Wide Angle Lens

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I am after a wide angle Lens, currently my widest is Schneider 110XL, very happy with it, however I am after something wider for landscape to complement the 110 XL

What is your thoughts, considering focal length of 90, 80, 75 or 72.

Which one and why?

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I am after a wide angle Lens, currently my widest is Schneider 110XL, very happy with it, however I am after something wider for landscape to complement the 110 XL

What is your thoughts, considering focal length of 90, 80, 75 or 72.

Which one and why?

By the way this is for a 5x4 format, and occassionally 6x12 roll film.

[Ron Marshall]

80 is a good spacing from 110, and it is light and has good coverage. 72 permits more movement, but unless doing architecture it probably won't be needed.

[Bob Salomon]

You should rent some from a dealer and see which focal length works best for you. No one here can tell you what will work best for your needs and shooting style.

[willwilson]

Rodenstock 75mm Grandagon f4.5 or the 80mm XL, if you can afford it. The extra coverage and extra stop is worth the small amount of extra weight compared with the other 75mm/80mm, like the 75mm Super-Angulon. It also takes 67mm filters like the 110mm XL.

90mm is an overrated focal length in my opinion.

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You should rent some from a dealer and see which focal length works best for you. No one here can tell you what will work best for your needs and shooting style.

Hi Bob

very true, would would like to see what others think and if they could share their experience.

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

The 75 mm works fine for me in 6x12
It is like putting two standard 6x6 images side by side.
And in 6x12 you do not need that much of coverage and you can go for the (discontinued) 75mm 6.8 grandagon-N
A superb lens at a very affordable price, light weight, filters are smaller ad cheaper and the lens is easy to find as a second hand item.

[Eric Woodbury]

I have the 72XL, but don't use it much on 4x5. Love it for 5x7. I have the 58XL for 4x5. That is very wide and not on your list, but if it is too wide you can always crop the negative to whatever you want.

[Hany Aziz]

I am after a wide angle Lens, currently my widest is Schneider 110XL, very happy with it, however I am after something wider for landscape to complement the 110 XL

What is your thoughts, considering focal length of 90, 80, 75 or 72.

Which one and why?

A Rodenstock 75mm f6.8 is quite reasonably priced if you can find one. 80 would be fine (I don't own one) if you can afford it. 90 is for me plenty wide and 90 mm f6.8 and f8 lenses are plentiful and quite reasonably priced. I actually would tend to use 90 mm more than 75 mm but that is mainly on 4x5. 75 is very wide on 4x5 (too wide???). If you do a lot with roll film then your needs may be different.

Sincerely,

Hany.

[womble]

I don't want to poach the OP's thread but my question is so similar it seems churlish to start a new one. I am just starting out in LF photography and have purchased a Horseman LE 5x4. My intention initially is to photograph church architecture. The last thing I need to get started is a wide angle lens and have been looking at getting a 90mm lens. Is this a good length for this type of photography? Any recommendations on make/model? Any to avoid at all costs?

Just for information, I have mainly been shooting 35mm and digital for quite some time and this is my first venture beyond medium format.

Many thanks, Kris (and apologies to the OP).

[Ole Tjugen]

For "church architecture! I would imagine you need something really wide, but also something with lots of coverage.

That rules out 47 and 58mm, since the best ones in that range only just cover.

A 72 or 75mm will be slightly less superwide, but have plenty of coverage.

I don't use a 80mm (unless you count an antique 3 1/4" WA Rectilinear), so I won't comment on that.

Modern-ish 90mm lenses (the wasp-waist types) have lots of coverage, but may not be wide enough for your use.

I mostly stick to landscapes, and use everything from 47mm to 420mm...

[hmf]

Nikkor 90mm f/8 is a great combination of excellent sharpness, light weight and good coverage, but it will be significantly dimmer than the much larger f/4.5 versions. For a much wider lens, I felt 75mm was too close to the 90, and so went with a Rodenstock 65mm, which still has reasonable coverage for 4X5.

[Bruce Watson]

I am after a wide angle Lens, currently my widest is Schneider 110XL, very happy with it, however I am after something wider for landscape to complement the 110 XL

What is your thoughts, considering focal length of 90, 80, 75 or 72.

Which one and why?

I faced this exact same question a couple of years ago. My first lens was the 110 SS-XL. When I finally got around to looking for a shorter lens a number of years later I found the 110mm's smaller version 80mm to be an ideal fit. It has a surprising amount of coverage allowing a nice range of movements (but nothing like its big brother). It's light weight. And my copy is exceedingly sharp even wide open. Unexpectedly I find that I don't need a center filter with it either.

I've had the 80mm SS-XL for three or four years now. It's been an outstanding lens for me.

[Michael Graves]

Whatever you get, don't underestimate the value of image circle. Nothing sucks worse than having to point a wide angle lens straight at something because you don't have the coverage for even the smallest adjustment. Control of converging vertical lines is severely impacted.

[jnantz]

i don't own an 110 ... the 72 seems like a nice leap from 110.
i have a 90, and i use a 65 (maybe it is around the same leap ? )
i use it all the time on a 4x5, usually for shooting architectural-stuff
in the environment. don't forget to get a center filter if you get a wide lens
it will help illuminate your film evenly. they cost a fortune, so be prepared ..

[timparkin]

Can't recommend but can say that I have the 80mm and am happy but it's darkish in the corners, even with a good (maxwell) fresnel. I know that the super angulon design uses 'tricks' to get the light fall of to be more acceptable so a 72 might be equal to an 80 in light fall off.. I have used a wide angle fresnel with the 80 (standard ebony WA fresnel) and there was no light fall off at all with this.. The 80mm XL is very, very light too. If I was to buy again, I would want to try out some different lenses, probably only as wide as 72 as 80mm is plenty wide for most 4x5 uses.

[Blumine]

Seriously look at the 72mm XL. Its one of my three most used lenses. You will be hard pressed to run out of image circle with it on and unless you are doing extreme movements you won't need a Centre Filter. I tried the 80mm and found I needed the CF and my copy wasnt very sharp.

Blumine

[John Alexander Dow]

I have an 80mm XL and photograph churches! and I do run out of image circle. The best you can do is the 72mm XL which has the largest angle of view (image circle relative to focal length) of almost any lens I know.

It is a bigger lens than the 80mm but if you need it you need it.

[BennehBoy]

It might be worth saying what camera you're using, I've read that some lenses won't physically mount on some cameras....

[Bjorn Nilsson]

If size matters, the 80mm XL is much better than the 72mm XL. The 80 is much smaller and lighter. The 80mm does illuminate a 5x7" neg without mechanical vignetting but with lots of light fall-off in the corners. (Which is to be expected, as it's not supposed to really cover.)
The pros of the 72 is that it has a slightly larger IC (229mm vs. 211 for the 80mm) plus that it is 10% shorter in focal length. The cons is its huge size and weight of 520g and a filter size of 95mm (compared to the really compact 80mm which weighs in at 270g).
The 80mm will also share the same filters as the 110. (If you ever plan to use a center filter, this is an important issue.)
I found the 80mm to be a very good companion to my 110mm.

//Björn

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It might be worth saying what camera you're using, I've read that some lenses won't physically mount on some cameras....


Hi - using Arca Swiss 5x4 with 110 front.

I am aware that the 90 XL will not fit into a technica type lens board, however I think it just fits into an arca. However a decison has been made for the 72XL.

In terms of initial cost, both cost about the same, and both will require CF with extreme movements, however the 72Xl will require might not require a CF as it has a larger IC and is 10mm wider, and potentailly less movements required. the down side is the extra weight and size. I think the 72XL will be more future proof.

I appreciate the feedback that the 80Xl and 110Xl share the same CF, but I don't think I will ever require a CF with the 110XL, large IC for a 5x4.

DOes anybody use a CF with 110xl and under what circumsatnces also this applies to the 72XL..

110XL is on order and will arrive for the weekend.

[neil poulsen]

90mm is the most used 4x5 architectural lens. If shooting architecture, I wouldn't be without this lens.

I think 90mm is a decent spacing down from 110mm. But, I don't like a spacing between lenses that's too wide.

[Bob Salomon]

I am aware that the 90 XL will not fit into a technica type lens board,

Not quite.

A 90xl fits a Technika 45 lensboard with no problem at all. The rear element will not fit the hole in the camera body unless the rear ring on the lens is removed. But it fits on the board with no problem.

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Not quite.

A 90xl fits a Technika 45 lensboard with no problem at all. The rear element will not fit the hole in the camera body unless the rear ring on the lens is removed. But it fits on the board with no problem.

Hi Bob apologies - meant with the rear ring on, however you did elaborate how to do this, however this requires extreme care.