5X7 Hobo Lens options

[Michael Moore]

I've just bought a used Hobo 5X7 and am looking for a lens. Most of what I've been reading seems to favor a 90mm. Can longer lenses be used? I'm considering a 150mm for general use and some possible portrait work. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Gem Singer]

Michael,

A 90 is quite wide for 5X7. Look for a Nkon/Nikkor f8 120SW, instead.

The 120 is equivalent to a 90 on 4X5, and it has a huge image circle.

There's also a Fuji 125 SW, but used ones are difficult to locate.

Check with KEH. They have a huge selection of previously owned lenses.

[Phil Hudson]

I looked into the possibility of a longer lens for my Hobo 8x10. The real issue I came up against was how useable a longer lens would be for shooting hand-held. Finding the right balance of reasonably accurate framing, good depth of field, minimal bulk, etc, led me to go with wider lenses. In many ways this camera doesn't make sense stuck on a tripod.

[Steve Goldstein]

In addition to the 120 Nikkor-SW, don't forget the 120mm and 121mm Super-Angulons...

[GPS]

I looked into the possibility of a longer lens for my Hobo 8x10. The real issue I came up against was how useable a longer lens would be for shooting hand-held. Finding the right balance of reasonably accurate framing, good depth of field, minimal bulk, etc, led me to go with wider lenses. In many ways this camera doesn't make sense stuck on a tripod.

A good point, Phil. Indeed, 5x7 and 8x10 handhold cameras are specialty cameras for use with wider lenses with 8-11 aperture size used for handheld photography. More than that and you have problems with camera shake. Although there are those who claim that because of the big format and lesser need for enlargement you can allow some camera shake I think it's more a consolation than anything else. These cameras do extremely well for meteorological photography though...

[Kirk Gittings]

I moved this thread to Lens and Accessories. Feedback is for "Questions and answers about the LF Photography Home Page and Forum".

[Larry Gebhardt]

I had a 5x7 Hobo I bought to get the 90mm lens it came with. Given the viewfinder, a longer lens would not have worked well on mine. The thing I liked most about the Hobo was it truly was point and shoot. I thought about putting a longer lens on, but then framing became an issue. Eventually I just sold the thing (minus the lens) as I wasn't using it much.

For traditional portraiture a different camera would be my recommendation.