Vega-11U, enlargement lens for macro

If you want to do cheap macro or close up work you can always reverse mount any normal lens, like a kit zoom, or better a fix focus wide angle lens. But if you want that extra quality there is need for a special macro lens or a substitute with a flat field curvature. This can be had in an enlargement lens. These can be had for pennies since the 70-th boom of home made film development and copying is building a heap of unused stuff in the attics of every second home. Back in the 70-th, all saunas in Sweden suddenly became dark rooms in the evenings for the photo enthusiasts. Those were the days.

Since I like cheap manual lenses and especially the vintage Russian ones, I bought a used Vega-11U (Bera-11Y) enlargement lens the other day for a macro project. It costed me 20 Euros and it was in mint condition with all boxes and paperwork still there. They can surely be had for less, many are traded on the bay for 5 Euros plus P&P.

So, why did I select this lens?
-Very cheap as compared to a dedicated macro lens
-Sharp indeed, 5 elements in 4 groups design that competes with expansive stuff from EL-Nikkor and such.
-Quite fast and a good working distance for macro on a DSLR with its 50mm f/2.8.
-10 blades in the iris for nice and round OOF highlights
-Simple attachment to my DSLR. Using a step up ring from the 39mm to 42mm threads and a M42 lens adapter. I can also add macro tubes after need for higher magnification.

There is no focusing helicoid since the focus was set by the enlargers DON-103 (ДОН-103) and DON-110 (ДОН-110). Is this a problem? Well it depends. For normal photography yes, it is more or less unusable. For close ups and macro no, shooting at high magnification is best done by setting the magnification at the wanted ratio and then move the camera or subject in relation to each other until the correct focus is had. The only thing I can miss with a vintage lens for macro is the auto aperture stopping down of a modern AF lens.


Normally, a 50mm macro lens is giving a very short working distance on a DSLR, but those are normally shifting focal length while doing close focusing, the enlargement lens does not.

So this is what it looks like.

Vega-11U, tiny thing, roughly 45x45mm

The lens has no CA (Chromatic Aberration) or PF (purple fringing) whatsoever due to its classic anastigmatic design. Look at this CA torture test shot I made before buying the lens. This is a very important quality in macro shooting, especially to reproduce shiny metallic objects.

Vega-11U CA torture test shot

And there you see the native magnification ratio without tubes on my M42 adapter. Approximately 10 cm across gives a ratio of roughly 1:3. I think the creamy OOF areas are looking very promising.

Now some real shots in natural light.

Vega-11U f/2.8 close up crop

This is a central crop of the fire fighter without macro tubes, 1:3 magnification ratio. Notice the sharpness straight from full aperture, no CA and lovely transition from focus to OOF.

Some macro tubes were added to eventually reach 1:1 magnification ratio.

Vega-11U f/4 1:2 macro

This is the whole frame with 2 cm macro tubes, giving a 1:2 magnification ratio. I tested stopping down somewhat for increased contrast and sharpness. I noticed that if I stopped down past f/5.6 a bright light circle developed in the centre, perhaps a back reflection from the sensor. This was no problem without macro tubes.

By the way, I'm thinking of printing this very big as a wall poster for the kids. Wouldn't it be nice?

Vega-11U f/2.8 1:1 macro

Now I have added 4 cm of macro tubing to reach roughly 1:1 magnification ratio. The working distance was still very good, perhaps 10 cm which opens for some advanced lighting aid from a flash. I will perhaps return to that later on. Then I will show you how to get professional results of your close up and macro shots, using the pop up flash on your camera. This even hand held after one hour of DIY work and 10 minutes of practice. It will cost you perhaps two Euros of material, and you can eat up most of it while working!!!  Did I say that I like cheap stuff with high performance :)