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View Full Version : In 4x5, what is your most used lens?



stradibarrius
7-Oct-2011, 13:59
Which lens stays on your 4x5 camera the most? Or which two lenses do you use the most?

Vaughn
7-Oct-2011, 14:23
Caltar IIN 150/5.6

Mark Sampson
7-Oct-2011, 14:25
Kodak 135/6.3 Wide Field Ektar, Nikon Nikkor-M 300/9.

Ole Tjugen
7-Oct-2011, 14:39
A couple of weeks ago I couldn't find my 150/4.5 Apo-Lanthar. when I had finally decided I could use a 150/4.5 Xenar instead, I opened the camera to find the Lanthar already there...

After that, it's about even between 90/6.8 Angulon, 210/6.1 Xenar, and 72/5.6 Super-Angulon XL. It all depends on what I'm after; I have a 420mm that sees some use too!

vinny
7-Oct-2011, 14:40
135, 210, 90, 305, 450, 65.

Bill McMannis
7-Oct-2011, 14:46
Fujinon 90mm

Leigh
7-Oct-2011, 14:49
Apo-Sironar-S 180/5.6 or 210/5.6
Fujinon SW-D 90/5.6

- Leigh

Peter York
7-Oct-2011, 14:52
100mm Wide Field Ektar

Rick A
7-Oct-2011, 14:53
Usually a Ysarex 127/4.7 robbed from a Polaroid 110a, lately a Centar 5x7 (Aplanat)mounted in a Betax #2 shutter. I also have an Ilex 4.7/10" Portronic Paragon in barrel that is tack sharp that I use for portraits.

domaz
7-Oct-2011, 14:59
I use my 135mm f/9 Repro-Claron in a #00 shutter quite a bit. It barely covers 4x5 at infinity but most of my shots are usually closer than that so it works very well. It must be the lightest 135mm lens in a shutter you can get.

Armin Seeholzer
7-Oct-2011, 15:01
1. 75 f4 Nikkor
2. 47 mm XL
3. 135mm
4. 210mm
5. 300mm

Cheers Armin

EOTS
7-Oct-2011, 15:16
1. Schneider SS XL 80mm f/4,5
2. Schneider SS XL 110mm f/5,6
3. Fujinon 240mm A f/9
4. Rodenstock Apo-Sironar-S 150mm f/5,6
5. Nikkor T* ED 360mm f/8

Steve Hamley
7-Oct-2011, 15:23
1. 180mm Rodenstock Apo-Sironar-S
2. 135mm Rodenstock Apo-Sironar-S or Fuji 125mm CM-W
3. 110mm Super Symmar-XL

Cheers, Steve

goodfood
7-Oct-2011, 15:26
135mm Fujinon

David Karp
7-Oct-2011, 15:32
125mm f/5.6 Fujinon W and 210mm f/6.1 Caltar Pro, about equally. Next is my 450mm Fujinon C.

mike rosenlof
7-Oct-2011, 15:54
in frequency order:
150mm (g-claron f/9) then 210mm (Sinaron (Rodenstock), f/5.6)

The Dread Pirate Robins
7-Oct-2011, 16:08
Ektar 127mm/4.7

stradibarrius
7-Oct-2011, 16:20
to find the equivalent focal length in 1
35mm would you divide a LF lens focal length by 3?
so a 90mm would be roughly the same as 30mm in 135?

drew.saunders
7-Oct-2011, 16:23
Nikon 200/8 M. I'll usually bring 6 lenses in my backpack (80, 120, 165, 200, 250, 300), but use the 200 at least 25% of the time, some outings up to 50%. If I wanted to travel very lightly, it would be with just that lens, since the camera folds up nicely with it attached.

Ken Lee
7-Oct-2011, 17:15
to find the equivalent focal length in 135mm would you divide a LF lens focal length by 3?
so a 90mm would be roughly the same as 30mm in 135?
Yes and yes.

jayabbas
7-Oct-2011, 17:26
Nikon 200/8 M. I'll usually bring 6 lenses in my backpack (80, 120, 165, 200, 250, 300), but use the 200 at least 25% of the time, some outings up to 50%. If I wanted to travel very lightly, it would be with just that lens, since the camera folds up nicely with it attached.

Now that is a lot of fine glass to tote around. How does your back feel after an outing? I offset the meat of my monorail with a lonely 165 Angulon and its pretty sister, a 240 G-Claron. This usually gets the job done.:D

r.e.
7-Oct-2011, 17:28
to find the equivalent focal length in 1
35mm would you divide a LF lens focal length by 3?
so a 90mm would be roughly the same as 30mm in 135?

Stradibarrius,

Could I ask why you are asking people what their most used lens is?

If you asked someone who shoots 35mm what his or her most used lens is, the answer would depend in part on subject. A person who makes photographs of animals in the wild, a person who photographs insects, a person who shoots landscapes, a person who photographs interiors of buildings and a person who makes head and shoulder portraits are likely to come up with different answers to the question.

Same for 4x5. Reading this thread, the answers are meaningless, dare I say pointless, unless one knows the work of the person giving the answer.

Wayne
7-Oct-2011, 19:43
135 Caltar cuz it folds up inside my Wista 45sp. And I like it.

Tony Karnezis
7-Oct-2011, 20:18
Almost all my images were taken with a Caltar-S II 210/5.6 (Schneider Symmar-S).

John Kasaian
7-Oct-2011, 21:09
203mm Kodak Ektar (which pulls double duty on the 5x7 Speed Graphic) and a 162mm Wollensak Series II Velostigmat. Less used is a 127mm Ektar cause it lacks wiggle room---it lives aboard an Anny Speed Graphic

Heroique
7-Oct-2011, 22:03
I have a three-lens kit for my 4x5 Tachi landscapes – 110/150/240.

Hmm...

Last week’s trip into the woods, the lens I used least was my Fuji A 240mm/9.

In 2nd place (but it was a very, very close finish) was my Schneider 110mm/5.6.

Now, if I had one, I think a 180mm would have been my most used lens for this trip.

JOSEPH ANDERSON
7-Oct-2011, 22:09
Most Used Is 203 Ektar And 90mm Sa I Have Many Lenses But Those Are The Most Used. Happy Shooting Joe A

adam satushek
7-Oct-2011, 22:20
In order:
1. 150/ f5.6 rod. apo sironar-s
2. 210/ f5.6 sch. apo symmar
3. 120/ f8 nikk. sw
4. 450/ f9 nikk. m
5. 300/ f9 nikk. m
6. 90/ 8 nikk sw

All for landscape like stuff

Duane Polcou
8-Oct-2011, 02:01
For B/W Landscapes, in order of frequency:

210mm f5.6 Fujinon NW
150mm f5.6 Fujinon NW
90mm f8 Calumet Caltar WII
360mm f5.5 Schneider Tele Xenar

LaurentB
8-Oct-2011, 02:16
Apo Symmar 150/5.6

In fact, it's now my only LF lens. I had up to 5 lenses, and spent too much time fiddling with lenses, different shutters, etc... So I sold the others and kept this one, and this seems to fire a new interest in LF for me...

Bruce Watson
8-Oct-2011, 07:13
I use mainly use three -- about 30% of my photographs are made using my 110, 30% with my 150, and 30% with my 240. It really is a nice even split. I don't know why. Just is.

E. von Hoegh
8-Oct-2011, 07:20
It's just about a dead heat between 6" and 8 1/4".

Funny, on 8x10 I tend a bit wider, using a 9 1/2" and a 30cm.

Noah A
8-Oct-2011, 08:40
I keep a 135 Apo-Sironar-S on my camera (It folds into my MT2000) and I've been leaving it on unless I need more coverage, in which case I switch to a 115 Grandagon which has a huge image circle. Or if I need to clean up a scene, isolate a subject or flatten the perspective a bit I'll back up and switch to a 210 Apo-Sironar-S.

I could probably just shoot everything with the 115 and 210, but the 135 is such a beautiful little lens. It's super sharp. While it has a decent image circle for its focal length, I'd use it even more if it had a bigger image circle. Of course then it probably would be larger and wouldn't fold into the camera, so maybe it's just as well.

Jim Noel
8-Oct-2011, 09:07
Goertz Dagor 150mm

drew.saunders
8-Oct-2011, 13:23
Now that is a lot of fine glass to tote around. How does your back feel after an outing? I offset the meat of my monorail with a lonely 165 Angulon and its pretty sister, a 240 G-Claron. This usually gets the job done.:D

The 165/3.5 and 250/4.7 are both big Tessars (one Zeiss Tessar, one Fujinar), and they weigh as much as the other 4 lenses, so I can leave them out and cut the weight by quite a bit if I'll be doing a lot of walking. The 120/5.6, 200/8 and 300/8.5 are pretty light, and the 80/4.5 SSXL is reasonably light too.

IanG
8-Oct-2011, 13:31
150mm f5.6 Sironar N or 150mm f4.5 T (coated) CZJ Tessar. Depends which continent I'm in :D

Ian

Peter De Smidt
8-Oct-2011, 13:38
My most used lens is a 120mm SA, followed by a 210mm Fuji-W.

Bill_1856
8-Oct-2011, 13:57
Same trio as John Kasaian.

Matus Kalisky
8-Oct-2011, 14:25
From the lenses I have (75, 125, 240, 400) for 4x5 it is the Fujinon 125/5.6 CM-W and followed by the Fujinon A 240/9.

My Grandagon N 75/4.5 deserves more use (it is really excellent), but a rather uncomfortable to use on Tachihara 4x5 due to compressed bellows (very limited movements even with recessed board).

Ivan J. Eberle
9-Oct-2011, 08:56
Owing to it being very small and having a rangefinder that was accurately coupled to it-- therefore the lens was the one most often left mounted to the camera-- the 135mm Caltar II-N I've had on my Meridian for a couple of years has probably gotten twice the use of either the 210mm or 90mm.

But I also really, really like 4x5 for exploiting moves. 135mm Plasmats don't have a super-abundance of IC, so having recently found that a Kalart RF can be adjusted for the 210mm Caltar II-N, I find myself leaving it on the camera more and giving it more of a workout. (But since the combo is a bit too heavy, I'm contemplating an Ektar 203mm.)

Nathan Appel
10-Oct-2011, 13:45
Xenotar 150 because I have so much invested into it and it's permanently mounted on my lens board! Also, it truly is everything mythical reported. I am going from a rodenstock 127mm to this.

northcarolinajack
11-Oct-2011, 12:04
In my bag at all times are: 90mm,127mm, and a 203mm. All are small, light and cover about all subjects.

Jack

rdenney
11-Oct-2011, 12:15
On the Sinar, in order:

121/8 Super Angulon
210/5.6 APO-Sironar-N
90/5.6 Super Angulon

All the others (65, 240, 12") share last place--too close to call.

On the Speed Graphic (anticipated usage):

127mm Graflex Optar
8-1/2" Ilex Paragon
90mm Graflex Optar W.A.

On Pentax 6x7:

55mm
200mm
45mm

On Canon 5D:

24-105/4L

Rick "seeing a pattern?" Denney

MIke Sherck
11-Oct-2011, 19:14
I mostly photograph B&W landscapes and carry a 125mm f/5.6 Fujinon, a 210mm f/5.6 Fujinon, and a 300mm f/9 Nikon M. The 210 is my most used lens, closely followed by the 125mm with the 300mm a distant third. Although, tonight I made five negatives, three with the 210 and two with the 300.

Mike

uphereinmytree
6-Sep-2012, 18:57
I use a fujinon 125mm cmw, an 8 3/4" verito (222mm?) , and a 450mm nikkor M equally. I should maybe sell all the rest as they rarely see the light of day.

hiend61
7-Sep-2012, 02:55
When I used 4x5 for my pro work I used Grandagons 65/4,5 - 90/4,5 - 115/6,8 Apo Sironar W 150/5,6 Sironars N 210/5,6 - 300/5,6 and Apo Ronars 240/9 and 480/9.
Now I shot just for my pleasure and Grandagon 115/6,8 Apo Sironar W 150/5,6 and Sironar N 210/5,6 is my essential 4x5 kit.

evan clarke
7-Sep-2012, 04:24
Probably my 110 SS XL..

ypres.bass
8-Sep-2012, 14:40
Tessar 180/4,5
Skopar 135/5,6
both in my loved "old Compurs"