Wide angle for 8x10

[ViktorK]

hello could anyone suggest me a cheap 8x10 wide angle lens in shutter?
i was looking at buying wollensak EWA 159mm F12.5 but i would like to get other options as well if possible.
thanks

[Luis-F-S]

If the EWA works for you I would get it. Cheap and 8x10 wide angle lens is not usually used in the same sentence. I use a 165 WA Dagor, but it's not usually described as cheap. L

[paulbarden]

How cheap?
I recently bought a 7.5” Kodak Wide Field Ektar for $475, which I regard as a bargain for such a fine lens.

[Corran]

IMO the 159mm Wollensak is a pretty bad lens. Even just for contact printing. The outer periphery is just awful, and almost all of the images I have seen from it online (on 8x10) show the same thing. Looks to be usable on 5x7 max. Sold mine after shooting a few negatives as soon as I could.

[mdarnton]

There are two Wolly 159mm lenses
They promoted the coverage of the f/12.5, and the wide-open sharpness of the f/9.5. I bought the f/9.5 for my Intrepid but haven't used it yet.

[ic-racer]

180 Fujinon. 305mm image circle.

[ic-racer]

Inexpensive Fuji 125mm SuperWide does not cover, but a slight crop when enlarging gives a resulting angle of view wider than an expensive 150mm. It is a modern multi-coated lens that is super sharp, right up to the very edge of the image circle.

[Luis-F-S]

IMO the 159mm Wollensak is a pretty bad lens. Even just for contact printing. The outer periphery is just awful, and almost all of the images I have seen from it online (on 8x10) show the same thing. Looks to be usable on 5x7 max. Sold mine after shooting a few negatives as soon as I could.

Perhaps you got a bad example? Not that I have first hand experience with that lens, but quality control with older lenses varied widely. If the OP buys the lens for a reasonable price and doesn't like it, he can then re-sell it. He just can't pay stupid money for it. In the 8" range, the 210 G Claron in Copal 1 can be had pretty reasonably, wider than that they get pricey quickly. There are few true wide lenses that really cover 8x10, most are not cheap and many of them are hard to find. L

[William Whitaker]

Not quite sure what you mean by "wide-angle" or "cheap". But....
I have a Wollensak Velostigmat Series II (f/4.5) 7 1/2" FL which surprisingly seems to cover 8x10 pretty well, even wide-open at infinity. It doesn't provide optical acrobatics, but for general 8x10 photography is a fine lens and a moderately wide-angle optic. I like the rendering that the Velostigmats produce and this one is in a Betax shutter which, while not providing sync, is far more convenient than a barrel lens. I have had this lens for years and don't recall its origin. It probably arrived via Ebay with one purchase or another. I'm sure it was not expensive.

Short version: Keep your eyes open. Be open to possibilities.

[Alan Gales]

If you want a sharp lens with a lot of coverage at the wide end they get expensive like north of $1,000. If you don't need movements then the Fuji 180, Schneider 165 Angulon, or the Schneider 121 Super Angulon among others can work. All three are inexpensive. I saw on the internet that Clyde Butcher owned the 121 Super Angulon.

Fuji 250mm f/6.7 (lettering on the inside) lenses have plenty of coverage and are a bargain but are only mildly wide like a 35mm lens on a 35mm camera. I paid $300 for mine but I've seen examples sell for $250-$200 even since I bought mine.

That's the thing about 8x10. Wide angles and long lenses can get real expensive.