choosing the lense

[ric]

Hi

I'm a real newbie in the LF world.

You can see my introduction here

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=21642


I've just looked at
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/lenses/LF4x5in.html

and I've a "terrible" question for you...don't laugh please:D

How can I choose a lense which allow all the movements of the LF camera, which parameters have I to consider? thank you, ric

[matthew blais]

On the old Home page here
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/lenses4x5.html

[ric]

On the old Home page here
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/lenses4x5.html


thank you matthew


These are lenses for landscape pictures, and for architectural picture?

I'd like to know how I have to read this table

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/lenses/LF4x5in.html

and how I can understand which lenses cover all the movement of a specific LF camera (i.e. Gandolfi variant level1 4x5" camera) thank you again to everybody, ric

[Ralph Barker]

Ric, in addition to the lens article link Matthew provided, there's also a wealth of information in the other articles on the LF Home Page (http://www.largeformatphotography.info/) link at the top of the forum display.

In short, lens choice (IMHO) is a balance between focal length (how you "see" your subjects), the design characteristics of the lenses under consideration (image circle, maximum aperture, size, weight, "look", etc.), and cost. Although others, including myself, can give some insight based on our experience and preferences, it's your visual preferences that really count. That either takes study of the articles and prior lens-related threads here, or actual purchase experimentation.

[Ole Tjugen]

There are not really "lenses for landscape pictures, and lenses for architecture". There are some lnses that are mostly used for portraits, since they are a little "soft" and hide blemishes. The subjects tend to like that :)

For architecture, you tend to end up with your back up against one building trying to take a picture of another building right in front of your nose. You need a lot of movements for that, so a big image circle is important.

With landscapes you often (not always, certainly not around here) have a little more room, and don't need such extreme movements. A little tilt, maybe a hint of rise or fall, and that's it. Around here (and around Livorno, too, I think) you sometimes need a bit more, but most of the time you'll get away with using a 150mm Tessar-type lens on 4x5".

Most cameras have far more movements than you'll ever need, and a lot more than any reasonable lens will cover.

Fast lenses tend to be heavy, and have relatively small image circles. Wide-angle lenses tend to be very heavy and have huge image circles. Small lenses sometimes have good image circles, and are often light, cheap and sharp.

If you ask 50 photographers, you'll get 60 different recommendations. The Apo-Symmar you have is a good one, so I'll recommend sticking to that!
You may want a wider lens - around 90mm is good - and a longer one, for example a 210mm. Beyond that there's really no limit. Last time I was out with the 4x5" camera i brought a 65mm, two 90mm, a 121mm, two 150mm, a 165mm, a 210mm, a 240mm, a 300mm and a 355mm. I didn't use them all.

[Ron Marshall]

How did you find the 150mm that you mentioned in the other post?

Most LF lens kits are something like: 90mm 150mm 240mm or 90mm 135mm 210mm.

I have 110mm 150mm 210mm. A friend of mine has 90mm 120mm 150mm 240mm.

It is easy to resell a lens if you find that it doesn't suit you.

[Ernest Purdum]

If you send me youe mailing address, I will send you, without charge, a booklet on this subject.

Yes, I have noticed that you are in Livorno. (I lived in Grosseto for awhile, many years ago.)

[Lazybones]

To help you read the table, here's a few simplified definitions:

Maximum Aperture: Having a wider max aperture makes focusing a bit easier, but usually makes the lens a bit heavier and more expensive.

Minimum Aperture: Don't worry too much about this if you are using 4x5.

Image Circle: For 4x5, you want at least 150mm to cover the diagonal of the film. More/bigger image circle gives you more room for movements, free of vignetting.

Excess Coverage: Taken in considered with "Image Circle" and "Angle of coverage." This is where you can make your movements.

Max Rise Landscape: The amount of rise, or vertical movement of a standard, that a lens will cover without vignetting, with the ground-glass arranged horizontally.

Max Rise Portrait: The amount of rise, or vertical movement of a standard, that a lens will cover without vignetting, with the ground-glass arranged vertically.

Front Tilt Landscape: The amount of tilt, or angular movement of the front standard, that a lens will cover without vignetting, with the ground-glass arranged horizontally. Important for "Scheimpflug" focusing.

Front Tilt Portrait: The amount of tilt, or angular movement of the front standard, that a lens will cover without vignetting, with the ground-glass arranged vertically. Important for "Scheimpflug" focusing.

Equivalent to 35mm: Because of the differing aspect ratio between 4x5 and 35mm, this is just an approximation.

Angle of Coverage: This is the useable (high-quality) area of the image projected by the lens onto the film.

Shutter Size: In Copal: 0, 1, 3, from smallest to largest. This is the size hole you will need in a lens-board to mount the shutter/lens.

Center Filter: These counter the light fall-off due to the angle of wider lenses. Some feel that for 4x5 you will require one starting at 90mm, others don't worry about the fall-off.

[Capocheny]

Matthew,

I'd strongly recommend picking up a couple of good beginners books on LF photography to start off with. For example:

1. Steve Simmons book

2. Jim Sone's book

3. Jack Dykinga's book.

Cheers