Re: Photographing Buildings.
I agree that the most i mportant thing is the ability to use short focal length lenses with large image circles. To make good use of such lenses, you need a lot of rise with relatively short bellows extension. That almost certainly means the use of a bag bellows.
A good wide angle lens for general architectural photography is the 72 mm super angulon Xl, but it is heavy and not all view cameras can handle it. I wish I had one and my camera could use it effectively.
Re: Photographing Buildings.
That 72 is a great lens for sure-I never owned one but lusted after one all the same, but I would say the most useful WA is a good 90. There used to be a saying going around when I was starting in the ;ate 70's (I think I first heard it at a Shulman workshop I took). It was "90% of your images will be made with a 90mm lens" (speaking 4x5 of course). In my experience that certainly turned out to be true.
Re: Photographing Buildings.
Its my friend Keith, my answer is all of them, that is why I still have 4 of them. Always great to hear from you.
Lynn
Re: Photographing Buildings.
front rize and fall are very important for camera movements that I most often have used for interior and exterior images. Sometimes I will use front tilt if I need it. for depth of field. Occasionally if I am lazy I will use front or rear shift instead of resetting the camera angle or location- or if I am trying to get around an obstruction in the way of the shot. The lens varies depending on the situation. For interiors most often the idea is to show how large the space (room) is so I most often use a wide angle to very wide angle (58mm to 90mm). For exterior images the lenses vary more - it depends on what obstructions there are - what opportunities there are to get the information that I am trying to record. If there are buildings that block using longer lenses than a wider lens - if there is a street infront of the building or view than what lens works from across the street etc. I tend to shoot a lot with a 90mm and a 135mm and a 180mm for exteriors - sometimes with a 75mm but the wider the lens than there is more distortion of round objects in the corners and edges. I would expect that there are situations where a 240mm, 300mm, or a 450mm would work best -depending on the available camera locations and distances from the building or buildings.