First lens for landscape & architecture with Shenhao 4x5

[Gem Singer]

Hello again Nghi,

The 135 APO Sironar-S is a fine lens for general photography with the 4X5 Shen Hao camera. When you stipulated an approximate $1000 budget limit, I thought the amount included the camera ($600). That only allowed $400-$500 for the lens.

Midwest has a new APO Sironar-S (approx $700). Badger does not have a used one. Call Jim (and only Jim), at Midwest (www.mpex.com). Also ask him about the newer Fuji 135 CM-W, or the older Fuji 135 W that he has in stock. They are fine lenses, at a lower price, and may fit your budget better. Thurs. is Jim's day off, so wait until Fri. or Sat. The call will be well worth your while.

[Graeme Hird]

Hi Nghi,

Many respondants have talked of ease of focusing as being really important. Well, yeah, it's kind of important, but if the resulting image is beautifully focused and still uninteresting, will you keep using the camera? Get the focal length which most suits your photographic style. To me, a 90mm lens in 5x4 has a similar feel to 24mm in 35mm format. Hire or borrow one for a few days.

Ralph's suggestion of a focusing frame is a brilliant one. Try it for a few days or weeks.

[kw]

I second the use of a composition card, it really helps me a lot.

[Stan. Laurenson-Batten]

If I were starting out the 150mm would be my choice. Nikon large format lenses are up with the established leaders. The 150mm is the most used focal length for general photography. For the type of photography you are interested in a medium wide angle is very useful as a second choice, but bear in mind the any distortion will be accentuated with any wide angle lens, the wider the angle the more distortion. But of course you may want to distort! Congratulation on your choices.

[Gregory Jones]

Having recently made the jump to 4x5 from 35, I'll second Ralph's opinion on the 90/f8. It's a great lens, but quite dim and not particularly easy for this beginner to focus. I just picked up a tiny little repro-claron 305 and am amazed how much brighter the GG image is. I'm sure I'll get tons of use out of the 90 for architecture, but it hasn't turned out to me an optimal learning lens for me.

[Ken Lee]

"mostly landscape with occasional foray into architectural photography"



Everyone has their own concept of "landscape" and "architectural". To some, landscape implies sweeping vistas, while others think of mountain tops. Architectural: indoors ? outdoors ? The whole building, or just details ?



Consider the lens you'd use in the 35mm world, and multiply by around 3 to get the 4x5 equivalent.