Which lens? EL-Nikkor 150mm or Taylor Hobson 5in or Kenro-Ilex Paragon 5in?

[arif_raja1]

Hi all,

I'm just starting out in LF. I recently purchased a Beseler 45MCRX.

 

I bought a Taylor-Hobson Butal 6inch f5.6 (s/n 751939) from that action site for

$100. Seller said it was a great "process lens" with lots of character.

 

Upon arrival, the lens showed fungus. I complained - so the seller sent me two

more lenses - an EL-Nikkor 150mm f5.6 (s/n 600489) no fungus but a few coating

marks, and a Kenro-Ilex Paragon 5inc f4.5 same condition.

 

Now I have to decide which one to keep.

 

I plan to first start with 6x6 and 6x9 neg enlargements, moving up to 4x5 when I

buy a 4x5 camera.

 

Does anyone have an opinion or info on these lenses - especially the latter two,

and which one of the three I should keep? Would any of these make a good lens

for a 4x5 camera?

 

Thanks for any info/help or opinion.

Regards,

Riffy,

NSW, Australia

[leicaglow]

My vote would be the Nikkor... at least it was probably designed and built in the latter part of the century<g>. I've used the 150mm Nikkor with 4x5 and it works fine. I don't own one anymore though.

[michael_briggs2]

The 150 mm El-Nikkor that I have, with an earlier serial number, performs very well. It a 6-element 4-group design and is multi-coated. I can't say for sure, but the other two lenses are probably older. You can't go wrong with the El-Nikkor, unless it has been abused.

 

Hopefully yours came with its flange, because it has a peculiar thread of 53 x 0.75 mm.

 

Nikon states that the optimum range for printing is x2 to x8, so using it as a taking lens, it should work very well for subjects that much larger than 4x5. Also, hidden on the front there are the same mounting threads so that the lens can be reversed and you can use it to take subjects smaller by those factors. But of course there is the issue of controlling the exposure time. This can be reasonable for closeups because bellows extension and perhaps reciprocity correction can make the exposure times into the seconds range.

[dan_fromm2]

Hmm. You have the lenses, why don't you ask them?

[User_503771]

Yeah, I second Dan's question: Try them all.

 

I wouldn't sell the process lenses short out of hand. From various reading I've gathered that, generally, the specs and quality control of process lenses have traditionally been much tighter than for enlarging lenses; this was reflected in their new selling prices too. Although, even saying that, I admit to pretty much drooling over anything Nikkor, unabashedly and unashamedly.

 

Oh, one more thing: If given a choice of focal lengths for enlarging, I always tend to go for the longer one, because then you're not shooting using the area close to the edge of the lens' image circle so much. So, for 4x5 the 150mm has the potential to be the better lens for the job, all other things being equal. I have a 210mm I like to use for 4x5, and that was the reason I picked that lens. It happens to also work great for 5x7, which it was made for.

[michael_briggs2]

The comments about the thread on the 150 El-Nikkor apply to one version. Eventually Nikon changed the threads to a more standard 50 mm on the rear (good), with an adapter to 39 mm, and none on the front (bad). Since the lens that you have is newer, you might have this version. To know which version: try either measuring the mounting threads or seeing if there is a ring on the front that hides mounting threads.

[arif_raja1]

Thanks for the helpful hints.

 

I tend towards the Nikkor as it's at least a known quantity.

 

It appears to have a 39mm thread on the rear and a 52mm thread on the front.

 

I would ask all three lenses to sell themselves to me...but I'm still a long way from finishing my darkroom/enlarger setup (I jumped straight into a 4x5 setup!). Maybe the seller will let me have the other 2 for cheap since I already have them...!

 

Regards,

Riffy<div></div>

[michael_briggs2]

From the photo, you have the newer style El-Nikkor, so ignore what I wrote about the 53 mm thread. This lens have a choice in mounting thread: the 39 mm thread is provided by an adapter that should unscrew to reveal a 50 mm mounting thread.

[kelly_flanigan1]

My guess is the "Taylor-Hobson Butal 6inch f5.6" is NOT a process lens; but a copy lens, repro lens; or enlarging lens. Process lenses tend to be alot slower; typically F9 for a 6 inch/150mm one. Its probably a Tessar type lens optimized for closer ratios; ie an enlarging lens. A Process lens has a primary goal of low distortion; this means the designs are mosty semimetrical :)sp optical designs and they are mostly slow lenses F9 or slower.

[dan_fromm2]

Kelly, according to the VM the Butal is a heliar type. These can have extremely low distortion, think of Apo Skopars and Apo Saphirs, both heliar type process lenses.

[dennis_ng]

Interest un the result of the "selling"....