I though I'd launch a thread about this lens, as it seems like a bargain, and could be of interest to others shooting 5x7" and 4x5".
I've only just paid for the lens on EBay, but will report back periodically once I've received it and started using it.
I particularly want to see how it performs on 5x7" , and will try to do a couple of test shots to illustrate centre and corner performance.
Although I have a few more modern lenses, I have been looking at this one and checking EBay for a while, because it seems particularly useful.
Its plus points are :
Lightweight for carrying/hiking, Seiko 0 shutter
Pretty cheap
Works as a wide on 5x7" ( 28mm equiv ) with a small amount of movement
Works as a wide-standard ( 38mm equiv ) on 4x5" with lots of movement
There are always a few of these on EBay, but most or all of them have problems ( fungus/haze) . This one seemed to be among the cleanest I'd found so far, the shutter looks lightly used, and it was less than $200 including postage.
Obviously there are later ones with Copal shutters, but the NW and the CM-W don't cover 5x7" (at least on paper they don't ).
Actually, there is one currently for sale of the earlier type that does have a Copal shutter , but there is a comment about 'slight haze in the lens' which made me avoid it.
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