An interesting lens popped up on Ebay recently. It's an Ushio line scan lens purported to be designed for 3.5x. https://www.ebay.com/itm/1PC-USHIO-UPL-64-TAB-exposure-machine-line-scan-UV-macro-lens-3-5-times-M72-port/303444994342?hash=item46a6bb2926:g:pswAAOSwuCBeHYMM I tried to find information on...

Thanks for your work, as usual, Robert! I own the APO digitar 120 and absolutely love it. Your stacked results continually tempt me to try purchasing a Componon 35 or 28 and giving it a go with the Fuji GFX sensor. I have only found these for sale on Edmund Optics new for just shy of $1000. Were you...

Thank you for sharing that slide, Robert. That is definitely something to take into consideration. Also, the working distance of 31mm may bit a bit limiting but to be expected with a focal length of 50mm. If I were adept at testing I'd ask the dealer to send both the micro-symmar and the xenon-sapph...

Robert,

I may also be confused, but I do think the MTF is for 3.5x. The way I interpret it is 1/magnification=0.29. This works out since 1/3.5 =.29 , though I could be interpreting this all wrong!
Now, why they have MTFs for f’=2.3 and 2.5 when the lens is listed at 2.8 is beyond me!

Robert, your results are quite impressive! I do wonder what type of image circle your lenses can cover. What intrigued me so much about the micro-symmar is it’s ability to cover a large image circle (though I do agree, the dataSheet seems a bit off). Chris, here are the quotes: Xenon-Sapphire 4.5/95...

The Schneider-Kreuznach Micro-Symmar 2.8/50mm is no longer listed on the SK website and as far as I knew the lens was discontinued. I contacted a dealer of line scan lenses about pricing for the Xenon-Sapphire line and to my surprise they told me that they can in fact still get the Micro-Symmar! The...

SK contacted me saying that the 1.5/82 is discontinued. What a shame. Maybe it will emerge on the used market at some point. Excuse my ignorance Ray, but what are "TB" and "AE"?

I've been thinking more about higher magnification lenses for large sensors and my search always brings me back to the Schneider Xenon-Diamonds. Initially I was looking at the Xenon-Diamond 2.2/117mm which is optimized for 3.5x with an image circle of 62.5 and Schneider notes that it can even cover ...

John, I don't think you can go wrong with either. Both are extremely well made and both have a good reputation. The Actus has some nice additions, including a stepper motor that can be attached to the rear standard so you can move your sensor with a stackshot or other step software. You wont get nea...

Greetings John! I also have a GFX and use an Arca-Swiss Universalis II, but the Actus looks like a fine machine. My current lenses for macro are: Schneider Macro apo-digitar 120/5.6 which has good performance from .25x to ~4x, but you will need a considerable amount of extension. The image circle is...

Some of you may have already seen this, but there's a new lens company out of Switzerland, NWS-Instruments, who will be producing a 110mm APO Macro lens. They will start a Kickstarter campaign within the next few months. You can check out the lens specs in the link below. http://www.nws-instruments....

Pardon my ignorance, but how would you use the target to create a profile within lightroom? For example, something like x-rite color checker has it's own Lightroom plugin that can recognize the target in an image and create a profile for that photograph. I contacted x-rite and they said that their s...

Sometimes I struggle with getting the right colors from my macro work. I know that there are a number of products available, such as the x-rite color checker, that allow you to create an accurate color profile for the scene being imaged. But how could I use something like that for my macro work? Wel...

After seeing results from the last few tests I ran I am not sure what to expect. Have a feeling there is a lens combo out there that would beat the inspec.x L due to the modest effective aperture. Robert Agreed -after seeing the incredible results you're getting with these stacked combinations, I d...

Ha! You've got it, Robert! What's the harm in a little credit card debt?? Also, at least they were direct with you. One can only imagine what "extremely expensive" means if the "cheaper" alternative was $22,000. It's a shame that this lens is discontinued and hard to find - there really isn't much a...