Minimum / maximum subject size with different sensor formats Suitable for technical cameras, SLR and other

s, SLR and other system cameras

Sensor format Subject size at 4:1 Subject size at 1:4 The large image circle of 82 mm diameter is big enough for even the
largest sensors of professional digital backs and still has sufficient re-
36 x 56 mm ≈ 9 x 14 mm ≈ 144 x 224 mm
serves for camera movements (parallel shift and/or lens tilt). At the
40 x 54 mm ≈ 10 x 13.5 mm ≈ 160 x 216 mm same time, the exceptional sharpness exceeds that of classical macro
37 x 49 mm ≈ 9.3 x 12.3 mm ≈ 148 x 196 mm lenses both at very high resolution digital backs and at smaller system
camera sensors (with even smaller pixel pitches in some cases).
36 x 48 mm ≈ 9 x 12 mm ≈ 144 x 192 mm
The matching to different camera systems takes place using specific
33 x 44 mm ≈ 8.3 x 11 mm ≈ 132 x 176 mm User Manual
adapters on the V groove interface. Since the optical design of the lens
24 x 36 mm ≈ 6 x 9 mm ≈ 96 x 144 mm does not permit a leaf shutter, the camera or the digital back has to
19.1 x 28.7 mm (APS-H) ≈ 4.8 x 7.2 mm ≈ 76 x 115 mm have a focal-plane shutter or a sensor with an electronic shutter.

15.6 x 23.6 mm (APS-C) ≈ 3.9 x 5.9 mm ≈ 62 x 94 mm Focusing can take place by changing the distance from the motif or from
the sensor. The latter is done using a bellows, using the bellows exten-
15.1 x 22.7 mm (APS-C Canon) ≈ 3.8 x 5.7 mm ≈ 60 x 91 mm sion of the camera or using extension rings (with a fixed imaging scale)
13.0 x 17.3 mm (FT/MFT) ≈ 3.3 x 4.3 mm ≈ 52 x 69 mm and a helical focusing mount (for continuous scale changes).

12 aperture blades for a circular pupil and a perfect bokeh

The HR Digaron Macro 105 mm f/5.6 with 8 lens elements in 4 groups not
only stands out due to its exceptional sharpness, but also due to a per- Image circle diameter 82 mm
fect bokeh thanks to an almost circular aperture with 12 aperture provides clearance for camera movements
blades, even when stopped down: light spots outside the depth of field
are reproduced as homogeneous circular circles of confusion.

Stop down only as far as needed for the wanted depth of field!
Because the resolution of this high performance lens is incredibly close
to the diffraction limit, you should always only stop down by as much as
the necessary depth of field requires. Stepping down does not increase
sharpness (this is already optimum with a full aperture), but produces
diffraction that reduces contrast and resolution. Please remember that
the effective aperture in the macro range becomes much smaller than
sensor formats: HR Digaron Macro 105 mm f/5.6
all up to date
Suitable for

36 x 56 mm
37 x 49 mm

37 x 37 mm

24 x 36 mm
33 x 44 mm
40 x 54 mm
for far distances. At a scale of 1:1, the nominal f-number 5.6 becomes an
effective f/11; at a scale of 2:1, it becomes f/16; and at a scale of 3:1, High-Performance Lens
even f/22. This is why the aperture setting is deliberately limited to the
smallest nominal aperture of f/16. for Magnification Scales from 1:4 to 4:1
Congratulations on purchasing this high-performance Rodenstock lens. We The scale bar from β′ = -0.3 to β′ = How to find the right image scale to be set

Image scale β′
free working
distance [mm]
are confident you will enjoy all the features this macro lens can offer you: -3 for positioning the floating ele-
Arrange the motif and the lighting as usual. Before you check
it is continuously optimizable for any imaging scale between 1:3 (β′ = -0.3) ments can be found directly behind
the image on the monitor of the camera, of the digital back,
and 3:1 (β′ = -3) and thus offers an imaging quality that puts all that has the orange ring with the associated
of your tethered computer or on the screen of a technical
gone before it into the shade. The sharpness is only limited by the physi- black index line. The scale is set to
camera, you can first roughly estimate the imaging scale to be
cally unavoidable diffraction, the distortion is extremely low, reduced to -1.00 on the photo shown at the
set at the rotational ring or simply set it to β′ = -1.00.
almost zero from a scale of 1:1, and color fringes are a thing of the past. side. We have prepared scale mea-
surement cards for all relevant sen- Once you have decided on the motif design, simply hold the
Conventional macro lenses suffer from typial shortcomings sor sizes to enable you to make an measurement card matching your sensor size in the sharpness
exact determination of the scale to plane of your motif such that the left edge contacts the left
Lenses are always optimized for an imaging scale that depends on the in-
be set for your macro shots. How- image margin in landscape mode. You can now read the imag-
tended area of use. Optimization is usually carried out for infinity (β′ = -0).
ever, some measurement cards are ing scale off the bar at the right hand image margin. It is usu-
Less frequently, but almost always for technical lenses for studio photog-
too large to be included inside the ally sufficient to make an estimate directly at the motif. For
raphy, optimization is carried out for a scale of 1:20 or 1:10 (β′ = -0.05 or
box of this lens without being fol­ more precision, read the scale value off the monitor or off the
β′ = -0.1), which corresponds to a distance of around 20 times to 10 times
ded. But you can download a PDF ground glass screen. In portrait mode, hold the measurement
the focal length. With different scales or different distances, the imaging
(2 DIN A4 pages) of the cards from card vertically at the lower image margin and read the scale
quality first reduces by a small amount and then more and more. This ap-
from the upper margin (in the example below β′ ≈ -0.45).
plies to the sharpness and equally to the distortion, the color fringes and www.rodenstock-photo.com/measuring.pdf
other aberrations. A larger value, e.g. 1:3 (β′ ≈ -0.3), is selected as the Alternatively, you can measure the motif working distance
Simply print the page with the measurement card that matches your sen-
­optimization scale for macro lenses and an optical design is chosen that from the front lens edge and read the scale from this bar ➔
sor size (the sensor width in landscape format is indicated in a black rect-
keeps the sharpness drop relatively small over a wide scale range. Irritat-
angle) on DIN A4 paper of cardboard thickness. If you use a transparent You can set this scale at the rotational ring (set to the respec-
ing aberrations nevertheless become visible when high demands are made
adhesive foil to laminate the card, the measurement card cut-out along tive end position if the range -0.3 to -3 is exceeded) and can
and when the scales differ more from the optimum, above all when the
the frame will be more stable and will also remain clean longer. The mea- either use the focusing mount or the bellows extension or use
distance setting should reach up to infinity (β′ = -0).
surement card for the sensor format 24 mm x 36 mm is shown below: a camera movement to refocus to maximum sharpness.
The HR Digaron Macro 105 mm f/5.6 is totally uncompromising
The Rodenstock HR Digaron Macro 105 mm f/5.6 has not been optimized
for a fixed scale in order to avoid such compromises. The lens can rather
be individually and continuously optimized for every shot within the range
from β′ = -0.3 to β′ = -3 using a rotating ring by displacing an internal lens
element group (“floating elements”). This delivers exceptional image
quality without any compromises toward either end of the recommended
scale range from 1:4 (β′ = -0.25) to 4:1 (β′ = -4). The rotating ring should
be set to β′ = -0.3 for scales below 1:3 and to β′ = -3 for scales above 3:1.
The HR Digaron Macro, that is superior to all other lenses from around 1:4,
can even be used up to infinity (β′ = -0) with only small losses in quality.