Lens selection for architectural photography.

[Guy R. Giersch]

I'm presently focusing my photographic interests in the direction of architectur al photography and I would like to know what lens would be recommended to be abl e to cover the basics? I'm finding taht my 210mm is usually too long and my 90m m doesn't fill the frame on my 4x5 when taking exterior views of a structure? A ny recommendations? since I'm a student it would be benificial to have a couple of choices. Thanks, Guy

[Ellis Vener]

A good inbetween would be a 120mm, 135mm or a 150mm lens, but you should check a nd be sure that the lens you are looking at has a large enough image circle to fully cover your negative when making a reasonably large lateral shift , rise/fall or diagonal (combo of r/f + shift) movement. a lot of people realy think the newish Schneider 110 mm f/5.6 XL Super Symmar is the way to go

[bob moulton]

The 90mm lens an be useful for architectural photography in many situations, but a wider lens, such as a 75mm or wider, also works fine. I have used 75s and presently th 72mmXL superangulon with nice results. I owned a schneider 75 and frankly would probably buy a nikkor were I do get a 75 again.Only schneider makes a lens as wide as the 72mm so I got it. I don't think I would recommend it if you are going to shoot color or use lots of filters. The front end is huge--95mm, there is no simple or inexpensive provision for attaching filters to the back end, and the filters are costly. Please note: I use a Wisner 4x5 which has a very tapered bellows; hence I cannot install the normal type of rear filter holders to the lens. If you are using almost any rail camera you could use filters.Other mfg make 65 mm lenses which are rather small with lots of coverage. You might contact Ron Wisner at the Wisner home page and query him. Ron knows a lot about older and smaller lenses which will cover up to 8x10 which would work well for your application.

[james norman]

i use a 135mm schneider for a large percentage of my architectural work. my 90mm sw nikkor accounts for a smaller, but also significant percentage. my 210mm nikkor is my telephoto for details, and is used surprisingly infrequently, though it is just as essential to have available when it is needed. i have never found the need for a 75mm for exterior work, though i have rented one on occasion for some interior work.

[fw]

The Nikkor SW120 f/8 is worth looking at ; an enormous image circle (covers 8x10), very sharp and good value secondhand.