wide lens for 5x7

[Martin Miksch]

I am looking for a wide lens for 5x7, I just know the super angulons 90 mm, what other lenses with this lenght will cover 5x7?
Thanks and kind Regards
Martin

[photographs42]

Here is a good guide. You need 208mm w/o movement.
Jerome

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/lenseslist.html
and another from this site
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/lenses/LF5x7in.xls
Jerome

[Kevin Crisp]

The Nikkor 90 mm f:8 version covers.

[Martin Miksch]

Thank you^^

[steve simmons]

What focal length do you want? The 90mm f5.6 lenses will cover with a little movement, there is the 110XL, any of the big 120/125 will cover, most 150's will cover, the 180s will cover.

steve simmons

[Don Hutton]

The widest new lens capable of covering 5x7 is the Schneider 72mmXL... there are a lot of options - I'd check the table on the homepage of this site.

[jnantz]

I am looking for a wide lens for 5x7, I just know the super angulons 90 mm, what other lenses with this lenght will cover 5x7?
Thanks and kind Regards
Martin

a wollensak 3 1/2" f12 exwa has been reported to cover a 5x7 sheet of film stopped down all the way. while i had one for a while, i never used it on my 5x7 .. so i can't really say for sure if it will ...

-john

[Ole Tjugen]

a wollensak 3 1/2" f12 exwa has been reported to cover a 5x7 sheet of film stopped down all the way. while i had one for a while, i never used it on my 5x7 .. so i can't really say for sure if it will ...

-john

That's "cover" as in the original Angulon brochures (1930's). They claimed the 90mm Angulon would cover 13x18cm (5x7") at small stops.

Decide for yourself - here's my test, shot on 13x18cm film (http://www.bruraholo.no/Cameras/Angulon/).

[Kirk Fry]

A 110mm Series V protar will cover nicely.

[Eric Woodbury]

The 72mm is a blast. Then the 110XL (which will cover 810 barely). Most 90s are a pain.

[Ted Harris]

For 'slightly'wide I find the 150 Apo Sironar W to be a superb preformer. Gives you a lot more movement than most of the other 150's out there without too great a sacrifie in size or weight.

[Joseph O'Neil]

Komura 90mm, F6.3 will cover 5x7 with some movements, possibly even 8x10 with no movements, stopped down to at least F22. I use one on my 4x5 monorail, and a ton of movements there.

joe

[Ron Marshall]

110 is very wide on 5x7, like an 80mm on 4x5.

A 150 is a moderate wide on 5x7, like a 110mm on 4x5.

A 180 on 5x7 is like a 130mm on 4x5, slightly wide.

[Ole Tjugen]

I use 90, 121 and 165mm lenses as "very wide", "wide" and "wideish" on 5x7". The 90 and 121mm are Super Angulon f:8's, the 165mm is a plain Angulon f:6.8.

If I need "ridiculously wide", I have a nearly prehistoric Perken Son & Rayment Portable Wide Angle "Optimus", 3¼" f:16. At f:64 it covers surprisingly well.

[Kerry L. Thalmann]

I am looking for a wide lens for 5x7, I just know the super angulons 90 mm, what other lenses with this lenght will cover 5x7?
Thanks and kind Regards
Martin

Martin,

90mm is really wide on 5x7 - about like a 65mm on 4x5. If that's what you want, all the current and recent "fast" (f4.5 and f5.6) 90mm lenses from the "Big 4" (Fuji, Nikon, Rodenstock and Schneider) will cover with some room for movements. I don't know what subject matter you shoot, or how much you need in the way of movements. If you require extensive movements, the 90mm f5.6 Super Angulon XL has the largest image circle (259mm) of any 90mm made. It's also on the expensive side, is quite large and takes big filters, including a big, expensive center filter. If your movement requirements are quite a bit more modest, the "slow" (f6.8 and f8) 90mm lenses from the same "Big 4" will all cover 5x7. However, other than the 90mm f8 Nikkor SW (235mm IC), movements will be very limited.

Personally, I prefer less exteme focal lengths. On 4x5, my ultrawide is an 80mm Super Symmar XL and my standard wide is a 110mm Super Symmar XL.


110 is very wide on 5x7, like an 80mm on 4x5.

A 150 is a moderate wide on 5x7, like a 110mm on 4x5.

So naturally, my 110mm XL serves double duty as my ultrawide on 5x7. And I use a 150mm as my standard wide on 5x7.


For 'slightly'wide I find the 150 Apo Sironar W to be a superb preformer. Gives you a lot more movement than most of the other 150's out there without too great a sacrifie in size or weight.

This is an excellent recommendation for a 150mm semi-wide lens for the 5x7 format. It has long been one of my favorites. However, there are a LOT of classic and modern choices in the 130mm - 165mm range that are capable of covering 5x7 with varying degrees of movements. It just so happens, Part 1 of an article on semi-wide lenses I wrote for View Camera magazine will appear in the upcoming Nov/Dec issue. This article covers 16 different lenses in this focal langth range capable of covering 80 - 100 degrees. All the lenses tested cover 5x7, many cover 4x10 and a few even cover 8x10.

Ironically, there isn't a single lens in this focal length range made today with between 80 and 100 degrees of coverage. The lack of current semi-wide lenses was my motivation for researching and writing this article. These days, it seems like our only choices are "standard" lenses with 70 - 75 degrees of coverage, or ultrawides with 105 - 120 degrees of coverage. As someone who prefers more moderate wide angles, lenses that are affordable and are small enough and light enough to carry in my pack when hiking and backpacking, I thought others would also be interested in this topic. Before the advent of modern ultrawide lenses (coverage >100 degrees), lenses in this coverage range were quite common. If you don't mind buying used, there are a surprising number of options to consider.

Kerry

[Kevin Crisp]

The 4 3/16" (almost 110mm) Wollensak ex. wide angle is marked a 5X7 lens. On 4X5 it is very sharp and covers with a fair amount of room for movement. Some I have used have focus shift, others do not. One I liked so much I had the late great Steve Grimes mount it in a Copal 1 even though it was somewhat scratched up. Some of these will not be sharp to the corners on 5X7 film. Those that can pull it off barely make it on the larger film will have zero room for movement. I don't think the even shorter versions of this lens will cover 5X7, as suggested above. The 150 g claron is small and light and covers 5X7 with considerable room for movement.

[jnantz]

That's "cover" as in the original Angulon brochures (1930's). They claimed the 90mm Angulon would cover 13x18cm (5x7") at small stops.

Decide for yourself - here's my test, shot on 13x18cm film (http://www.bruraholo.no/Cameras/Angulon/).



very nice lens test ole!

i wish i still had mine :(
only problem i had with it was
the strange little alphax shutter
it was mounted in - i can't remember
completely but i think it had 3 maybe 4 shutter speeds
and lacked a shutter release socket and a flash sync.
it was self cocking which was nice ...

-john

[Stephen Willard]

I have heard that the Schneider XL series lenses are very fuzzy and soft at the edges. I have read this from a number of different bulletin boards, but I cannot tell which ones. So caution should be exercised when purchasing one of these lenses. Tests at the center and outer edges of the lens should be checked with a warranty that the lens could be returned if it does not measure up.

[Ron Marshall]

Here is a link to resolution tests of many LF lenses.

Note that sometimes there is a greater difference between samples of the same lens, than between different lenses of the same focal length.

http://www.hevanet.com/cperez/testing.html

[Eric Leppanen]

I have heard that the Schneider XL series lenses are very fuzzy and soft at the edges.I own the entire stable of SSXL lenses (80mm through 210mm), and have found their edge sharpness to be excellent for their intended formats. The SSXL's provide the best weight-to-performance ratio of any wide-angle design available today IMHO, and have been used by many prominent photographers. I think the reported problems have been for individual samples or an occasional bad production run (e.g., the first batch of SS80XL's built were soft when wide open, etc.), rather than a generic design limitation. That being said, from a theoretical design perspective edge sharpness (and size and weight) tends to improve as image circle decreases, so ideally one should use lenses with image circles no larger than necessary for their intended format. And one should always reserve the right to return a newly purchased lens if it does not test to your satisfaction.

As Kerry mentions, the issue with the 150mm focal length is that there are no modern lenses with an image circle size ideally suited for many 5x7 shooters. The APO Sironar-W (arguably the best choice among "standard" moderns lenses, albeit one that is discontinued and hard to come by) is a bit tight in terms of 5x7 coverage, and the SS150XL (a wide angle design intended for the 8x10 format) is overkill. There is no modern lens available with around 85 degrees of coverage, which IMO would be ideal for 5x7. So one has to compromise (or wait to read Kerry's article!).

[sanking]

I am looking for a wide lens for 5x7, I just know the super angulons 90 mm, what other lenses with this lenght will cover 5x7?
Thanks and kind Regards
Martin

The 105mm Fujinon SWD covers 5X7 with a lot of movements and is about as wide as I like to go in this format. I have a 90mm Nikkor and it also covers nicely, but with limited movements

The 110 SSXL is also a great lens for 5X7, albeit a lot more expensive than the Nikkor 90mm and 105 Fujinon SWD.

Sandy

[Scott Davis]

If you can get your hands on one, the 4 3/8" f8 WA Dagor by Goerz American is a fantastic little lens in your focal length range that will cover 5x7 with modest movement. It is also a tiny little lens, the shutter weighs far more than the lens itself.

As mentioned before, for lenses that are in the wide-to-super-wide range for 5x7, the F6.8 versions of most manufacturers' lenses will cover with at least a little bit of movement. I have a 75mm F6.8 Rodenstock Grandagon that will cover 5x7 with essentially no movement, but it will cover. The 90 f6.8 covers with a little. I took the 90 with me to Argentina, and I think I used it twice. The WA Dagor got far more use, and my 210 and 250 saw the most usage.