Nikon Nikkor SW 90mm f/8 vs. 90mm f/4.5?

[EdSawyer]

Actually, the f/8 is the far better performer. Not only is it evident from the optical design, but empirical testing bears it out: http://www.hevanet.com/cperez/testing.html In fact the Nikkor 90/8 is the best 90mm for 4x5 from any manufacturer.

[Dan Fromm]

But Ed, there are no Rodenstocks, Fujis, f/5.6 SAs, or f/4.5 Nikkors in those tests. No news is no news, not news of superiority.

I hope, though, that your news gives the person who posts as senderoaburrido pause. The person seems to be somewhat of a magic bullet chaser, needs to learn that with lenses the difference between best and second best is rarely large and is easily lost with less than perfect technique. Good enough means good enough, and most modern lenses in good condition are better than good enough.

[David Karp]

I had a 90mm f/4.5 Rodenstock Grandagon-N. It was a wonderful lens. Great! After the first few times, I never took it with me on a hike. If I did architecture photos only, I would have kept it forever. I purchased a 90mm f/8 Nikon and it comes with me. It has the same image circle as the Rodenstock, which to me was more important than relative sharpness. They are both plenty sharp enough. I am sure that is the case with the f/8 vs. f/4.5 Nikons as well.

[Ivan J. Eberle]

Roughly 20+ years since these lenses last went into circulation, condition will have a lot to do with how well they perform, e.g. lens that's been handled a lot, had a filter ring or rim straightened after a fall, possibly no longer still be in the original 6 bladed Nikon-specific Copal shutter, shim missing. I would hazard a guess that most Nikon SW 90mm f/8's were bought by non-professional hiking landscape photographers shooting relatively occasionally for fun, and would also expect that the majority of SW 90mm f/4.5's were purchased by studio or location professionals who used them more or less daily.

[neil poulsen]

In keeping with my recent acquisition of a Wista technical camera, I just swapped out my Schneider S.A. f5.6 for the Nikon 90mm f8. As has been noted, it's an 8 element design, so I'm not worried about performance. My primary motive was decreasing the size and weight of my 90mm lens in the Wista. Besides, the lens is in keeping with my Fuji 105mm S.W. and my Schneider 121mm S.A., which are both f8 lenses.

Compared to yesteryear, one can find a good f4.5 or f5.6 90mm super-wide lens for reasonable prices. In the unlikely event that I need one of the faster 90mm lenses, I can justify having both lenses.

As a comment, in reviewing amateur lens testing results, I'm also wondering simultaneously about the sample to sample variability. As much time as I know went into the results cited above, I th8ink they fall into the general category of being anecdotal.

[Two23]

I have the Nikon 90mm f4.5. I shoot at night a lot, with flash. Shooting at ~f4 means I need 1/4 the flash power as I would at f8. For me, no-brainer. I don't see these lenses as interchangeable. One will work for me, one will not.


Kent in SD

[hiend61]

Where to buy a 85mm UV filter for 90 f4.5? Is 85mm a normal size for UV filters?

The Nikkor SW 90/4,5 uses 82mm filters. 85mm filters are very rare but I have seen a couple of lenses with 85 mm filter thread. Rodenstock apo Ronars 9/600 and 14/890 have a 85 mm filter thread.

[hiend61]

Actually, the f/8 is the far better performer. Not only is it evident from the optical design, but empirical testing bears it out: http://www.hevanet.com/cperez/testing.html In fact the Nikkor 90/8 is the best 90mm for 4x5 from any manufacturer.

I have had and used almost daly both Nikkors SW 90 f8 and f4,5, Rodenstock Grandagon 90/4,5 and SK SA XL 90/5,6. All of them superb performers, but I would not say any of them is the best 90 wide angle ever, because I can´t find a reason to say that properly. I sold both Nikkors because I found them a bit more contrastier than " I like", (I shot mainly chromes), and kept Grandagon because it fits my personal taste better. I also kept the SK SA XL 90/5,6 just because It allows for more shift capabilities when I shot 5x7.

[Professional]

In the past when most lenses are still in production as brand new i was planning to get SK SA XL 90, but now after it is gone now the only 90mm i am thinking about is the f4.5 one and i will ignore f5.6 version, but then i am not sure which one, mostly i am thinking about Rodenstock version more than Nikkor or Fujinon 4.5 ones.