80mm Lens Shootout

[ray_parkhurst]

I started a thread on Photomacrography.net 2 years ago with the intention of testing 80mm lenses for coin photography using some new techniques and equipment to improve on my previous shootouts. The biggest change I intended to make was to use a FF camera, and I started my search. I wanted to get a better result than my HRT2i could produce. I had several candidates, but none of them really met my criteria (no AA filter; good software tethering; EFSC/EFCS). The first camera that actually met all the criteria was the Sony A7Riii, but my
purchase of that camera ended in disappointment. The image was larger than what my T2i could produce, but quality was similar if not worse at pixel level, plus the high resolution mode did not work well. I am still thinking of the 5DSR or the D850, but I realized that going back to my original premise of evaluating the 80mm lenses for coin photography made use of APS-C more appropriate, since it's more likely coin photographers will be using APS-C than FF. So while I still may purchase a FF camera, I likely
won't use it for lens shootouts.

I had devised a new technique to measure lenses more effectively for IQ using a 2x teleconverter. This method seemed ideal, but unfortunately it failed due to the TC quality at the corners falling below the lenses under test. I may still revisit this method in the future with improved TCs as I think it is still valid, and would eliminate some of the variability due to the demosaicing and other camera issues.

So for now I'll stick with my tried and true HRT2i, looking at 100% crops of coins to determine image quality. To that end, I have completed the 80mm shootout of 30 lenses. I chose 80mm since it is a sweet spot for coin photography on bellows. Canon and Nikon camera register distances, plus typical bellows minimum spacings, make it impossible to frame larger coins using short lenses. My favorite focal length is 75mm, but some bellows are too long to work well at this length. Plus it's nice to have some flexibility to frame even larger coins or other items. 80mm gives a bit more flexibility in extension and in working distance without making the overall setup much larger.

The list of lenses I was able to pull together is pretty broad. I actually don't know of any potential candidates that I missed, though a couple that I tried were not of high enough IQ to include in the test. These were the Vivitar VHE (I can't find a copy without significant haze), and the Gaertner objective. I also ended up finding a couple more lenses to include. The final list for this test is:

AGFA Magnolar f5.6
AGFA Repromaster f4
Beseler Color Pro f4.5
Beseler HD f4
Leica Milar f4.5
Leica Photar f4.5
Leica Summar f4.5
Meopta Anaret f4.5
Meopta Anaret-S f4.5
Meopta Meogon f2.8
Minolta CE Rokkor-X f5.6
Nikon El-Nikkor f5.6
Olympus OM Zuiko f4
PZO Emitar-S f4.5
PZO Janpol Color K f5.6
Rodenstock Eurygon f4
Rodenstock Rodagon f4
Rodenstock Rodagon WA f4
Rodenstock Apo Rodagon N f4
Schneider Colortrac Apo-Digitar f5.6 fixed
Schneider Colortrac Apo-Digitar f6.7 fixed
Schneider Componar f4.5
Schneider Componar-S f4.5
Schneider Componon f5.6
Schneider Componon-S f4
Schneider Componon-S f5.6
Schneider M-Componon f4
Schneider Makro-Symmar f5.6
Tomioka E36C f4 fixed
Vega 30Y f4

I have not yet taken pictures OF the lenses but will likely do this soon so folks know the version of lens tested and what they all look like.

Note that I also did not include the Schneider WA-Componon f5.6. I just forgot to include it as it was in my "use" rack. I will for sure add it to the list when I get a little time to shoot with it. Good lens, though it likely wouldn't be the winner in this contest.

There were some surprises in this shootout, as one would expect from testing such a broad range of lenses:

- The Agfa Repromaster is superb in the center, but its narrow coverage keeps it from winning the shootout
- The Leica Milar and Summar, both older lenses, were disappointing, but the Photar was a contender
- The rare Meopta Meogon was very disappointing. It seems to have an undeserved reputation
- The rare Rodenstock Eurygon tested middle of the road, worse than expected based on reputation
- The expensive Rodenstock Apo Rodagon N was very disappointing
- A couple of fairly modest lenses ended up very high in the rankings. You'll need to read the report to see which ones
- The winner of the shootout was not terribly surprising

See here for the report, and let me know any comments: http://www.macrocoins.com/80mm-lens-shootout.html

[ray_parkhurst]

If too much info, just skip to the bottom and go to:

http://www.macrocoins.com/80mm-lens-shootout.html

[jfines69]

Those images are all with a different lense but the same camera??? It looks like the lighting was at the same angle and intensity??? Yet there appeasr to be differences in each image??? Unless my glasses just blew out on me

[Petespockets55]

Simply in awe of your abilities Ray.
Thank you for sharing your findings.

[VAB2013]

Ray you really take photography to the next level! Amazing photos and a very interesting, well prepared and informative study! You are a true artist! Thank you for sharing this!

[ray_parkhurst]

Those images are all with a different lense but the same camera??? It looks like the lighting was at the same angle and intensity??? Yet there appeasr to be differences in each image??? Unless my glasses just blew out on me

Yep, same lighting and camera for each shot, just changed lenses. This was easier since all the lenses had same focal length, so similar working distance. I just found a good position for the lights and kept them there.

[jfines69]

Yep, same lighting and camera for each shot, just changed lenses. This was easier since all the lenses had same focal length, so similar working distance. I just found a good position for the lights and kept them there.

I didn't even consider the focal length and that can make a big difference in the final out come... Very cool... Did you do any image stacking or just a single photo???

[ray_parkhurst]

I didn't even consider the focal length and that can make a big difference in the final out come... Very cool... Did you do any image stacking or just a single photo???

All of these were stacked to some extent. Some required more images than others to get a good stack. You can pretty much tell which lenses were really good, regular, or poor based on how many images were needed for the stack. I shot all at f5.6, except the ones that were not adjustable. At f5.6 you need to stack a Lincoln Cent shot, since depth of field is insufficient for a single image.