Quote Originally Posted by Anupam Basu

...has got to produce sime pretty harsh OOF renditions. So among the usual suspects - El-Nikkor, Schneider, Rodenstock - which 6 element lens has the most number and the most rounded aperture blades? If anyone has experience using them as macro lenses, I'd love to hear your thoughts as well.

Thanks,
Anupam
Anupam

I have a Russian "Vega-11U" (marked "Вега-11У") 50mm lens. It has a f/2,8 maximum aperture, has rounded aperture, and according to its passport, has 5 elements. From what I can see through the lens, it may have as many as 8 aperture blades.

Haven't used it for macrophotography, only for printing in colour. The prints it made were excellent, and can give the more expensive El-Nikkors a run for its money It should do well as a macro lens, but for such an application, you might find its f/11 minimum aperture somewhat limiting.

I got it on eBay for US$11.

Jay