100mm lens shootout

[ray_parkhurst]

I did a shootout/comparison of 75mm lenses a while back (see here: http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=98494&SearchTerms=75mm). I chose 75mm because it is just long enough to make work with most bellows on Dollar size coins, and short enough to keep the setups compact. It is my preferred size for use on the small microscope stand setups I favor. But some folks prefer larger setups, and some bellows have minimum extensions that are too long to work with Dollars. Both these situations require longer lenses.

I am an avid El-Cheapo enthusiast, and have watched eBay for deals on various lenses for a long while (see here: http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=102384). I also have picked up other more expensive but interesting lenses along the way. Many are in the range of 100mm so I decided it would be good to compare them. Keeping in the 86mm-110mm range, I have 22 lenses to compare. I did not include the 95mm or 105mm Printing-Nikkors although I may add them later.

The lenses included in this shootout range from 86mm to 110mm; from Japan, Germany, France, and Russia; from enlarging, duplication, and macro applications; and from $15 to $250 on the used market. Many are seen regularly on eBay, while others come around only infrequently. The list includes, in order of increasing focal length:

86mm f5.6 Tomioka E36C duplication lens (fixed-aperture)
86mm f4 Tomioka E36 duplication lens
89mm f5 Rodenstock Scitex S-2 duplication lens
90mm f4.5 Perfex Anastigmat enlarging lens
90mm f4.5 Wollensak Enlarging Raptar enlarging lens
90mm f4.5 Elgeet Colorstigmat enlarging lens
90mm f4 Tomioka E36 duplication lens
90mm f6.3 Perfex Anastigmat enlarging lens
90mm f4.5 Roussel Trylor enlarging lens
90mm f4.5 Lens Made In Japan (no brand) enlarging lens
94.1mm f4 Tomioka E66 duplication lens
100mm f4.5 Lomo Mikroplanar macro lens
100mm f4.5 Kodak Enlarging Ektar enlarging lens
101mm f4.5 Wollensak Enlarging Raptar enlarging lens
105mm f4.5 Vivitar enlarging lens
105mm f4.5 Tomioka Tominon macro lens
105mm f5.6 Rodenstock Rodagon enlarging lens
105mm f5.6 Nikon EL-Nikkor enlarging lens
108mm f5.6 Rodenstock LFOV duplication lens (fixed aperture)
110mm f4 Industar N-100-Y enlarging lens
110mm f5.6 Rodenstock Scitex S-2 duplication lens
110mm f5 Rodenstock Scitex S-3 duplication lens (fixed aperture)

I used a 1954-S Lincoln Cent as subject for the shootout. I took overall photos using each lens, with white balance set for Tungsten, so that the color presentation differences of the lenses can be seen. No sharpening was done in-camera or in post-processing. Levels were adjusted equally on all images.

Lighting was kept constant for all shots. Of course the lighting will appear different for different focal lengths due to perspective changes, but only slightly within this narrow range.

Aperture was held constant at f5.6, or at either the minimum aperture (eg f6.3 for Perfex) or at the fixed aperture of the lens (eg f5.0 on Scitex). This is a wider aperture than I used for the 75mm shootout, where I chose f8. The wider aperture exposes more issues for each lens, and allows a better comparison. The f8 in 75mm shootout somewhat equalized the lens performance, while f5.6 will show more of the differences. In some cases f5.6 is the maximum aperture, while in others it is stopped-down by 1 stop.

Critical focus was performed on the middle portion of Lincoln's neck. This is approx in the middle of the topography of a Lincoln Cent, so focusing here gives best balance of focus between fields and tops of the devices.

I cropped the center and bottom edge of each shot. The center is over the Neck area where critical focus was done. Bottom edge shows two effects: lens coverage; and field flatness. I only considered out to the edge of the coin, since that's how these lenses would be used, so "corner" sharpness is not really relevant for coin photography.

I used my HRT2i, APS-C, 18MP camera for these tests. A full-frame camera would be more revealing for edge sharpness issues, but most coin photographers will likely use APS-C.

Now the catch...you need to visit my website to see the images and results! Take a look at:

http://www.macrocoins.com/100mm-lens-shootout.html

[grnwavdav]

Great study! I have been thinking more and more about building a bellows-type macro setup. So, in the "results list" orders the lenses by their ability to simultaneously focus on Lincoln's neck (the mid-point of the relief) and the small field below the jacket (lowest-point of relief). Is that correct?

[VAB2013]

Awesome study and photos Ray! All of the photos are fantastic, but if I had to pick a favorite it would be the Rodenstock. What is your thought? Are they made in Germany? Russia?

[ray_parkhurst]

Great study! I have been thinking more and more about building a bellows-type macro setup. So, in the "results list" orders the lenses by their ability to simultaneously focus on Lincoln's neck (the mid-point of the relief) and the small field below the jacket (lowest-point of relief). Is that correct?

That's right. Being able to focus on both simultaneously is known as "flat field", while a lower number means sharper results.

[ray_parkhurst]

Awesome study and photos Ray! All of the photos are fantastic, but if I had to pick a favorite it would be the Rodenstock. What is your thought? Are they made in Germany? Russia?

Yep, the Rodenstock lenses seem to win in this shootout. They are made in Germany.

[VAB2013]

Thank you Ray, thought that sounded like a German name! Glad to see my eyes are better tuned in than I thought they were, gettin' old ya know :)

[styxman]

Ray,

Many thanks for the outstanding work. What a perfectly designed, controlled and executed study. I looked long and hard to see if the Nikkor Lens was OK as I already have the lens. It really does not preform nearly as well as the Rodenstock. I was able to pick up a Rodenstock Sironar-N (Sinar) 150mm f5.6 Lens on Ebay for a good price. Will give to a try.

How have you set up your lighting - it is perfect?

Thanks again for all your work.

Over and out, Styxman

[ray_parkhurst]

How have you set up your lighting - it is perfect?

Thanks Styxman! It was important to do the lighting all the same with these shots so that lighting differences did not factor into the comparison. I used a simple setup of two Jansjo LED Gooseneck lamps, each with a small piece of diffusion material (Canson Opalux) to soften the light a bit. The lights were about 100mm from the coin, at about 75-degree angle to horizontal, at about 10:00 and 2:00 positions. This basic setup works well for most coins.

I'm working on an 80mm Shootout now. It will take some time and I'm doing even more work than on the 100mm shootout (including multiple apertures, looking at focusing color shifts, etc) so keep an eye out. I'll publish it maybe this weekend but more likely 2 weeks.

[jfines69]

I am looking forward to that Ray!!!

[styxman]

Thanks Ray. You obviously have some magic with your lighting as I can not seem to get anywhere near your outstanding results. The shadows and irregular fill remains constant in my hands. However, I will try again. I am in the process of setting up an a simple axial lighting system. Most of the parts are used and are trickling in via Ebay. Should be a couple of weeks before I have the system up and running. If not a total failure, I will post some results.

I look forward to the 80mm Shootout. I have a very old El-Nikkor 80mm f5.6 with a Helical Focus ring which I attach to bellows for full coin photos. Works OK but I am still working on lighting. I have a feeling Rodenstock will win out again.

Thanks again.

Over and out, Styxman