I’ll keep this post a bit brief because the topic is closely related to the article Macro photography with an enlarger lens. For more general information, don’t forget to take a look there as well.
The German company Rodenstock is still one of the few manufacturers producing enlarger lenses. One of its older products, the Rodagon WA 40mm f/4, is a lens that can compete with the Nikon El-Nikkor 50mm f/2.8N for handheld shooting. In terms of size, they’re almost the same. The bayonet mount and filter diameters are shared: M39 and 40.5 mm. I’m not entirely sure which one performs better. But the Rodagon is a newer lens and more successful when it comes to color. Having a 40 mm focal length instead of 50 mm suggests a bit more magnification potential.
After using this lens for a while, it became one of the pieces of gear I choose quite often. Since it offers a relatively bright viewfinder, I barely used the Rodagon 28 mm after this lens arrived. The El-Nikkor 50 mm and the Rodagon 28 mm ended up sitting on the shelf.
At 40 mm it can magnify a bit too much for handheld shots, so it should be used with short tubes. For tripod work, it can comfortably reach high magnifications and delivers very good results. If you want to build a set, using two enlarger lenses at 80 mm and 40 mm makes it possible to shoot across a very wide range.
The Rodagon WA 40 mm is already a very good lens in terms of sharpness. It doesn’t cause any noticeable problems with CA (chromatic aberration).
Because it’s relatively rare and a bit pricey, don’t go to great lengths to replace other 50 mm enlarger lenses you already have (good-quality ones like Rodagon, Componon-S, etc.). You won’t feel a big difference. But if I had to pick only one, I would of course prefer the 40 mm.
Photos taken with the Rodagon WA 40mm lens
