ilex image circle

[Herb Cunningham]

I have an Ilex 6.5 inch f4.5 lens. I have done the searches I know how to do and cannot find a table showing the image circle from this lens. Anybody know that?

[Bob Fowler]

According to this chart:

http://www.bostick-sullivan.com/Alt_cameras/large%20format%20lenses.htm

An f/4.5 Ilex Paragon covers 53 degrees. It should have a circle of good definition of about 165mm. Don't expect a lot of movements!

Slower Tessar type lenses tend to have much better coverage angles than the faster versions. While I like Ilex Paragon lenses for certain things (and I own a few), they just don't work out well for situations that require a lot of movements.

Also, I should mention that the circle of illumination is very often much larger than the circle of good definition. If you can deal with a slight loss of sharpness, you can squeak out more movements (sky etc).

Hope this helps.