4X Surprise Lens vs Nikon 4x Plan APO Can you tell the diff?

RobertOToole · Post by **RobertOToole** » Sun Jun 09, 2019 11:41 am

Came across something interesting last night testing different stacked combinations. One stood out, so I decided to do a quick shoot with the Nikon Plan APO 4x/0.20 just for fun. Take a look below and see if you can guess what the mystery lens is.

This is the Nikon 4x Plan APO first. Very sharp and great details even at 100% view.

100% view center crop.

Mystery lens stacked on a 90mm f5.6 tube lens, at 4x.100% view center crop. Not as good as the Plan APO but a great job at resolving details.

Un-cropped resized image with the crop area highlighted.

What do you think?

Anyone other than Lou and Chris R want to take a guess?

Clues:

Not a scope objective
Not a Componon
49mm filter threads
Not expensive at all
Easy to find on eBay
Not a limited supply item like a JML
About $800 new

dolmadis · Post by **dolmadis** » Sun Jun 09, 2019 1:04 pm

OM Zuiko 50mm f1.4?

RobertOToole · Post by **RobertOToole** » Sun Jun 09, 2019 1:29 pm

dolmadis wrote:OM Zuiko 50mm f1.4?

Shorter focal length and more industrial

dmillard · Post by **dmillard** » Sun Jun 09, 2019 6:53 pm

25mm f/0.95 Voigtlander Nokton? Wrong filter thread, but it's a shot in the dark

RobertOToole · Post by **RobertOToole** » Sun Jun 09, 2019 7:06 pm

dmillard wrote:25mm f/0.95 Voigtlander Nokton? Wrong filter thread, but it's a shot in the dark

Good guess David but that lens is about 10X more expensive than the mystery. Also this one is not sold at stores, its more industrial in design.

dmillard · Post by **dmillard** » Sun Jun 09, 2019 9:19 pm

One last guess - a 25mm Fujinon C-mount lens?

RobertOToole · Post by **RobertOToole** » Sun Jun 09, 2019 10:37 pm

dmillard wrote:One last guess - a 25mm Fujinon C-mount lens?

Very close David, but the brand is wrong, its a german lens!

Almost got it!

dolmadis · Post by **dolmadis** » Sun Jun 09, 2019 11:08 pm

Rodenstock Rogonar-S 25mm f4 ?

Macrero · Post by **Macrero** » Mon Jun 10, 2019 1:26 am

Am I the only one who see not huge, yet clear difference between both crops?

The Plan Apo resolving more fine detail. Please tell me my eyesight is fine

Hmm, too much lenses out there...

German lens, not Schneider... Rodenstock (Linos)? Some machine vision lens probably? It would take a seer to solve the riddle...

- Macrero

chris_ma · Post by **chris_ma** » Mon Jun 10, 2019 3:41 am

I'm still new to all this but I would have guessed something 28 to 35mm and F2.8 based on magnification and filter thread.

but I agree with Macrero that the result is nice but not spectacular, so unless this lens can be found very cheap and the tube lens as well I thought there might be better options out there (some of the older 4x stacked tests on roberts site look much better to me).

ChrisR · Post by **ChrisR** » Mon Jun 10, 2019 4:09 am

Looks pretty good to me; it's hard to get this close to the quality at the center of that planapo.
Maybe you should have compared it with an MP-E, Robert!

Macrero · Post by **Macrero** » Mon Jun 10, 2019 4:55 am

ChrisR wrote:Looks pretty good to me; it's hard to get this close to the quality at the center of that planapo.

That's true. But since Robert asked: "Can you tell the diff?" I was just surprised no one noticed/mentioned that actually there is a pretty clear difference.

Plan Apo 4:

https://images2.imgbox.com/12/4c/iT2CsyNs_o.jpg

Mystery lens:

https://images2.imgbox.com/5e/df/qbvD6bCS_o.jpg

RobertOToole · Post by **RobertOToole** » Mon Jun 10, 2019 7:30 am

dolmadis wrote:Rodenstock Rogonar-S 25mm f4 ?

Good guess, but f/4 is too slow.

Robert

RobertOToole · Post by **RobertOToole** » Mon Jun 10, 2019 7:35 am

Macrero wrote:Am I the only one who see not huge, yet clear difference between both crops? The Plan Apo resolving more fine detail. Please tell me my eyesight is fine

Hmm, too much lenses out there... German lens, not Schneider... Rodenstock (Linos)? Some machine vision lens probably? It would take a seer to solve the riddle...

- Macrero

You are correct I think, there is a clear difference, the Plan APO having the advantage of course.

There are clues, 4x on a 90mm tube, 90/4 = 22.5mm. Rounded up thats 23mm. Thats a big clue.

dolmadis · Post by **dolmadis** » Mon Jun 10, 2019 7:40 am

Long shot - Leica Summicron-T 23mm f/2