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Comparision between Digaron-W HR 70mm, Grandagon-N green line 75 mm and Apo Digitar 80 mm

Alkibiades

Well-known member
Short Comparision between Digaron-W HR 70mm, Grandagon-N green line 75 mm and Apo Digitar 80 mm.
I was asking a lot of times how these lenses performe, how close they are in term of sharpness, performance at the bigger movements ...
So I made today a short comparition of these tree lenses.
- Rodenstock Digaron-W HR 5,6/70 mm in copal 0 on cambo WRS mount (current rodenstock digital lens - used also for Phase one XT)
- Rodenstock Grandagon-N MC 4,5/75 mm in copal 0 grenn line, rodenstock last generation of large format wide angle- on Linhof techno
- Schneider Apo Digitar 4/80 mm in copal 0, well known Schneider klassik digital lens, low cost compared to rodenstock. -on Linhof techno
 

Alkibiades

Well-known member
when I compare these both lenses i cant see any advantage of the digital one over the green line. both lenses deliver perfect sharpness.
At 20 mm the apo digitar is more or less at the end of the imege circle, yes 25 mm would be possible but would need LCC for dark corners. 75 mm has a huge image circle
 

Alkibiades

Well-known member
the picture from 70HR has lack of contrast, the sharpness is good but not as good as by the other two.
I didnt use the lens hood or compendium, this is not important with symetrical lenses, but rodenstocks retrofocus has a big problem with side light or here the bright sky as cotrast to the bulding. even there is no sun.
So I have done the same picture with compedium and the contrast is much better.
 

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JeffK

Well-known member
thank you for putting these together @Alkibiades. Not sure if it's processing, but the photos from the Grandagon look brighter, but are lacking in detail when compared to the digaron-W images of the same crops. However, the digaron-w images are definitely flatter. However, the detail and sharpness appears more resolved from the digaron to me. I think the determining factor will also be based on output. ie: how big will you need to print. Larger prints will need more resolution to begin with.
 

Alkibiades

Well-known member
with compendium the digaron deliver same perfect results as the other lenses.
But I canst see any advantage over 75 mm green line.
even when i would compare the detail with 400 % there is no difference.
 

Alkibiades

Well-known member
there is no processing done. the pics are done with same back, same light, same position of the camera. there are no better or more detail of one lens.
 
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JeffK

Well-known member
the Grandagon and Digaron are definitely very very close. Given the 4-8x the price for the digaron, it's definitely worth questioning the value of the digaron. That's great you put this together.
 

Alkibiades

Well-known member
and there is other big point that speeks for the 75: the much larger image circle, here the maximal possible movement on Linhof techno is 40 mm. This is no problem for the 75mm, even much bigger movements are possible, you just need a camera that can manage it. the color cast is there but easy to remove
 

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Alkibiades

Well-known member
How does the 65 G fit in here relative to the 75 G and 70 D?
65 mm is the same lens as the 75, with same results. I compared the 65 mm with my Apo digitar xl 60 mm ( that is the sharpest schneider wide lens) and this opened my mind.
Apo digitar xl 60 mm should be clear much better... it should...but the results are too close to say the one is really visible better.
 

JeffK

Well-known member
I'm going through a bit of a discovery process. I have the 70HR Digaron in ALPA mount and have been thrilled with the results. I've been printing large on a 24" printer. I'm curious about wider lenses like the 45, 55, 65 from Rodenstock – and you've been great sharing knowledge.

I've got the 'Nikon Nikkor 65 SW f/4 S' and I'm happy with the results on the Sony/Actus combo. Maybe that's fine and it's the widest I need. Some shifting can take me into wider territory. That's what I've been doing with the 70 on the ALPA with a digital back. My other options are to invest in a Rodie 50/55/65 – I can only pick one, and only if the Nikon isn't up to the same quality. Time will tell as I do my research.
 

Alkibiades

Well-known member
Afcourse Digaron-W 4/50 mm is the best of the 50-55-65. I have 50hr on 2 systems, i like this lens as much as 32 hr. Both are optical the best of the digaron-W line. 50HR is also easy to work with. this is very important when time in the work is important too. If you want to get the same sharpness but dont need the lerge image circle than 60 hr is the right lens, and much cheaper.
65 mm is the cheapest alternative, i have some of the nikkor lenses, they are not bad especially the 8/90 mm. I had also the 65 and 75 but found the rodenstock and schneider lenses better, this was when i work much on 4x5.
 

JeffK

Well-known member
The 65 SW was fairly affordable at $300 USD + shipping/taxes, and in excellent condition. So quality and price are relative when a 50/70hr are many multiples higher.
 

ThdeDude

Well-known member
The 70mm Digaron-W is identical to the 70mm Apo-Sironar Digital except the name.

Hence, is an older lens design. Its deficiencies are well known and a person in-the-know told me that a 70mm Digaron-SW is/was being considered by Rodenstock.
 

rdeloe

Well-known member
If this person in the know is right, we may be able to buy this in 2028!
A classic joke from the days of the U.S.S.R:

It's 1985 and Boris goes to the Lada dealer to order a new Lada. When all the paper work is signed, he asks about the delivery date. The sales person tells him it will be February 3rd, 1992. "Morning or afternoon?", Boris asks. "What possible difference could that make?", asks the salesperson. "Well," says Boris, "The plumber is coming in the morning."
 
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