Well there you go Bruce, what did I tell you? I think your problem is too many choices! Ok so you cannot get a better opinion than Carl's OTH like he said you would have to be the judge as to what is the best focal lenght for you. William just posted that the Fuji lens does stop to 128, I wonder if I want to go through the hassle of having the stops engraved, but then this lens has a greater coverage so it might be good for you. Ok, good luck and let us know what you get.
Bruce...
You have received a lot of good input above.
You mentioned that you wanted something in the 14" range... and the best answer would be a 355 G-Claron. It can easily be had for under $1000... covers 12x20 so more then enough for 7x17.
Other lenses that will cover 7x17 in my experiences are, f9 Computars (in 210, 240 and 270), 12" Dagor, 450M Nikkor, 24" and longer Artars (if you have bellows draw). By spec the 210 Super Symmar XL will cover (500mm IC), but this is a BIG lens - be aware and make sure the front of your camera is strong enough
Steve
I have to agree with Carl on the 305mm G Claron as possibly the best 'first' lens for 7x17. There are two reasons for this:
1. The lens is much smaller and lighter than the 355 G Claron, since it comes in a #1 shutter as opposed to the #3 for the 355.
2. It is much cheaper than the 355 is, which will buy you more film.
As Carl stated, it has gobs of room for movement as it is stopped down. However, one caviat about all of these lenses used for the ULF cameras is that you are using coverage that the manufacturer of the lens never really intended you to use.
So, the corners will go soft, unless you stop down substantially, and are careful to ensure that you have the lens focused properly for the corners. You may find that some lenses have enough field curvature at the edge of coverage that you will have to 'defocus' the center a bit and then stop down to ensure sufficient sharpness everywhere.
When I say stop down, I don't mean to f22. I mean to 32, 45, or more. Don't concern yourself with diffraction as many people do with 'small' large format, because you will be making contact prints, or enlarging at most about 2x.
There is one Copal #1 360mm lens out there that will cover 7x17 easily. It is the old Fujinon 360mm 'A' that was discontinued many years ago. It can be found multicoated, unlike the G Clarons, but it is quite rare.
I purchased one a few years ago as my first dedicated 7x17 lens, but I have since shifted to the 305mm because it fits better between a 210mm Computar and 450mm Fujinon.
You can get the G Clarons from Robert White for better prices than I have seen people asking for used ones in the US, so I suggest you check out their prices.
---Michael
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