Lens Help

[KITESWJS]

Hello, I have a very beginner question, I am very new to LF photography, I have never pushed a shutter release to expose film, now with that said I am in the market for a lens for my Zone VI camera. I can not make heads or tails as to what the difference is in all of the different lens I look at on eBay, like This Nikon 210 mm 5.6 Nikkor - W lens it seems priced right in my budget but what does the W stand for and how does this lens compared to lets say Schneider Symmar-S Multicoated 210mm f5.6 Large Format Lens or the RODENSTOCK SIRONAR lens are any of them better than the other or will they all suit my needs.
Thank you
Bill Slater

[Sheldon N]

You are on the right track.

Look for any of the following types of lenses - Nikkor W, Schneider Symmar-S Multicoating, Fujinon W (writing on the outside of lens barrel), or Rodenstock APO Sironar N (aka Sironar N, or Caltar II-N). Also try to get one in an all black copal shutter, since that usually indicates that it is a newer model. These will all be very sharp, very functional lenses and will be a good match for your Zone VI.

The 210mm focal length is just slightly longer than "normal" for the 4x5 format. Imagine it as roughly a 55-60mm lens for a 35mm camera. It will come in a Copal 1 sized shutter, which is slightly larger than the Copal 0 size shutter.

A good alternative to the 210mm lens would be a 150mm lens, which is roughly the equivalent of a 40-45mm lens on a 35mm camera. A 150mm or a 135mm lens is typically a more useful general purpose landscape lens than the 210mm, though all are useful. The smaller lenses have less coverage, but that shouldn't be a concern for normal shooting conditions. Again, the same brand choices apply.

You should be able to pick one of these up for under $300 with a little searching on ebay. You can also buy used from KEH, pay about $50-75 more, but have the confidence that you are dealing with a reputable retailer.

Hope this helps!

[Nick_3536]

like This Nikon 210 mm 5.6 Nikkor - W lens it seems priced right in my budget but what does the W stand for and how does this lens compared to lets say Schneider Symmar-S Multicoated 210mm f5.6 Large Format Lens or the RODENSTOCK SIRONAR lens are any of them better than the other or will they all suit my needs.
Thank you
Bill Slater

The W is the line name. Funny thing is Fuji also uses W for their main lens line. SW lenses are wides for both Nikon and Fuji.

Schneider OTOH calls their line the Symmar.

[steve simmons]

Since you are new to lage format may I suggest some reading

any/all of the artiles in the Free Articles section of the View Camera web site

www.viewcamera.com

one of these books

Large Format Nature Photography by Jack Dykinga

Using the View Camera that I wrote

User;s Guide to the View Camera by Jim Stone


check your local library

You might also check back articles, etc. on this site


steve simmons
publisher, view camera magazine

[John Kasaian]

Nikkors are fine lenses. 210mm is a great basic focal length to start with for general landscape & portraits. A less costly (well, cheap since excelent examples under $200 can be found) but high quality lens to consider is the 203mm f/7.7 Ektar.

[MIke Sherck]

Large format cameras and lenses have been around for more than a century now, and there have been a *lot* of products produced! Imagine if you were buying your first car and knew nothing about them -- is Ford a model or a manufacturer? What about Impala? Is a "minivan" larger or smaller than an "SUV" and which one holds more people? It would be terminally confusing.

On this site are overviews of most aspects of large format photography -- cameras, lenses, accessories -- the comparison charts on old and new lenses in particular will help you understand the range of lenses and start getting you familiar with some of the commonly seen manufacturers and models. Just remember that large format lenses are all single focal length lenses (no zooms for large format!) and usually of longer focal length than smaller cameras (for example, for your 4x5 camera a 150mm lens is considered "normal" in that its perspective is similar to that of a 50mm lens on a 35mm camera.) Large format cameras don't have shutters in the cameras (with a couple of exceptions you don't really need to care about at the moment,) so each lens has its own shutter. A lens without a shutter is said to be a "barrel" lens or "in barrel" and, with your camera and level of experience, you probably should ignore and avoid them.

Good luck and feel free to ask questions. There's also a search function here, so once you start to get a feel for the terminology that will be helpful also.

Mike

[Ernest Purdum]

If you send me your mailing address, I will send you a booklet on lens choice - no charge.