Macro sironar 210 will cover 11x14?

[Renee Galang]

Hello folks,
I am seriously considering purchasing a cambo monorail 8x10 with 11x14 back. I know for sure that my rodenstock 210 macro sironar will cover 8x10 but would it cover the 11x14 aswell? Thanks

[Jim Galli]

Sure. When you get the bellows extended somewhere around 12" for a close up, it'll cover.

[Renee Galang]

Geez, its sold then! Ultra large format here I come......

[Dan Fromm]

Um, Renee, were you asking about coverage close-up or at distance?

[Renee Galang]

Hello Dan,
Close-up generally, certainly not at infinity. What do you think? Would it certainly cover 11x14 say 1:1 or near enough?

[Oren Grad]

Renee, the image circle is specified as 525mm at 1:1. That's ample for 11x14.

[Dan Fromm]

Renee, Oren nailed it. I just wasn't sure what you had in mind.

[Renee Galang]

Thanks Oren, and Dan. Where did you get that data Oren? My google searching only tells me what the coverage at infinity which is not appropriate for a macro lens.

[Oren Grad]

Renee, it came from a Rodenstock brochure.

Not sure what you've found via Google, but the listings that I've seen floating around on the web are generally just compilations of manufacturers' specifications, which usually characterize the image circles for macro lenses at 1:1, and not at infinity. That's certainly true of the Rodenstock and Schneider literature I have on hand.

[Ernest Purdum]

I like to visualize light "spraying" out from the lens like paint from a nozzle. The further away the nozzle is from the surface its pointed at, the bigger the circle of light will be. Since 1:1 is realized at two focal lengths from the film, the circle diameter will be twice that at infinity setting (one focal length).

There could be minor discrepancies in circle of sharp definition (as distinct from illumination circle) because of lenses being better corrected for one distance or the other, but these should be trivial.

[Renee Galang]

Thanks Oren, well your source is from the "horse's mouth" so I will trust it! Ernest, I follow your line of thinking and I am cetainly looking forward to make some 1:1 with this lens on 11x14 with the new t-max400 that will become available mid-year.

[Oren Grad]

OK, I just went to double-check the grand-daddy of all web listings, the one compiled by Michael Gudzinowicz and posted at graflex.org.

That listing is not complete with respect to modern macro lenses, though some of the ones currently on the market may have been introduced since the list was compiled. Also, the accuracy of the specifications provided is questionable. In some cases the arithmetic has been done to convert from the 1:1 spec to the infinity spec (e.g. 210 Macro Sironar, sort of - the number is close but not exact). In others the listed number bears no relationship to the manufacturer's specification for either 1:1 or infinity (e.g., 210 Macro Sinaron and 180 Macro Symmar HM; for the latter, the number listed is actually the correct one for the same manufacturer's 120 macro). Since he lists the sources for these numbers, either there were transcription errors or the original sources were in error.

Oh well... looks like you were wise to ask!

[Dan Fromm]

Renee, if you know the circle covered at infinity, you know the circle covered at 1:1. By a similar triangles argument, the diameter at 1:1 is twice the diameter at infinity.

Cheers,