300mm for Landscape

[Dan Fromm]

APO Nikkor, 300mm f9 (shutter version not standard).

Did Nikon sell such a lens? And were you thinking of the 300 (tessar type) or the 305 (dialyte type)?

OP, I have a 300/9 Apo-Saphir and a 305/9 Apo-Nikkor, both in barrel and have used both front-mounted on a #1 shutter. I prefer the Apo-Nikkor because it is sharper at apertures larger than f/16. From f/16 down they're equal.

If you decide to pursue a 300/9 ApoSaphir in barrel be very careful and buy with the right of return. CEDIS-Boyer's fiches techniques say that the cells will fit a #1 but my lens' cells don't. skgrimes claims that the 305/9 Apo-Nikkor's cells will go into a #1. I doubt that they are direct fits, am not about to dismantle mine to check.

[Luis-F-S]

Schneider, 300mm f9 APO Artar.

Goerz, 12" f9 RD Artar.

On 4x5 film format, is there any really good reason to use a f5.6 lens with an over sized image circle that can cause excessive light to bounce around inside the bellows?
Over sized image circle is a problem not often discussed but often results in lower contrast due to internal reflections.. and no, light whacking the inside of the bellows does not magically go away. As for f9 full aperture, not really a problem to focus for a 300mm lens on 4x5. There is a very high price to pay for larger full aperture that is not likely going to be used.

Bernice

What I would use! Tiny lens in comparison to some of the other monsters suggested. I was thinking 8x10, not that "little" format. Exceeds the OP's IC requirement by about 1". Hard to beat an Artar for sharpness or color rendition.

12" Artar on right, 12" Dagor on left.

[Leigh]

Over sized image circle is a problem not often discussed but often results in lower contrast due to internal reflections.. and no, light whacking the inside of the bellows does not magically go away.

Hi Bernice,

I seldom disagree with you, but this is an exception.

Light hitting bellows does not "magically disappear". It gets absorbed.
The bellows on all of my view cameras are very much non-reflective.

I suppose some bellows may exist that would be otherwise.
And it could certainly be true of metal (non-LF) cameras.

- Leigh

[Bernice Loui]

300mm f9 APO Nikkor.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/APO-Nikkor-...YAAOSwo9VbIcja

Not listed in the Nikkor catalog. Normally only the 305mm f9 is offered. Nikkor did make some non-standard focal lengths.

IMO, these are best used with a behind the lens shutter like Sinar for taking images to film.


Bernice

Did Nikon sell such a lens? And were you thinking of the 300 (tessar type) or the 305 (dialyte type)?

OP, I have a 300/9 Apo-Saphir and a 305/9 Apo-Nikkor, both in barrel and have used both front-mounted on a #1 shutter. I prefer the Apo-Nikkor because it is sharper at apertures larger than f/16. From f/16 down they're equal.

If you decide to pursue a 300/9 ApoSaphir in barrel be very careful and buy with the right of return. CEDIS-Boyer's fiches techniques say that the cells will fit a #1 but my lens' cells don't. skgrimes claims that the 305/9 Apo-Nikkor's cells will go into a #1. I doubt that they are direct fits, am not about to dismantle mine to check.

[David Karp]

They're all fine lenses. Buy the first good example that you find in your price range. For me, in 1990 or so, it was the Nikkor-M 300/9. I'm set for life with that lens.

That is what I did. I have a 300mm Nikkor M and am very happy with it.

[ottluuk]

Unless you really need 8x10 coverage, keep an eye out for a shutter-mounted 300mm APO Ronar. An excellent lens that can still be had for less than €200 (some patience may be required). There seems to be a renewed demand for lightweight 8x10 optics so prices are going up for the lenses mentioned in the poll.

I don't have a 305 G-Claron for direct comparison but I'd say that I prefer the rendering of my 300/9 APO Ronar to my 210/9 G-Claron (in identical Copal 1 shutters). Both are sharp but the Ronar seems to have a bit of extra "snap" at apertures larger than f/22 as well as smoother out of focus areas. Some of this will no doubt be due to the focal length difference but still...

[Pere Casals]

Hi Bernice,

Light hitting bellows does not "magically disappear". It gets absorbed.
The bellows on all of my view cameras are very much non-reflective.

- Leigh

The amount of flare generated by an excessive image circle it's easy to measure, and there is serious literature around about it. Even in the case bellows are not much reflective you can get very significative flare from an excessive circle.


For example a 300m 8x10 lens sporting 450mm circle, if used for 4x5, throws 87% of the circle light to the bellows, and under 14% to the film. Yes, the bellows are black and efficient (it may require two consecutive reflections...) but still a large circle generates flare.

A contributing factor is that the light that goes to the internal bends of the bellows are easy reflected to the film, and if we have a too compressed bellows then we have a lot of efficient reflectors throwing flare to the film.

Additionally, we can have our subject way less illuminated than background, this may increase flare by a factor of x8, because the relative luminance. Finally, we may not have the sun in the farming but we may have it in the image circle, working like an spot light inside the bellows...

Sometimes flare can even be good, for shadow detail, or if we want its effect in the image...

But the potential flare from an excessive circle cannot be overlooked. It's nice that a bare front hood can solve it...

[Laurent Laval]

.......It's nice that a bare front hood can solve it...

I found very difficult to know witch hood to use in LF lenses, I found J C O'Connell's HOODCALC.XLS document and it's helpful for that.
what do you think ?

[Dan Fromm]

300mm f9 APO Nikkor.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/APO-Nikkor-...YAAOSwo9VbIcja

Not listed in the Nikkor catalog. Normally only the 305mm f9 is offered. Nikkor did make some non-standard focal lengths.

Bernice, you misunderstood my question. I didn't ask whether the 300/9 Apo-Nikkor exists, I asked whether 300/9 and 305/9 Apo-Nikkors were sold in shutter by Nikon.

The 300/9 and other tessar type Apo-Nikkors were cataloged in older catalogs. I have one. The first Apo-Nikkors released were tessar types. They were replaced by the dialyte types we know and love. See http://www.galerie-photo.com/apo-pro...ikkors-en.html for a complete, I hope, list and more information.

[Pere Casals]

I found very difficult to know witch hood to use in LF lenses, I found J C O'Connell's HOODCALC.XLS document and it's helpful for that.
what do you think ?

An aproximative calculation is straight...



If we have an square front hood...

> Red is the long side of the film format

> Green is the focal of the lens

> Pink is the side of the square front hood

> Dark blue is the distance where it will be the entrance of the front hood, it may take a bit more than in theory because front nodal point is a couple of cm more advanced than lensboard, the datasheet of the lens may tell that distance, but using a hood that can extend some 100mm more than what the simplified calculation says should be enough.


This is aproximative only, to know what kind of hood you want, because you end adjusting it in the field. You can calculate it with basic math or you can simply draw it in a big paper at 1:1 scale.