I'm looking for a lens or two for my Shen Hao 4x5 field camera. (Takes Wista lensboards.) First, I want a really old relatively fast lens. I'm thinking of a Petzval. Second lens I want is a traditional landscape lens. I know they aren't fast. I'm looking for something wider than a "normal" lens, say the equiv. of ~35mm on a Nikon camera. I'd like both to be brass, like a hood, have either Waterhouse or wheel stops, and be no older than 1880. Top price around $600 for the Petzval, less for the landscape lens.

I don't think I want a shutter added. I shoot at night a lot so I can simply count out the seconds and use a black hat or lens cap. I can use heavy ND filters during the daytime. Another option is I have about 8,000 watt seconds of portable monolight power and can simply use flash duration as my "shutter" at night.

I am mostly an outdoor shooter, and shoot at night quite a bit. My subjects are abandoned farmhouses (especially interiors,) old country churches, railroads, small towns at night, and traditional landscapes. I currently use a 1937 Voigtlander Bessa and love the look of the shots. I've been shooting LF for about five years and am used to it. I mostly only shoot Ilford HP5 with my film cameras (also have a restored 1915 Kodak Autograhic Special No. 1 with Taylor & Hobson Cooke triplet lens.)

Although I have pro Nikon digital gear, I really enjoy using the older historical gear too. I like the finely crafted lenses, hand assembled precision cameras. I also like the sense of connection to photographers of long ago. Especially, I like the challenge of using this older gear! The look and feel of the gear is just as important to me as the results.

SO, what do you suggest? I'm thinking a Petzval from Dallmeyer or Darlot would probably work well for the "fast" lens, but what about a wider angle landscape lens? Lensboard is 3.75 inches wide, and distance from lensboard to GG is about 2 inches, maybe 2 & 1/16 inches. My plan is to simply bolt the lens onto the board, with the flange.


Kent in SD