Picking a 210 for 4X5

[jmooney]

Hi All,

I'm guessing that I could pretty much pull a name out of a hat and get a good lens among these choices but I'm newish at this so I wanted to see if there were any major reasons for or against any of these.

The lens will be part of a two lens kit to get me started in 4x5. It'll be paired with a 125mm Fujinon W. I'll later be adding a 90 to the mix and maybe a 300 down the road. They'll be used on a monorail at first so I'd like as much movement as possible but my searching leads to be believe that all these will have ample coverage for 4X5. It'll be used to photograph bascially anything that comes in front of the camera: portrait, landscape, still life, etc.

Your vote and any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Take care,

[Steve Hamley]

I "see" a little wider, and chose a 180mm Apo-Sironar-S over the 210mm. The reason I chose the S over the N was not so much the image circle (although that would be more of a requirement shooting buildings), but because of the wider range of reproduction optimization. I have frequently used my 180mm "S" close up when I need a bellows extension factor of 1/2 stop or so, and it performs wonderfully.

I'd choose the Apo-Sironar-S; more movement, better close up.

Cheers, Steve

[Ken Lee]

"Your vote and any thoughts would be much appreciated."

Considering size, weight, and filter size...

The 240 Fujinon A takes 52mm filters and weighs only 245 grams, yet it has a 336 mm circle of coverage: enough to function as a portrait lens on 4x5, a normal lens for 5x7, a wide-angle for 8x10. Its reputation for sharpness is well-deserved.

The others are larger, take larger filters, and are heavier. They open to f/5.6 while the Fujinon achieves its reduction in size by being f/9, a difference of 1.5 f/stops.

240 is not 210, but 14% longer: an (arguably) negligible difference.

[Bill_1856]

Fujinon. I think it's a good idea to keep within a single "family" of lenses unless there's a good reason not to. (For me, the Symmar-S would be the choice).

[memorris]

I use a Rodenstock APO Sironar S 210mm as my primary lens on 4X5 and it can even cover as a wide angle on 8X10. It is a fantastic lens and is capable of doing digital and film. Every time I use it and need a lot of movements, it does the job.

[Ken Lee]

On our forum we have a nice chart which gives all the specs, such as size, weight, coverage, etc. for a large selection of lenses.

It even mentions... price

[Don Dudenbostel]

Also consider a Nikkor W. I have a Symmar S 210 that I've used for over thirty five years and have both Nikkor W and Fujinon W 180mm lenses. I have no experience with Rodenstock but between the top four makers of modern lenses there will be no real difference. I would buy the one with the best price.

[Oren Grad]

For myself, out of the three, I'd take the Sironar-N.

But I think the point about keeping it in the family is a good one. Although late-model plasmats are virtually all fine performers on all objective measures, each brand, and generation within a brand, does tend to have a particular flavor in the more subtle aspects of rendering. And since you've already got that Fujinon W...

[David Karp]

Out of the three, I would pick a Caltar II-N! Depending on the vintage, it is a Rodenstock APO-Sironar-N or Sironar-N (my understanding is that there is no difference) rebranded for Calumet. You can usually pick up a Caltar for less money than you would have to pay for a Rodenstock. I paid less than $1 per mm for mine!

You can't really go wrong with the Fujinon or the Schneider. I have several Fujis in different focal lengths and like them all. They too are often available at bargain prices, so that might be a consideration.

[Len Middleton]

The problem of course is YMMV, depending upon your objectives and constraints...

I have an old 210 Symmar convertible what works well, but it does not fit into the Technika V when folded, so got a 210 G-Claron that does.

It may be that my quality requirements do not match yours, but it works for me.

Oh, did I mention YMMV?

Len