Greg Lawhon
21-Nov-1999, 11:30
I've been using a 4x5 for about a year, with modern "fast" lenses, such as a 150 mm/f5.6 and 210mm/f5.6. I now would like to move up to 8x10, and have questions about lens speed.
I've read wonderful things here and elsewhere about the performance of Schneider G-Clarons, as well as the Nikkor-M 300mm/f9 (Ron Wisner, in particular, seems to recommend the G-Clarons for 8x10 f or focal lengths of 210mm on up). I've seen several Q&As about whether those f9 lenses are bright enough, but usually the commenters are answering the question with respect to the use of fairly long len ses on 4x5 cameras (such as 270-305mm focal length). They advise that those f9 lenses are brighter than expected because, as long lenses for 4x5, the rays of l ight are coming straight back and are from the center of the image circle.
Regardless of the reason that most 4x5 users find a 270-305mm/f9 lens bright eno ugh for 4x5, will they also be bright enough for 8x10? If that image circle is now spreading out to cover 8x10 instead of 4x5, I imagine that the outer portion s of the ground glass could experience fall off that wouldn't be an issue with a 4x5.
In short, given that I am accustomed to faster 4x5 lenses, will I be happy (or a djust to) using a Nikkor-M 300mm/f9 or Schneider G-Clarons in the normal focal l ength range for 8x10? And what about with moderate wide angles, such as 210mm a nd 240mm? I don't relish the thought of the weight and larger filters of the mu ch larger faster lenses, but I don't want to struggle with accurate focusing eit her (I tried a 75mm/f8 once on my 4x5, and I didn't like it very much).
I've read wonderful things here and elsewhere about the performance of Schneider G-Clarons, as well as the Nikkor-M 300mm/f9 (Ron Wisner, in particular, seems to recommend the G-Clarons for 8x10 f or focal lengths of 210mm on up). I've seen several Q&As about whether those f9 lenses are bright enough, but usually the commenters are answering the question with respect to the use of fairly long len ses on 4x5 cameras (such as 270-305mm focal length). They advise that those f9 lenses are brighter than expected because, as long lenses for 4x5, the rays of l ight are coming straight back and are from the center of the image circle.
Regardless of the reason that most 4x5 users find a 270-305mm/f9 lens bright eno ugh for 4x5, will they also be bright enough for 8x10? If that image circle is now spreading out to cover 8x10 instead of 4x5, I imagine that the outer portion s of the ground glass could experience fall off that wouldn't be an issue with a 4x5.
In short, given that I am accustomed to faster 4x5 lenses, will I be happy (or a djust to) using a Nikkor-M 300mm/f9 or Schneider G-Clarons in the normal focal l ength range for 8x10? And what about with moderate wide angles, such as 210mm a nd 240mm? I don't relish the thought of the weight and larger filters of the mu ch larger faster lenses, but I don't want to struggle with accurate focusing eit her (I tried a 75mm/f8 once on my 4x5, and I didn't like it very much).