Moderate wide angle lens for 7x17"

[Doug Howk]

I wouldn't dare turn my Korona 7X17 on its side - the weight of lens would pull it apart. But I seem to prefer horizontal orientation in Florida.
My wide angle lens is a 265mm Ilex Kenro. My 19" Artar is close to normal for this format; but its use requires attaching an extension rail.

[John Powers]

I don't. My wimpitude is too intense for me even to contemplate it.

What I meant by "keying on the vertical dimension" is simply that I think of focal lengths for 7x17 in terms of their field of view relative to the narrow dimension of the format rather than the long dimension. On extremely elongated formats, FL's that are normal according to the conventional definition (diagonal of the format) render space in a way that feels very compressed to me. I prefer something that opens up the space a bit more.

That may explain my preference for the 10" Dagor, both on the 7x17 and the 8x10.
I hadn't thought of it that way. Thank you.

John

[Oren Grad]

That may explain my preference for the 10" Dagor, both on the 7x17 and the 8x10.

FWIW, my favorite focal length for 8x10 is 270 - just a bit on the wide side of normal.

[Jim Noel]

My favorite lens on 8x10 is 10 3/4" Dagor. I also use this on the 7x17 when I want to be slightly wider than my standard 12" Dagor which I feel gives me approximately the same horizontal angle of view as my eyes. I have had viewers make similar comments when looking at images. I also carry 14" and 19" for use on both cameras, but their use is somewhat rare.
My Davis & Sanford Floating Action tripod enables me to turn the Korona vertically with some comfort, especially in the studio where I can stabilize one leg with a sand bag. I mention the name of the camera because my friend has a different brand which does not have as stable a base.

Jim

[Tracy Storer]

I tend to think of panoramic formats in terms of the normal formats that fit WITHIN them, with the thinking that the idea is to add width to the scene you would normally be getting. So, in theory, for me, "normal" for 8x10 is "normal" for 8x20. That get's you the following correlations: 12x20/12x15, 8x20/8x10, 7x17/7x9, 4x10/4x5.
While 7x9 is a largely forgotten format, it WAS a format. The "normal" FL would be 11.5" so a moderate wide would be something in the 180-240mm range.
As others have posted, how wide is wide is a matter of taste and opinion, and YMMV.

[Keith Pitman]

Oren,

How do you use 7x17 in vertical format? I find turning the Phillips on a Ries a once a year adventure. Did you built a right angle frame such as Lotus offers on their site. If so I would be grateful to know how it is designed or built. If you simply turn the bellows as one does with a Ritter, I can't go there.

John

I made a right angle bracket for my panoramic format cameras (4x10 and 7x17) similar to the Lotus bracket from aluminum extrusions and other parts from an Ebay vendor 8020inc. They also sell through a website. It works pretty well, but, of course, the camera movements are 90-degrees screwed up.

[John Powers]

I made a right angle bracket for my panoramic format cameras (4x10 and 7x17) similar to the Lotus bracket from aluminum extrusions and other parts from an Ebay vendor 8020inc. They also sell through a website. It works pretty well, but, of course, the camera movements are 90-degrees screwed up.

Keith,

Thank you. I saw their ads several years ago and was thinking of going that route, but then forgot the name and address. Do you remember the parts list you used? Now that you have had some experience with it, would you change any of the parts you used?

Thank you,

John

[Keith Pitman]

Keith,

Thank you. I saw their ads several years ago and was thinking of going that route, but then forgot the name and address. Do you remember the parts list you used? Now that you have had some experience with it, would you change any of the parts you used?

Thank you,

John

I don't have a parts list, but I used some of the 8020inc extrusions that are 1" x 2", their gussets for the right angle, and a few specialty screws. I cut a 45-degree angle for the right angle and made my own end caps and 3/8-16 socket for the tripod mount. I used a standard 3/8-16 knob from Lowes for the camera attachment. Overall, it's pretty straight forward to make and works pretty well. I don't make many, but vertical panoramics are unique.

[Keith Pitman]

John, here's a couple of Ebay numbers:

370781328866 - is for the type of aluminum extrusion.


330858909335 - is for the gusset.

These are black, but I used silver which probably costs a little less.

8020inc sells a sells a special screw that fits the holes in the gussets as well as nuts that fit the T-slots in the extrusions.



Hope this helps.

[John Powers]

Keith,

Thank you very much. That certainly explains it and looks quite reasonable at least compared to the Lotus product. One last (I hope) question. If the hardware takes special screws and nuts to connect the pieces, how did you accept the tripod base mount screw on the bottom piece and the bolt into the camera base on the top? I use a 1950s Ries Tripod 3/8” x 16 mounting screw into a RH Phillips 7x17.

Thanks,

John