Best 90mm lens...

[Alessandro V.]

Hello!

Lately I have really felt the need for buying a 90mm lens (as it would be only my second lens) but, despite all my research online, it has not be easy to find some information.

I could not get much information, especially about the Schneider Super Angulon 90mm, which, I think, could be an option. I have seen that the SA 90mm comes in two variation f/8 and f/5,6: apart from the aperture and weight is there any other difference!? Will they both cover 8x10 too!? (I have a 4x5 but you never know...)
Personally I am looking for the sharpest lens possible and I don't care about it's weight.

Do you have any suggestions/advices!?

Thank you very much!

[E. von Hoegh]

The 90mm SA will not cover 8x10 in any iteration.
There is info available on the home page of this site about coverage and etc. of various lenses. Any modern lens you are likely to find will give more than adequate sharpness.

[Lachlan 717]

Here are 2 sites that you should check for the requested information:

http://www.ebonycamera.com/articles/lenses.html

http://www.hevanet.com/cperez/testing.html#

You'll find your answers in them.

[Alessandro V.]

Thank you!

But in the secon link how do I see the tests?
I only see a list of lenses...

Nobody has any suggestions?!
I am a bit lost, the more I look around the more lens I find but I can't find any information about the differences...

Thank you

[Bob Salomon - HP Marketing]

Assuming that you are looking for a 90mm lens for film and not for digital this link will give you the MTF, distortion, color curves for the Rodenstock lenses including the 90mm 4.5 Grandagon N and the 90mm 6.8 Grandagon N.

Current Schneider lenses are the 90mm 5.6 Super Angulon XL and the 90mm 6.8 Super Angulon. The 90mm f8 is no longer in their line.

[Ari]

Consider also the Nikkor f4.5; a worthy piece of glass at a competitive price.

[Leigh]

The full diagonal of an 8x10 film is about 325mm, so that's the minimum IC required for full coverage with no movements.

Of the four 90mm lenses in my database, the Super Angulon XL 90/5.6 has the largest image circle at 259mm.

The Fujinon SWD 90/5.6 is 236mm
The Nikkor SW 90/4.5 is 235mm (at f/16)
The Nikkor SW 90/8 is 235mm

All ICs are at f/22 unless otherwise noted.

The IC at viewing aperture (wide open) will be smaller. For example, the wide open IC for both Nikkors is 154mm, slightly smaller than 4x5 coverage.

HTH

- Leigh

[Brian Ellis]

I think the lack of responses is due to the fact that there is no "best" 90mm lens. Any used lens you buy from one of the "Big Four" (Schneider, Rodenstock, Fuji or Nikon) is going to be fine from an image quality standpoint as long as the lens and shutter are in good condition. If you're thinking of buying new then you can eliminate Nikon. Just buy whichever one seems to fit your needs best in terms of size, weight, shutter brand and condition if used, price, etc. All other things being equal, which they seldom are, a wider maximum aperture will be better because it will be easier to compose and focus.

This isn't something on which you need to spend days poring over MTF charts and stat sheets. Modern large format lenses from any of the Big Four are better lenses than most of us are photographers.

[Gem Singer]

The Rodenstock f4.5 Grandagon-N is hard to beat for speed, the size of the lens, and its image circle.

[Noah A]

As others have said I think any of the current 90mm lenses will offer good quality, though there may be subtle differences.

I use a Rodenstock f/4.5 Grandagon-N and it has lots of coverage and is very sharp. I don't use a 90 very often since I really prefer the 115/120 focal length, but when I need the wider view the Grandagon is a great lens.

The fast f/4.5 aperture makes it slightly brighter for composing, though for shooting it makes little difference since you probably won't shoot wide open with 4x5.

The faster lenses often offer more coverage than the slower ones, with some exceptions (like the Nikon 90/8). The faster lenses are big and somewhat heavy, though personally it doesn't bother me.

I got my 90 Grandagon on Ebay for well under half of the current street price of a new lens, so if size isn't a problem I'd say it is a good choice.