thafred
5-May-2009, 10:03
Hi all!
Iīm reading LFF and photographing with 4x5 for over a year now (doing well thanks to all the knowledge on this forum!) and want to finaly change from my Speed Graphics to a real Field Camera. Iīve started photographing city-szenes and landscapes with my Graflex and begin to feel limited with the movements (they are a joy for portraits and street photography thou)
Last week I had the chance to play with the Shen Hao PTB 45 from Arthur Fleischmann (also a member here) and was very pleased with the camera (lots of movements, surprisingly light and stable!) so I think the Chamonix or her Chinese clone will be on my shopping list soon.
I donīt have a wideangle lens with huge IC (I have a old Angulon 90 6.8) so Iīm thinking of adding that (a 90mm Grandagon or Nikkor) to my lenses.
A friend of mine is visiting from the US and could bring a lens or two from KEH which would be very neat since the prices are almost half of what the lenses cost here in Austria (or germany).
My plan is to use the 90 in combination with my 135 Symmar-S or even get an APO Sironar-N 135 (Caltar) together with the 90 Grandagon to have a match for Slide film and also that I can leave the Symmar on the SG (RF calibrated for the 135)
I saw a Grandagon 115 for sale too and the lens really got me interested. When shooting with other formats I enjoy having only one FL since it helps me to focus, so I like the idea of doing that with LF too. I couldnīt find much about the lens on the web other than it is heavy and that it has a huge image circle (I suppose all the movements the Chamonix can do the lens could).
Iīm thinking that the wider angle of view compared to my 135mm would be a nice thing to have and that the large IC would be thrilling (the 190mm of the symmar are enough on the SG but on the field camara..). Downside is the weight and the size but I guess the other two lenses would take up the same space in the bag and weight roughly the same too. My only doubt is if the Chamonix 45 even supports a 740g lens like the 115 grandagon.
Would you swap a 135/90 combination for a single 115mm lens or do you think the IC of the grandagon is completely wasted on the Chamonix anyway and I should hang onto the 135/90 set? Would the Grandagon crush the Chamīs front standard?
I am contemplating for a week now but should make a fast decision so I would be very grateful for your opinions on this.
Thanks for your help!
Fred
Iīm reading LFF and photographing with 4x5 for over a year now (doing well thanks to all the knowledge on this forum!) and want to finaly change from my Speed Graphics to a real Field Camera. Iīve started photographing city-szenes and landscapes with my Graflex and begin to feel limited with the movements (they are a joy for portraits and street photography thou)
Last week I had the chance to play with the Shen Hao PTB 45 from Arthur Fleischmann (also a member here) and was very pleased with the camera (lots of movements, surprisingly light and stable!) so I think the Chamonix or her Chinese clone will be on my shopping list soon.
I donīt have a wideangle lens with huge IC (I have a old Angulon 90 6.8) so Iīm thinking of adding that (a 90mm Grandagon or Nikkor) to my lenses.
A friend of mine is visiting from the US and could bring a lens or two from KEH which would be very neat since the prices are almost half of what the lenses cost here in Austria (or germany).
My plan is to use the 90 in combination with my 135 Symmar-S or even get an APO Sironar-N 135 (Caltar) together with the 90 Grandagon to have a match for Slide film and also that I can leave the Symmar on the SG (RF calibrated for the 135)
I saw a Grandagon 115 for sale too and the lens really got me interested. When shooting with other formats I enjoy having only one FL since it helps me to focus, so I like the idea of doing that with LF too. I couldnīt find much about the lens on the web other than it is heavy and that it has a huge image circle (I suppose all the movements the Chamonix can do the lens could).
Iīm thinking that the wider angle of view compared to my 135mm would be a nice thing to have and that the large IC would be thrilling (the 190mm of the symmar are enough on the SG but on the field camara..). Downside is the weight and the size but I guess the other two lenses would take up the same space in the bag and weight roughly the same too. My only doubt is if the Chamonix 45 even supports a 740g lens like the 115 grandagon.
Would you swap a 135/90 combination for a single 115mm lens or do you think the IC of the grandagon is completely wasted on the Chamonix anyway and I should hang onto the 135/90 set? Would the Grandagon crush the Chamīs front standard?
I am contemplating for a week now but should make a fast decision so I would be very grateful for your opinions on this.
Thanks for your help!
Fred