Which Lenses would you buy for 12x20

[Christopher Perez]

If you decide that 600mm or 750mm might work for you, check over on APUG. Kerry Thalmann has several Docter Optic focal lengths for sale. A couple of them are bound to cover 12x20.

If you have a 450 Fuji C f/12.5, it just barely hits the corners of 12x20 at f/45.

I can't imagine a 1000mm lens on that format. 24inch Artar was all my old Folmer and Schwing could handle without "schwinging" in the wind. As it were.

[Steve Nieslony]

355 G- Cloaron

450 Nikkor M

24"/610mm Red Dot Artar

355 has little room for movement, while the 450 has more and the 610 has plenty. I have a 30" RD Artar that I would like to get mounted in a shutter... I just haven't found the need yet.

Steve

[Rob Vinnedge]

Michael,

I'm very happy to hear your opinion of the 550XXL lens. I almost committed to a Fuji 600C but think I will wait until the review. The coverage alone was reason to consider the Schneider for the larger formats, but to have sharpness too - that's great news.

[Dean Cookson]

It's worth mentioning that at the prices listed on Badger's site for both lenses ($1425 for the Fuji and $5495 for the 550XXL) the Scheider is almost 4x as expensive. The price difference represents more than 320 sheets of 12x20 HP5+, which is a lot of film...

[sanking]

"The 550mm XXL simply blows away either the Fuji 600C or 24" Artar. It's a much larger lens than the Fuji, but it affords so much more sharp movement that it really is not even a fair comparison. If I had to travel very light with a 12x20, I'd probably go for the 600C, but otherwise, I think the 550 XXL is absolutely the right lens to use. I wrote a review of this lens that is schedulled for the May/June issue of View Camera Magazine, and there was a review of the 1100mm last fall sometime as well. "

Michael,

I look forward to your review. My iniitial reaction to this lens on readings its specifications was that it was overkill for the 12X20 format since the 600 Fujinon-C and 600 mm process lenses such as the Red Dot Artar give excellent sharpness and quite a bit of movement on 12X20 when stopped down, but of course you do have to stop them down.

BTW, what is the retail price of the 550 XXL, and is it available off-the-shelf or by special order only?

Sandy

[Michael Mutmansky]

Rob and Dean,

The 550XXL is not an inexpensive alternative to a Fuji 600C (which I own and use extensively on my 7x17), so that has to be weighed in a decision like this.

320 sheets of HP5 represents many years of shooting if you are a 25-sheet-per-year shooter. But if you are using the camera seriously, that does not represent that much film at all, and it will enable you to get shots that you couldn't otherwise. Is it a worthwhile tradeoff? In my opinion, it would be.

Sandy,

I don't think it is an off-the-shelf product from anyone. These are very small production lenses, and they will actually engrave the name of the buyer in the lens.

I'm very pleased that Schneider is making lenses specifically for ULF shooters. I think it bodes very well for product availability in the future from them.

---Michael

[Dean Cookson]

Michael,

Don't get me wrong, I'm also very pleased that Schneider is making ULF specific lenses and I'm absolutely certain that there are ULF photographers out there for whom the 550XXL is the right lens. But I'm also quite certain that *my* photography would benefit more from shooting 320 sheets of film than it would from the difference between the Fuji and the Schneider. I just hope they're still making them when the balance tips the other way for me...

[Oren Grad]

BTW, what is the retail price of the 550 XXL, and is it available off-the-shelf or by special order only?

Sandy, Badger is listing it for $5495, and, amazingly, although the 1100 is tagged as special order, the 550 is not. I wonder if that's an oversight...

[Steve Beyer]

Thanks to all for your input. I did not realize that the depth of field was so much more a problem on the larger lenses. I am purchasing a 355 G-Claron on your recommendation and will see where we go from there. Again many thanks for taking the time to respond.

[GPS]

You're very much mistaken if you base your decision on a dof consideration. With this kind of lenses you usualy take pictures at a great distance and there the dof is enough for most of the pictures. Calculate the dof at for ex. the distance of 300 m and you will see that for yourself. And very often you take pictures at even a greater distance. I cannot imagine somebody will go out with 1100mm lens to take pictures of landscape 50 m ahead of him...