Lens recommendations

[Casey Kidwell]

Having acquired a proper 4x5 enlarger, I'm shopping for a good used camera. Having owned a Toyo C 4x5 briefly and working with a Toyo G 8x10 in studio at work, I'm fairly comfortable on the camera side but woefully uneducated about lens/shutters. I'm looking for recommendations on reasonably affordable lenses to look for (used). Preferably around the 140mm range. Should I be looking for a more modern and less expensive lens or an older lens which might need work? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[Andrew]

least grief with a coated lens in a modern copal shutter
around the 150mm focal length there's lots of choices and many available for not too much money... I'd be less concerned about the specific brand

[jan labij]

Right now on that auction site, offered is a 6 1/2 inch Ilex Paragon in an Ilex shutter. An Ilex shutter is one of the better ones, and easy to fix. The man offering the lens and shutter is in england, which cuts down on the difficulty of finding it

[Gem Singer]

PM sent.

[Steve Barber]

What he said:

“least grief with a coated lens in a modern copal shutter”

150mm/f5.6 is normal for a 4x5 and they are plentiful. Anything multi-coated by one of the majors; Schneider (APO-Symmar or APO-Symmar L), Rodenstock (Sironar N or S), Nikon (Nikkor-W) or Fuji (Fujinon CM-W) in an all black (no chrome trim) Copal shutter. Worry more about condition and who you are buying it from and less about which manufacturer’s lens it is and make sure the flange ring and original lens caps are included.

Click on the tab for the LF Home Page, above, for lots of information if you have not already looked there or use this specific link for 4x5 lens information:

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/lenses/LF4x5in.html

[Casey Kidwell]

Thanks everyone. Modern it is. There are some amazing prices on the big name lenses. I was just curious to see if there were some older or less familiar lenses that I shouldn't discount out of hand. It's going to take me long enough to get used to the procedures again, I don't need to mess with lens issues.

[Ron Marshall]

Check used lens prices at KEH Camera Brokers and Midwest Photo.