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Thread: Lens Choice

  1. #1

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    Feb 2008
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    I am from York PA, living in Norman, OK
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    Lens Choice

    In a few weeks, I'll be getting an LF camera (Calumet). Now that I have the camera coming, what lens should I start out with? I initially posted that I was looking at a 135. Is this a good place to start or should I go larger? Thank you for the help.

    God Bless,
    David

  2. #2

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    Re: Lens Choice

    135 or 210 is a good start. depends on what your subject matter is going to be. give me a little more info and i can help you more.

  3. #3

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    Re: Lens Choice

    I like to shoot landscapes and general nature stuff. Eventually, I'll get into architecture shots and macros. I do have a home page in my profile and in there shows a lot of what I enjoy shooting.

    God Bless,
    David

  4. #4

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    Re: Lens Choice

    David,

    If you're just starting out in LF... I'd recommend either a 180 or 210 from any of the major manufacturers. These include Rodenstock, Fujinon, Scheider, Nikon, etc.

    Secondly, over a cup of great coffee or wine, pick up some books and do some reading. I'd suggest the following:

    1. Using the Large Format Camera - Steve Simmons

    2. Large Format and Landscape Photography - Jack Dykinga

    3. User's Guide The The View Camera - Jim Stone

    All of these books are very good... written by people actually using Large Format Cameras.

    Cheers
    Life in the fast lane!

  5. #5

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    Re: Lens Choice

    Quote Originally Posted by Capocheny View Post
    David,

    If you're just starting out in LF... I'd recommend either a 180 or 210 from any of the major manufacturers. These include Rodenstock, Fujinon, Scheider, Nikon, etc.

    Secondly, over a cup of great coffee or wine, pick up some books and do some reading. I'd suggest the following:

    1. Using the Large Format Camera - Steve Simmons

    2. Large Format and Landscape Photography - Jack Dykinga

    3. User's Guide The The View Camera - Jim Stone

    All of these books are very good... written by people actually using Large Format Cameras.

    Cheers
    Thank you for the insight and advice. I do have Steve Simmons' book on the way from Amazon. It should be here next week sometime. Trust me, I'll be reading that book intently.

    God Bless,
    David

  6. #6
    IanG's Avatar
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    Re: Lens Choice

    Think about which lenses you prefer using with other formats. There's nothing wrong with a 150mm, it's a good all round lens to start with, room for more movements compared to a 135mm, and not as restrictive as a 210mm.

    Ian

  7. #7
    Still Developing
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    Re: Lens Choice

    Quote Originally Posted by Capocheny View Post
    David,

    If you're just starting out in LF... I'd recommend either a 180 or 210 from any of the major manufacturers. These include Rodenstock, Fujinon, Scheider, Nikon, etc.

    Cheers
    If you want to do macro photography at close range, a 210 will need very long belows (half a meter?) to do so. Also, a lot of your shots are in the medium to wide range and as such you probably want to be looking at 110-150 range of lenses.. If you want to do a lot of macro, the Schneider 120 HM is good but expensive. The Rodenstock Sironar N 150 is well recommended and not so expensive. The Rodenstock 135 Sironar S is probably a very good single lens choice (although still expensive - try the Sironar N for a cheaper one).

    I found these pages as a very good starting point

    http://www.hevanet.com/cperez/kit.html
    http://www.thalmann.com/largeformat/future.htm
    http://www.thalmann.com/largeformat/wide.htm

    Tim

  8. #8

    Join Date
    Apr 2006
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    558

    Re: Lens Choice

    210 is a good lens to start with. It has plenty of coverage so you can play around with the movements and see what they do. It's also a common size and you can get a very good modern lens pretty cheap.

  9. #9

    Join Date
    Dec 1999
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    1,905

    Re: Lens Choice

    Take your favorite 35mm lens and multiply its focal length by 3 to get an approximate 4x5 equivilent. There is a lens comparison chart from format to format in the Free Articles section of the View Camera web site


    www.viewcamera.com

    There are several other articles there as well that might be helpful to you.

    good luck and have fun


    steve simmons


    PS
    Since you live close you might want to go to the Shooting the West festival in Winnemucca March 6-9

    www.shootthewest.com

    I don't know how much lf will be there but it sounds like fun

  10. #10

    Join Date
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    Re: Lens Choice

    Thank you all for your help. It means a lot to me. I think I found the lens I'd like at the price I can currently afford. I saw a 150 Fujinon at KEH that is within my price range. I will not be able to get it on this paycheck but I will be able to on the next one. Hopefully by the end of March, I'll have a few prints developed.

    God Bless,
    David

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