135mm Apo-Sironar-S.
135mm Apo-Sironar-S.
If its for landscapes only it would be my lovely 90 mm F 4.5 Nikkor!
Armin
"Landscape" is a rather broad category, so any answer is simply a reflection of one's favorite subject matter and approach.
If you were to hand out lenses at random, and force each of us to use one exclusively, most of us would do just fine, and have some good fun in the process. It would be a creative exercise.
Photography is not a sterile linear process. In the interplay between the equipment at hand, the subject, and the photographer, each influences the other.
Many great classical composers wrote not only for one instrument, but for a variety of instruments, orchestras, quartets, trios, as well. They just adapted to circumstances and... got creative.
Rodenstock 150mm Sironar S for me!
You should consider the Rodenstock APO Sironar-S 135mm or the 150mm. I don't own the 135mm (yet) but I find myself grabbing the 150mm far more often than any other lens. The 150mm has a significantly larger image circle than the 135mm.
I recommend thinking about the future. Is it your plan to shoot with one landscape lens from here to eternity, or will you eventually branch out? Maybe you don't know. A great two lens kit would be that 135mm and the Fuji 240mm f9. A great three lens kit would be a 110mm, 150mm, 240mm. A great four lens kit would be a 90mm, 135mm, 200mm, 300mm. My point is: as your quiver of lenses increases in size, the usefulness of your "first and only lens" waxes and wanes.
Actually, I recall that Schneider had a large format zoom lens at one time. But, it sure wasn't 90-600mm!
Mine would be a $180 lens. Oops, I meant a 180mm lens.
John Blakemore, the great English landscape photographer, only used a 180mm lens for his 4x5 view camera. Paul Strand had only a 10" Dagor on both his 5x7 Graflex and 8x10 Deardorf.
(I cannot document this, so if they are incorrect, please don't flame me. Thank you.)
Wilhelm (Sarasota)
re: Is it your plan to shoot with one landscape lens from here to eternity, or will you eventually branch out?
It's my intention to branch out, but I wanted something basic to start. I'd like something flexible to learn with. Quotes like "I find myself grabbing the 150" to be revealing.
110 SSXL is probably what I use most frequently but when I think of traveling with just one lens to keep it light it is the 135 Apo Sironar S
Any price? A Cooke triple convertible.
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