Caltar 65mm f/4.5

[travmitz]

Hey, I'm new to the forum and relatively new to large format photography. Last July I bought my first view camera it came with two lenses a Caltar 210mm f/5.6 and a Caltar 65mm f/4.5. I mostly shoot portraits and table tops so I've been using my 210 lens non-stop.

I'm not really into landscapes or interiors so my 65mm lens is just sitting in its lens wrap. I've been trying to find more information on this lens but have found very little so I'm just curious as to if it is a good lens or not. I'm highly considering trading or selling the lens for a 135mm-150mm lens that I think I would use more but I just wanted to find out more about the 65mm before I got rid of it.

Does anyone have this lens or can anyone tell me something about it I don't know?

Thanks.

[Steve Goldstein]

Same as Rodenstock Grandagon-N I believe.

http://www.prograf.ru/rodenstock/largeformat_en.html

scroll down to the Grandagon-N table. Note the typo in the first line, it shows 55mm but should read 65mm.

[Ari]

You might find, later on, that you like exteriors, architecture, and such; in that case it would be a very handy lens to have.
135mm-150mm lenses are relatively inexpensive, and you could hold onto the 65 in the meantime while you explore different aspects of LF photography.