Robert,
Of the older wide angle designs, the Series V Protars are pretty good. That is to say, they aren't as good as the more modern Biogon derivatives, but still plenty good for contact printing - at least in terms of sharpness. They have three big advantages:
1) They are TINY - especially compared to a modern wide angle of comparable coverage
2) They are affordable - again, a lot less bucks than a modern wide angle
3) They have huge coverage - up to 110 degrees when stopped down to f45
Concerning the coverage - the 183mm Series V Protar covers 8x10 wide open. Coverage inceases substantially when stopping down. Unlike modern wide angles, the Series V Protar suffers from significant field curvature. What this means is that to get both the center and corners sharp, when pushing the coverage, requires stopping down. To get the maximum 110 degree coverage will require stopping down to at least f45 for acceptable performance. To hit the corners of 7x17 straight on requires about 103 degrees of coverage. So, the 183mm Series V Protar should cover 7x17 with a little left over for movements.
The biggest disadvantages to this lens are:
1) Dim f18 max. aperture
2) Significant illumination fall-off when pushing the coverage
183mm is extremely wide for the 7x17 format. Illumination fall-off, in an ideal case, follows the cos^4 function - and these older lenses generally don't quite match the ideal case. So, you're looking at about 3 stops fall-off from the center to the corners with a 183mm lens on 7x17 - and that's straight on. Apply some front rise and the fall-off just gets worse.
I personally shoot 4x10 and the widest lens I use is a 110mm Super Symmar XL. This lens on 4x10 is almost as wide as a 183mm would be on 7x17. I find this focal length extremely wide for 4x10 and don't use it nearly as much as my 150mm - which still seems quite wide to me on 4x10. Unless you need a REALLY wide lens for your 7x17, you might consider something in the 240mm - 254mm (10") range. I would personally find something in that range a lot more useful, but that's just based on my personal preferences.
Kerry
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