Odd focal lengths for your format

[John Layton]

I also have some issues with certain focal lengths on specific formats. For 4x5, I find (as Vaughn does), a progression of 90/150/210/305 to be about right. Sometimes if wanting to travel as light as possible with 4x5 I'll just take a 135 - but lately this FL is being supplanted with the 150 for this (single lens) use...as the 135 somehow seems a bit boring to me lately on 4x5.

As for 5x7...while I now go with a 110/150/210/305, with very occasional use of the 90, it is the 110 and 150 which I as of yet have not quite warmed up to completely for this format.

When I'd recently acquired the (optically wonderful) 110XL with the intention of using this to basically "replace" my 120mm F/8 Super Angulon, thinking that they'd be "close enough" in FL, I often find myself missing the very slightly longer 120. This preference might change over time and I may yet thoroughly embrace the 110, but for now, I'm hanging to that 120!

The other "jury is still out" FL for 5x7 is the 150. Often I think I'd be happier with something like a 165, but the modern options here are so few...with the 165 SA being a bit large and heavy, and the quality of the older WA Dagors being quite variable - also keeping in mind my tendency to print quite large (to 40x60 inches). At any rate, were I more in love with the 150 for use with 5x7, I'd possibly be wanting to sell my current 150 Apo Symmar L and looking for an Apo Sironar-W...mostly for its extra bit of coverage. Too bad that lens is getting really hard to find, and almost always really pricy.

Finally...another FL which I've long had thoughts of acquiring is the 450, preferably in the form of either a Nikkor-M or Fujinon-C. But it always seems that whenever I do see either of these come up for sale, some financial contingency magically materializes. Why is that

[Mark J]

I note that the s/h prices of the Apo Sironar-W and the Super Symmar HM 150 are about equal on EBay, in which case I'd definitely recommend the Super Symmar, the correction and the light-falloff will be better. It's a hybrid sort of design but has more of the DNA of the Super-Angulons, compared to a stretched plasmat in the case of the Sironar-W.

[Joseph Kashi]

Once beyond 8x10, virtually anything beyond moderate wide-angle and normal lenses becomes very difficult to find and afford, let alone feasible in field use, so I suppose that qualifies, as a practical matter, as a gap. Come to think of it, aside from a few long Artars and the Nikkor telephoto system, 8x10 long-focus lenses are also minimally available at best.

[John Layton]

But Mark...isn't that 150 Super Symmar HM about twice the size of the (already somewhat hefty) 150 Apo Sironar-W? Maybe I'm wrong about this. Hmmm

[mdarnton]

The unsung hero of my 5x7 kit is the very tiny 108mm/6.8 Wollensak Extreme WA. Maybe not up to modern specs around the edges, but a friendly lens nevertheless.


Hot Day in Alpena
by Michael Darnton, on Flickr

I have the early 150/5.6 Fujinon and that's a great and compact lens as well. Those are probably the two I use the most when I'm not doing soft focus.

[Mark J]

But Mark...isn't that 150 Super Symmar HM about twice the size of the (already somewhat hefty) 150 Apo Sironar-W? Maybe I'm wrong about this. Hmmm

Ah well...hmmm.. you didn't specify a weight limit ( just like the programme managers at work ) .. I will have to check the brochures. It's not as much as a 165 Super Angulon, that's for sure. Must get to bed now.

[Mark J]

In Copal, Apo Sironar-W 150 = 380g, Super-Symmar HM 150 = 740g, Grandagon-N 155/6.8 =1460g, Super-Angulon 165/8 =1600g
So it's at an intermediate level of 'Heft' , it does have a 77mm filter instead of huge 105 or 110 needed for the big lenses.

However, for a kit of four lenses, i can see why you would favour the Sironar-W.

[Vaughan]

So far as I know there are no modern 180's that cover 8x10.

The original single-coated Fujinon W 180mm f5.6 lens has an image circle of 305mm so it covers 8x10 without movement.

There are two version of the original writing-on-the-front Fujinon 180mm f5.6 lens: the "WS" which is mounted in a Seiko shutter, and the "W" in a Copal shutter. I ended up with one of each and the "W" Copal shutter version has a slightly longer focal length and a few millimetres (5 to 10) more of coverage. Both have a significantly larger image circle than the later writing-on-the-barrel "NW" version's 280mm circle.

[John Layton]

Mark, thanks for digging up that info!

[Dugan]

Well, if you're a masochist, there's the Metrogon....