots of a 35mm frame, unless I add a tube or something, I guess. They work OK with my Fujinon EX 75mm, which astonishingly seem to resolve 35mm Fuji Acros on my 60mp A7R4, though I will make some more tests to be more assertive about that combo.

I'll try with APX25 and TMAX100 negs to be sure, for instance.

Hmmm... the lens has no visible thread or mount, maybe there is something hidden. If not, I thought about asking help to someone with a 3D printer. The lens weights about 360 grams.

My bellows + enlarger column do not get close enough to get frame filling shots of a 35mm frame, unless I add a tube or something, I guess. They work OK with my Fujinon EX 75mm, which astonishingly seem to resolve 35mm Fuji Acros on my 60mp A7R4, though I will make some more tests to be more assertive about that combo.

I'll try with APX25 and TMAX100 negs to be sure, for instance.

 

Usually they mount the lens inside a tube, after mounting can't no longer adjust the aperture.

They work OK with my Fujinon EX 75mm, which astonishingly seem to resolve 35mm Fuji Acros on my 60mp A7R4

Totally unsurprising to anyone who's digitally copied film before.

In most cases a 24 megapixel camera is more than sufficient to scrape all the detail possible off a 35mm film frame, and resolving the grain of 100 ISO film from edge to edge of the frame is pretty standard stuff.

I thought about asking help to someone with a 3D printer.

IMO it won't be worth your trouble to adapt the Noritsu lens.

 

Here are just some of the lenses I've tried on my purpose-built Bowens Illumitran copying rig:

You'd be very hard-pressed to see any difference between them in the end result.

 

Actually, I haven't been able to try the Fujinon 86mm lens. Its oddball helicoid-focussing bayonet mount just doesn't conceal a standard 39mm, or any other useful thread.

However, I'm guessing its performance is not much different from all the Rodagons, Componons, Neonons and Komuranon lenses that I have tried.

 

I've now settled on an 80mm f/5.6 Rodenstock Rodagon. Although the 80mm f/5.6 Durst Neonon that I bought for peanuts isn't far behind - there's just a hint more vignetting at full aperture.

 

Most of my collection of enlarging lenses were bought at the nadir of darkroom gear prices a couple of years ago, but there are still lesser-known gems like Hoya, Komuranon-S and Neonon enlarging lenses around for pocket change.

 

FWIW, I haven't been able to pin a make on the anonymous 86mm lens - top left of my first picture. It has a fixed f/5.6 aperture and gives excellent image quality, but its focal length is just a bit too long to be convenient on the Illumitran.

On 1/21/2020 at 5:08 PM, rodeo_joe1 said:

Actually, I haven't been able to try the Fujinon 86mm lens. Its oddball helicoid-focussing bayonet mount just doesn't conceal a standard 39mm, or any other useful thread.

However, I'm guessing its performance is not much different from all the Rodagons, Componons, Neonons and Komuranon lenses that I have tried.

…

FWIW, I haven't been able to pin a make on the anonymous 86mm lens - top left of my first picture. It has a fixed f/5.6 aperture and gives excellent image quality, but its focal length is just a bit too long to be convenient on the Illumitran.

This is a late reply, so perhaps you already know by now…

The 86 mm E36C lens is very likely made by Tomioka (because the whole E36 series with aperture is). They are usually excellent lenses, when in good condition and among my absolute favorites.

Your Fujinon-EFC should be great as well (very well corrected, however with slightly less contrast) but it probably needs to be used reversed (aperture ring towards the camera) for copying. I designed an adapter for its unusual thread and like it a lot for shooting, particularly for macro work. 

Here‘s a recent example:

https://flic.kr/p/2nS7ZXG

I‘d agree however that it doesn‘t make a significant difference for most applications. The Neonon is a great sleeper, also available as Agfa Magnolar 80 mm f/5.6!