If you think that's a challenge, try making sense of something like:
Nikkor G AF-S VR ED IF 80-400/4.5-5.6 D
(not picking on Nikon, there's similar stuff in other lines)
Sorry, it just cracks me up. You could probably save 10% of your pack weight by scraping off the lettering.
Guy
Scenic Wild Photography
ok, here are some possibilities
Fujinon-W 135/5.6, Copal, retaining ring, caps, Mint-
Nikkor-W 135/5.6, MC, Copal, retaining ring, Mint-
Linhof Symmar 135/5.6 convertible (235/12), Linhof Compur shutter, Ex
135 f5.6 Nikkor W NIKON
135 f5.6 Nikkor-W GRAFLEX
135 f5.6 ApoSironar-S RODENSTOCK new
135 f5.6 Symmar-SSCHNEIDER
these range from 200 to almost 900 bucks, am i better off with the rodenstock cuz its more money or what? (cheaper tend to be used, new for like 500 though)
The coverage figures that I give are from the manufacturers. They may not be exactly comparable if the manufactueres don't measure/calculate usable coverage in exactly the same way.
These are all plasmat designs. With one exception, they are made from 6 glass elements, with two pairs glued together to make 4 groups of glass.
The Symmar is the oldest lens on your list. It will be single coated. If you remove the front component, it will function as a longer focal length lens, hence the designation "convertible", but don't expect stellar performance in the converted mode. Schneider specified the coverage as 70 degrees / 190 mm.
The Symmar-S is probably the second oldest len on your list. It is an improvement on the plain (or convertible) Symmar. (Since then there have been the Apo-Symmar, and the current Apo-Symmar-L.) Depending on its age, it might be single or multicoated. If multicoated, it will be labeled "MC". Schneider stated the same coverage as the plain Symmar.
Nikon's LF lenses were introduced sufficiently late that they are all multicoated. (A possible exception is some Nikkor-Q versions that appear rarely on ebay.) I have no idea why someone listed "Graflex" after one of the Nikkors -- perhaps the lensboard that it is on? Nikon specs the 135 mm Nikkor-W to have 73 degrees / 200 mm diameter of coverage.
Used Fuji lenses are tricky because Fuji changed the names of some of their lenses, but didn't change what they wrote on the lens itself. The full name of the later Fuji-W was Fuji-NWS. This lens only says Fuji-W on the lens. The way to distinguish it from the earlier version is that the lettering is on outside of the barrel, on the cylindrical surface. The earlier version had the lettering on the bezel around the front glass. The Fuji-NWS is multicoated, and Fuji used that excellent coating to design a lens that was all airspaced, with 6 elements in 6 groups. This allowed Fuji to extend the coverage to 76 degrees / 206 mm.
The Rodenstock Apo-Sironar-S is the newest lens design on your list. It's advanced technology is the use of ED (Extra-Low Dispersion) glass, which allowed Rodenstock to extend the coverage to 75 degrees / 208 mm diameter.
(Fuji or Rodenstock have made a slight rounding error to get a larger diameter from 75 degreees than from 76 degrees. I calculate 207 mm for 75 degrees, and 211 mm for 76 degrees. Also, perhaps the actual focal lengths are slightly different from 135 mm.) These lenses are multicoated.
If the price is reasonable, I would pick a multicoated lens, which rules out the Symmar, and may rule out the Symmar-S. The Symmar is old enough that its shutter might require a CLA (Clean, Lube, Adjust), which is another drawback.
In the 135 mm focal length, these lenses don't have huge reserves of coverage for 4x5. That would incline me to pick one of the lenses with the most coverage. That would be either the Fuji-W (if it is the NWS) or the Apo-Sironar-S. Since the Fuji-W is used, it should be much cheaper than the new Apo-Sironar-S. I suggest the Fuji.
Fuji makes very fine lenses. I have used a longer focal length Fuji-NWS, the 180 mm. Kerry Thalmann has an excellent webpage on the Fuji LF lenses at www.thalmann.com/largeformat/fujinon.htm.
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