The ultimate coin lens

Wow!! I am impressed. This lens would make an excellent back up to my 75ARD1. The price is right and would make an excellent primary lens for anyone just assembling a setup. Ray your research and sharing of your findings is greatly appreciated. It is obvious that you enjoy what you do and I for one want to thank you.

On the subject of this lens, my guess is this particular lens is best suited on an APS-C sensor rather than a full frame due to the longer focal length? Have you tried it on a sensor without an antialiasing filter? I'm shooting a Nikon D800E which although the antialiasing filter is not removed but rather it's effects are canceled optically, is nearly the equivalent of not having one. I have found that the sharpness of the 75ARD1 is incredible at 36MP, which is an unforgiving resolution.

On the subject of focal length. I find it slightly difficult to shoot subjects much larger than a PCGS or NGC slab with the 75ARD1 with my current setup. My maximum working distance is about 10 inches with the 75ARD1 which gives just enough coverage to shoot a slab. I have a Tominon 135mm which I use for subjects such as currency, but then my minimum working distance is pushed to my maximum extension on my rig which is close to 24 inches on a Bogen copy stand. With the focal length of the 89PE being a factor, would it be a worthwhile investment to replace the Tominon? I would prefer a shorter working distance than the Tominon currently provides, but what kind of FOV would the 89E give compared to the 75ARD1 at comparable working distances? I hope my question makes sense. Morning's are not my strong suite for compiling thoughts. Thanks again Ray.

 

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I believe this lens was designed for transferring 16mm to 35mm in reverse (2:1 magnification), or 70mm to 35mm forward (1:2 magnification). Both cases involve the target to be 35mm, full-frame, so I would expect excellent performance on full-frame sensors, though I can't test this as I don't own a FF camera. Eventually I will buy one, and then a whole new round of lens testing will occur to find those lenses that have adequate coverage for the larger sensor!

Regarding subject size vs focal length vs working distance, this all depends on your minimum bellows extension. Every new combo of focal length, minimum extension, working distance, magnification/subject size, etc is unique, and I find the limitations are often counter-intuitive. They of course make sense after I see the result, but prediction is not easy....I suppose this is a long-winded way to say "you'll need to try it yourself"...Ray

 

Great post Ray. I'll likely be looking for one now, the Kodak lens that is...

 

Here's the link to the seller I purchased from. Looks like he still has a few left.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/282157776486?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

Είναι όλα ελληνικά για μένα, πάρα πολύ!

 

Here's the same coin taken with the 75ARD1 at ~2:1 to compare.

 

For most uses I found a great improvement when I went to a full frame camera but I'm not sure you would with all the way you use the rig. Moving to FF requires either a longer focal length or a closer working distance by the same factor as your old camera's crop factor. You do gain a bit in diffraction avoidance but having to work closer means you are changing the effective aperture if you fill the frame. I have a Canon 5DmkII (far from the latest model now) but I'm not sure that you might not be as well off with the original 5D and its larger pixels. They are cheap used but I do not recommend them because of the lack of a sensor cleaning routine and the problems caused by sensor dust on older models. I tried a few lenses I had and decided your method was not for me. The ancients I shoot limit the resolution as much as the camera equipment. High relief coins benefit from greater working distances more than Lincolns. There are corrections available both in camera and in RAW conversion that can improve some situations. I really like Canon DPP software (comes free with the cameras). Another toy to play with is focus stacking software which might mean more to me than you but it does smooth out some problems. Exactly how much of the difference gained by apochromatic correction, field shape etc. can be offset by software is a subject that needs to be studied by people who have a grasp on all of the controls available. I do know that coin photography, like coin collecting, has many different avenues to explore.

 

The 2x shots for both the 89PE and the 75ARD1 were stacked with ~7 shots. At this magnification and effective aperture it's hard to avoid stacking.

The chromatic aberrations of the 75ARD1 start to show up when shooting at these higher mags. The 75ARD1 is optimized at 1:1, and usable from 1:2 up to 2:1. So it's a natural lens to compare with the 89PE. Take a look below at a 100% crop comparison of the mintmark using these two lenses:



These shots are very typical for what I see from both the 75ARD1 versus true apochromats. The 75ARD1 shot is bold and contrasty, with high saturation, an aesthetically pleasant result. Colors are a bit of a mix depending on which shot was used at which topographical level. The most telling areas are the highlights, which are showing green and magenta haloes on the 75ARD1. The 89PE is clean in these areas, and the colors in other areas are more neutural. I think of the images from true Apo lenses as a bit "sterile" since they don't have any embellishment due to CA. Note that the 75ARD1 is a very well-corrected lens...most other lenses will look much worse. But it takes an apochromatic lens to completely eliminate color fidelity issues.

edited to add: these were both taken at f/4, so have similar resolution. Both lenses are diffraction-limited at f/4. Note there is a piece of dust on the left side of the mintmark on the 75ARD1 shot...I should have blown it off before shooting!