I'll chime in with another vote for the Fujinon-C 300mm. It's a very comfortable focal length for my Shen Hao PTB 4x5 and a stellar lens, too boot. What more could I ask for?
I'll chime in with another vote for the Fujinon-C 300mm. It's a very comfortable focal length for my Shen Hao PTB 4x5 and a stellar lens, too boot. What more could I ask for?
A 300mm is too close to the 240mm considering what I want to be able to reach for next which is ideally a light 350-360mm or a 400-450mm at the longest. I think I might just wait until I can get a 450 or some other spendy lens at the end of the year, setting up in 4x5 has cost a fair bit, it really needs to pay for it self before any more growth happens.
For what it is worth, I shoot with a 65mm 4.5 Grandagon, 90mm 6.8 Caltar-N II, 135mm Apo Sironar 5.6, 180mm 5.6 Apo Symmar and the 240mm Fuji A 9.0.
Thanks for the answers, I will see some profit from this system and then re-visit the idea, I have plenty of glass to get me by at the moment.
Well, I have different taste in focal lengths. The 65mm, 90mm and 135mm are all approximately 1.5x apart in FL, which I personally prefer, but the 180mm and 240mm are significantly closer together. Have you considered selling the 180 and 240 to fund the purchase of say... a 200-210mm, 300-305mm and 450-460mm? Your full compliment of lenses would then be quite evenly spaced.
It's not really something I have time for since I need to get to work with this gear and I happen to love the spacing across the range, especially 135-180-240, those fields of view just feel perfect. I actually think a 450 C will be a great fit eventually, but at $800-$1,000, I will get it later this year or next year.Originally Posted by Old-N-Feeble
Fully understood... we all have our own personal preferences. I've seen a lot of fantastic images shot with the 450-C... just nothing I've done yet... but that's not the lens' fault.
Keep your eye out for one of the Dialytes- APO Ronar or RD APO Artar which is pretty much what the Fuji C is if I am not mistaken. They will be significantly less than the Fuji. My 300 Ronar was bought as cells for $60 and I put them in a Synchro Compur I had laying around. Great lens. A friend of mine has just about every focal length Artar. Obviously he loves them. I do too.
Patrick... Yes, the Fujinon-C series are dialytes but they're slightly asymmetrical and corrected for infinity whereas the Apo Ronar, Apo Artar, Apo Nikkor, etc. are process lenses optimized for 1:1 reproduction. From what I understand the Apo Ronars that were factory-mounted in shutters had their cell spacing modified for improved performance at infinity. From what I understand the Fujinon-C series are very sharp even wide open as is the Kodak 203mm Ektar dialyte.
The Apo Ronars over 300mm are in big shutters, therefore much heavier and with more
front end vibration at those long bellows extensions. I'd just go with the Fuji C. These are
infinity corrected. If you want something which is also good near macro, it would be Fuji A
or G-Claron, but the G's are in a 3 shutter once you get into 355 range, the Fuji is still in
a 1 shutter. The Fuji 360A and 450C are my most used 8x10 lenses, but they're also superb
performers on 4X5. But for slightly wider angle of view, I use either the 240A or 250G -
my idea of a "normal" 4x5 perspective or wide on 8X10.
Drew, that little 240 A is a rock star for sure, it seems to cover it all very well though, being known for great at infinity and exceptional at close range. I'll probably get a 450 C later....cause I just blew that allowance on 1,000 sheets of 4x5 TMY...:-)
Best lens depends on the theme. My Apo-Ronars has minimum apertures 180 and 260. That means huge depth of field. They donīt need any shutters cause of long times. The barrels are cheap, from 30€. 360mm and 480mm are useful, when photographing mountains, less on the farmland.
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