I finally got my own Focomat Ic, and it has a Nikon 50mm 2.8 lens. My expert adviser assures me I must have a proper Focotar 50mm on it to get the famous Ic "look". T or F ? The prints look great done with the Nikkor....any thoughts on this one ? Will a Focotar look even better ? Early one or Focotar 2 ?

-- Joe Hughes (rotab308@uswest.net), May 25, 1999

Answers

1. The Focotar-2 is the best 50mm enlarger lens I have tested and used, period. The older Focotars are superb, and the previous two versions are just slightly better than the Nikor. 2. You need a Focotar to use the autofocus capability of the 1C. 3. I have the Focotar-2 and the older Nikor that was computed for condensor enlargers (the newest Nikor has a larger rear element), but have not compared them yet. I'll try this weekend and get back on the results.

-- Eilert Anders (eilert@dav.com), May 27, 1999.

Correction! I have tested the older and newer Nikors, and the Focotar-2, for resolution, but have not compared them where the rubber meets the road - in printing tests.

-- Eilert Anders (eilert@dav.com), June 02, 1999.