you average min. focal length 8x10 lens

[goamules]

I think the OP is asking because he's a camera builder, and needs to know how much an 8x10 camera should be able to compress for short wide angles. The widest and shortest are probably Zeiss or B&L Protar V and Wollensak Ex Wide Angles. If you go to the catalogs on Cameraeccentric, look at the tables for those lenses for the focal lengths they recommend for 8x10. That will be your minimum.

[neil poulsen]

My guess would be 250mm, on average. For example, the f6.7 Fuji or a 250mm Wide Field Ektar.

Below that, costs and/or weight start to climb.

I have the 250mm Fuji f6.7; it was quite reasonably priced. Someday, it would be nice to have the Super Symmar XL. Or, maybe the 210mm Angulon.

[Jim Andrada]

159mm Wollensak

[jeroldharter]

My wides are a 210 G-Claron which barely covers but is light; and a 210 Apo-Sironar-W which has good coverage but is beastly large.

[David A. Goldfarb]

My widest 8x10 lens is a 120mm Berthiot Perigraphe.

[Corran]

120mm f/8 Nikkor...

[T.G.]

Thanks all, I got a bit worried after talking with a buddy in CA about his WA lens he uses. My project, though mostly aimed at wet plate and dags will handle 210mm easily. Can handle less by tilting front standard back and adjusting lens board as someone mentioned earlier. I am a camera builder and am working on a modern wet plate camera that will look and act like a contemporary field camera. Just trying to make sure my min F.L. will handle at least some of the modern lenses. The really old brass ones (Petzvals & RR's) are what I am familiar with.

[Leonard Alecu]

150mm and 180mm Zeiss Dagor f9

[Daniel Stone]

Symmar Triple convertible 210mm(dagor clone)

covers 8x10 quite nicely

-Dan

[Andrew]

not sure whether this will be a serious design consideration to you but...
one of the things that makes an 8x10 camera interesting to me is that the large lensboards open more options for mounting old brass lenses than smaller boards like the technika boards, graflex boards or 4x4~ish wood boards. Some of the old brass optics I'd consider trying were really only designed for plates equivalent to 5x7 so I've tracked down an 8x10 to 5x7 reducing back.
If that was a common useage you might want to consider whether your design would accommodate even shorter focal lengths than would be usual for 8x10???

Q. are many people out there doing this or something like this?