210mm or 240mm can't I just crop the difference?

[riooso]

I need to get another lens. I have 4x5 with a 90mm,150mm and would like a 210mm or 240mm. I love the Fuji 240-A but they are a lot more than a 210M Schneider S used. I am starting to think that it is better to get a 210mm and just crop to the 230mm using my $500.00 CS2 program. I made the 4x5 frame with the string attached and the difference between 210 and 240 is small. Is'nt that why I got into 4x5, to give me some latitude to work with the slide? I would appreciate some thoughts on this.

Thanks,
Richard Adams

[Jim Rice]

I had a 210 Sironar-N MC that was just lovely. They're going for pretty cheap these days, too.

[Sheldon N]

Yes, you can certainly crop the 210mm to a 240mm without much loss of quality at reasonable print sizes. I crop my Fuji 240mm A to 300mm+ quite often, since I don't have a lens any longer than the 240mm.

The main reason people love the Fuji 240mm is because it's small and light, in addition to being a great performer. If you can't afford the 240mm or don't care too much about the weight there's not a huge disadvantage to going with a 210mm plasmat.

That all being said, I do happen to know where you can get a single coated Fuji 240mm A for $399. I've sent you a PM so you can follow up if you're interested.

[riooso]

Thanks a lot.
Richard Adams

[neil poulsen]

A 210mm and 240mm are spaced pretty close. How about a 180mm and a Fuji 250 f6.7 (single coated) or f6.3? The 250's are light weight lenses and are both housed in a Copal 1 shutter. The distance between a 150 and a 250 is a little large for my taste. My lenses include 150, 180, 250, and 355. (At 355, I run out of bellows.)

The 240mm A's are pricey lenses. One could probably find a good 180mm and one of the Fuji 250's for not too much more.

[naturephoto1]

If you don't need the coverage, you could consider a Rodenstock f 9 240mm Apo Ronar. Preferably get a multicoated version. I was fortunate to win a multicoated one earlier in the year on eBay for a little over $400 in mint condition. These are very very sharp process lenses which should be used optimally at f22; but if needed f32 should also be extremely good. The Apo Ronars in Shutter (usually Copal 1) are not optimized for 1:1 and produce extremely fine performance from close-up to infinity.

Rich

[Frank Petronio]

The Fuji 240/9 is 1.5 stops slower which might make a difference, and the Fuji's prices are rather high -- 2-2.5X that of a nice 210. A modern 210 in a recent shutter is probably the best "bang for the buck" in LF.

[naturephoto1]

The Fuji 240mm A lens and the Apo Ronar 240mm lenses should be smaller and lighter than a modern 210mm Plasmat. The Fuji is in a #0 shutter and uses 52mm filters. The Apo Ronar which is in a #1 shutter uses 49mm filters. The modern 210mm Plasmats use #1 shutters and normally somewhere between 67 and 77mm filters.

Rich

[Ken Lee]

This all depends on your shooting style. If you like longer lenses, then 210 won't be enough of a boost from 150.

90-150-250 is a consistent ratio, where each lens is 5/3 of the previous length - so even a 240 is a bit short in that sense.

You can certainly crop a 210, but cropping a 240 or 250 will bring you even further along.

The almost unanimous high regard for the 240 Fujinon A is well deserved. It's my favorite lens, and I shoot most of my images with it. If you get one, you won't be disappointed. The same can be said of all the A series. I have posted some info about them, and some sample images here (http://www.kenleegallery.com/html/tech/tech.html) towards the middle of the page.

[Ron Marshall]

My original lens kit was 110, 180, 300. The more I shot the more I found that most of my compositions were in the 150 to 210 range, but having only one lens in that range was too restrictive. Many times the 180 was either a bit too short or a bit too long and in situations where I couldn't simply move the tripod, so I decided to switch the 180 for a 150 and a 210.

It really depends on what you like to shoot. 210 and 240 are close. The gap between 150 and 210 works well for me, because I have a 300. If that lens was to be my longest I would definately go with the 240.

[Brian Vuillemenot]

My recommendation, since you allready have the 90 and 150, would be to get a 210 and a 300. The 150, 210, and 300 are my three most frequently used lenses, and I find them far enough apart to get a lot of different compositions. You can buy very high quality 210 and 300 lenses for a relatively small sum, and there are many to choose from on the used market.

[Donald Miller]

I have found that 90-120-210-305 is a progression that works well for me on 4X5. For 5X7 I use 90-180-305-450

[walter23]

I had a 210 Sironar-N MC that was just lovely. They're going for pretty cheap these days, too.

If you get the caltar version it's even cheaper. I got mine for $210; fantastic lens!

[Leonard Evens]

210/240 = 7/8 = 0.875. So, other things being equal, you should be able to enlarge that much less for equivalent results. If you always push your enlargement or digital enhancement to the highest possible degree, and examine the results from close-up, you would notice the difference, but otherwise, you probably wouldn't.

[riooso]

Thanks a lot all! I just bought the Fuji 240-A new from Badger. The price on the web almost reaches a new lens. I backpack so this will be a good addition and what the heck I have never had a new lens before.

Thanks for all the help,
Richard Adams

[Sheldon N]

Glad to hear you made the leap. I'm sure you'll be very pleased with your new lens.