Schneider Kreutznach 210/5.6 Enlarging Lens: A Step Too Far?

I think this is going to be kind of like hunting squirrel with a cannon, but I like the idea of hunting squirrel with a cannon.

On the bright side, I don't think you're going to have to worry about edge/corner sharpness.

These big enlarging lenses tend to have proprietary mounts and are tough to adapt, but as you found they have standard filter rings! Silly to have to resort to reverse adapters but that is what you must do with many of the exotic lenses. You are going to have more working distance on the SK lens than the Canon Macro since the Canon shortens FL for higher mags. Hope your copy stand is tall! I have seen superb results from 135mm-150mm enlarging lenses but I don't know of anyone intrepid enough to go for such long ones. They were VERY expensive when new and generally optimized for low magnification ratios, so I expect good results. Not that many folks worked with large formats. I too will be patiently waiting your report...Ray

1:1 on an a7R will give you a 2500px image of a Gold Dollar (the smallest US coin) or significant detailing on a Thaler-sized coin. That's silly. Who needs "magnification?"

In the post above you say "I am half expecting the bellows may be needed to reduced the focal distance". It sounds like you are planning to mount the lens directly to camera? This won't work, unfortunately. The long focal length of this lens will require significant extension from the camera using bellows, extension tubes, etc. For infinity focus, you will need total extension equal to the focal length. You'll get some of that from the camera, for instance on your Canon the sensor is recessed about 44mm into the camera body, so you have an immediate 44mm extension. But you need an additional 166mm in order to get to infinity focus. You'll need to add that extension between camera and lens. Now, that extension will only get you to infinity focus, but you will of course want to focus closer. To get all the way to 1:1, you need double the focal length of total extension, so total of 420mm. The magnification formula is:

Magnification = (Total Extension - Focal Length) / Focal Length or M=(TE-FL)/FL

Note for infinity focus, M = 0

An update. the reversing ring arrived yesterday. As I was taught in tewts every plan is perfect until contact with the enemy; meaning the reversing ring was a great idea but in reality it was a very very close miss. Either I read the calipers wrong or the reversing ring just doesn't have enough reach to engage with the thread ( I was trying to attach it to the female thread that is used to lock the rear lens group in place.

The short story now is that I have 14 working days from today to wait before I can try the lens out.

The long story, I well know that there is a simple solution however my lack of experience means I would have to spend 3-4 times the actual cost of the solution in the process of finding it out. I had two other lenses that had minor issues( a Minolta MD 135mm F2 with damaged filter thread, and a 28mm wide angle that was missing two screws from the mount) So I paid a visit to an "old-school" Lens repair shop here in Vienna. the 28mm got a disdainful look. The 135mm received the respect it deserved. When I pulled the SK 210 and my bellows out of the bag I was relieved by the technicians response.....fascination and intrigue. When I told what I wanted done and why I got a positive response and was told it was "Eine Gute Idee" ( probably spelt wrong). He actually mucked round with some calipers checked the extension distance on the bellows and clearly decided the reversing ring needed to be mounted a specific distance from the rear element of the SK. So now I just have to sit back and wait!

Ok I got the lens back with the new adapter. It looks great. However I can now answer the question is this lens a step too far? Answer it sure is. With 240mm of total extension it looks like the minimum focusing distance is around 1.5 metres and at a guess 1:2 magnification. Its half a metre more than my copy stand can deal with. With a quick play it appears the lens has phenomenal sharpness. I suspect it is also brilliant on distortion. For insects in the field it would be brilliant as it is. I even have infinity focus! I will get one set of extension tubes ( now out of sheer stubbornness on my part) To see if I can get it to actually work on my copy stand! Any more than one set of extension tubes would add too much vibration I suspect.

Edit: Wrong!!

After getting back from walking the dog I tried My A65 with extension tubes with the lens.....WOW!!!

I have ignored this lens since trying it out with extension tubes plus bellows. This morning I was mucking around and tried it again. The main reason I tried again was I had found more information about the lens. It was designed to have great magnification with no distortion. Every thing I read about the lens tells me it should when set up well produce truly impressive results. The bellows on its own just does not have enough reach. So this morning Bellows plus 2 sets of extension rings an I get this shot on my APS c Sony A 65. The coin is 16-17mm in diameter. The sony's sensor is 23.5 x 15.6 mm, So with the current set up I am getting just under 1-1 magnification. Ignore the lighting in this shot( there is one area of nasty glare), instead look at the surface detail of the coin and its background. I took the shot with the electronic front curtain shutter on.

Total extension from the rear of the lens to the camera sensor is 360mm. Distance from front of lense to the coin was 420mm ( 300mm = 1 foot). A couple of weeks ago this shot wouldn't have been possible as my copy stand set up would not have been steady enough I just added a Novoflex clamp for mounting the focusing rail. Previously I had a ball head that just wasn't stable enough)

The photo was loaded straight to photobucket without any editing.



I had to use the sony A 65 because the second set of extention rings I had were sony Alpha mount. A set of e-mount rings is on the way when I get them I will try again. But I suspect the lack of an EFCS may see less impressive results than this one. As was said at the beginning of this thread its a little like shooting squirrels with a cannon..........But the result is IMHO phenomenal

For those who want to see the set up here it is. To get an idea of what this lens can do look at the size of the coin that was photographed in relation to the copy stand base board!!



NO matter how ungainly it looks remember its only cost me about €90.00 all up. Much cheaper than the €170.00 cost of the lens in this thread; https://goccf.com/t/191770