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Shutter
4-May-2011, 14:51
I'm trying to decide which lens would suit my (hopefully soon arriving) Wehman for landscape photography...

I'm stuck between the Fujinon W 210mm 5.6 and the Schneider G-Claron 240mm 9.0, the price is nearly identical, the subtle difference in focal length doesn't really matter. What I'd like to know is which lens would you pick and why?

Now on one hand the Fujinon is brighter and seems to have quite a bit more coverage while the G-Claron is obviously lighter and has a good reputation...

So I'd love to read your opinions :)

John Kasaian
4-May-2011, 15:02
Which format? What size lens board? How much bellows you got?

jeroldharter
4-May-2011, 15:06
I have a Wehman 8x10 and love it.

I would get the G-Claron 240 which I did myself. It is a very nice, small lens with good coverage for 8x10. The focusing seems bright enough. I have not used the Fujinon but I would go with the lens with more coverage. Plus the Fujinon lens weighs 1.7 lbs according to the B&H website. That is a bit hefty for me.

Peter De Smidt
4-May-2011, 15:14
Assuming you'll be using 8x10, A 240mm G-Claron will have about 80* coverage at f45, which will be more than the Fuji. (I have both, btw.) If you get the Fuji, make sure to get the older version which has more coverage. Both will be single coated, which is fine.

Michael Graves
4-May-2011, 15:17
Depends on which Fuji it is. If the printing is on the outside, it covers 8x10 with a little room to spare. I have one and will never part with it. I had a G-Claron briefly because of the reputation it has and sold it after a short honeymoon. My aging eyes had too much difficulty with the dimmer image.

Drew Wiley
4-May-2011, 15:33
The G-Claron will be the one with greater coverage. The published specs on this series
of lenses was determined by their potential use for copy work, where the standards are higher than in general photography. In other words, the usable image circle is
much larger than what they originally published. The 250 G-Claron easily covers 8X10
with decent movements at typical LF working apertures, and the circle is nearly as
big as for the Fuji W 250/6.7. It is a single-coated lens, which should rarely be a problem. If you need something similar but MC, get the 240 A Fuji.

Shutter
4-May-2011, 16:13
Thank you guys :) you really helped me a lot!

@John: Sorry, I thought the 'Wehman' was rather specific enough hehe...
Yeah, it's 8x10, Wehman lensboard & 30.5" max bellows (can't wait to get my hand on the camera!:D)

@jeroldharter: I have an old Compur1 shutter (for my 150 symmar) - as far as I know that would fit the G-Claron lens elements, is that right?
1.7 lbs...well that wouldn't be too bad...my back could live with that.

@Michael: It does have the outside printing...hmm...
Would the G-Claron still have the greater coverage vs. the Fuji with the outside printing? I won't be using it for architecture, but I'd love to take some 'cityscapes', so I'd need just a tiny bit of movements.

jeroldharter
4-May-2011, 16:28
...

@jeroldharter: I have an old Compur1 shutter (for my 150 symmar) - as far as I know that would fit the G-Claron lens elements, is that right?
1.7 lbs...well that wouldn't be too bad...my back could live with that.
...

Mine is with a Copal 1 shutter. I have never used a Compur shutter but if it is the same size as a Copal 1 it shout work.

The G-Claron 305 is a great lens too. Much more coverage that the Nikkor 300M or Fujinon 300C and quite sharp.

I have a G-Claron 210, 240, 305 and a Fujinon 450C and 600C all standardized to 67mm filters.

jeroldharter
4-May-2011, 16:44
It would be a good idea to get a Wehman board that accepts smaller Canham or Linhof boards. I have one for Canham boards which are inexpensive and readily available.

Michael Graves
4-May-2011, 17:56
This is the Fuji with about 1" of rise. And that's as much as I think I could have gotten.


Thank you guys :) you really helped me a lot!

@John: Sorry, I thought the 'Wehman' was rather specific enough hehe...
Yeah, it's 8x10, Wehman lensboard & 30.5" max bellows (can't wait to get my hand on the camera!:D)

@jeroldharter: I have an old Compur1 shutter (for my 150 symmar) - as far as I know that would fit the G-Claron lens elements, is that right?
1.7 lbs...well that wouldn't be too bad...my back could live with that.

@Michael: It does have the outside printing...hmm...
Would the G-Claron still have the greater coverage vs. the Fuji with the outside printing? I won't be using it for architecture, but I'd love to take some 'cityscapes', so I'd need just a tiny bit of movements.

Shutter
5-May-2011, 06:59
Thank you, everybody - today I got the Claron, it's great! :)))
And the coverage is perfect for my needs, really, thank you everyone for your help!!

I'll try to repay you with great photos :)

John NYC
5-May-2011, 20:55
Would the G-Claron still have the greater coverage vs. the Fuji with the outside printing? I won't be using it for architecture, but I'd love to take some 'cityscapes', so I'd need just a tiny bit of movements.

Take a look at my flickr site and search by tags for Wehman and 240mm G-Claron. You'll see a bunch of cityscapes taken with with this combo. Be sure to log into flickr so you can view the "original" size (usually about 2200 pixels) to see the kind of quality you get. It was my first 8x10 lens (and only for a while). I think it is a great pair for the Wehman. Just make sure to stop down to f/22. I shoot everything at f/22 and only run out of image circle when I do something totally ridiculous.

That said, I also had a 150mm SS XL which was superb, but I decided I didn't "see" that wide very easily. I'm now actually marching towards "normal" lens lengths on all formats I shoot and expect I will be taking more shots with my Wehman and 305mm G-Claron.

Edit: Oops, I see you got it. You'll love it.

Peter De Smidt
5-May-2011, 21:21
Congratulations! I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I think it can be used as a convertible lens by removing the front cell. You then might want to use a yellow or green filter in front of it to cut down on aberrations. A search should bring up some info.

Shutter
6-May-2011, 02:57
Take a look at my flickr site and search by tags for Wehman and 240mm G-Claron. You'll see a bunch of cityscapes taken with with this combo. Be sure to log into flickr so you can view the "original" size (usually about 2200 pixels) to see the kind of quality you get. It was my first 8x10 lens (and only for a while). I think it is a great pair for the Wehman. Just make sure to stop down to f/22. I shoot everything at f/22 and only run out of image circle when I do something totally ridiculous.

That said, I also had a 150mm SS XL which was superb, but I decided I didn't "see" that wide very easily. I'm now actually marching towards "normal" lens lengths on all formats I shoot and expect I will be taking more shots with my Wehman and 305mm G-Claron.

Edit: Oops, I see you got it. You'll love it.

Those are some great shots, I really enjoyed your recent 6x6 photos as well as those done with the 150mm!


Congratulations! I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I think it can be used as a convertible lens by removing the front cell. You then might want to use a yellow or green filter in front of it to cut down on aberrations. A search should bring up some info.

Hehe, yeah, I tried that already ;) seems like a 360mm f20 for the front cell and about 400mm 20-30 for the back cell (I prefer using the front cell, don't know why, but I always do...they have a sort of soft focus lens quality...)
I'm glad I immediately bought a filter-thread adapter, now I can use my orange, green, circular pol and ND-filter - I can't wait to drag the Wehman outside!
Now I can only hope that my selfmade aperture scale is more or less accurate :o

MIke Sherck
6-May-2011, 05:47
I used a newer Fuji 210mm on my Wehman for a couple of years, until I got the older version with a larger image circle. The Fuji 210mm with lettering around the outside *just* covers 8x10 with no possibility of movement. That said, it's a very sharp lens with lovely contrast. The older Fuji 210mm has lettering on the inside and covers 352mm or so, plenty for 8x10 with movements. It's a superb lens for 8x10, one of my all-time favorites. In fact, my ideal 8x10 lens kit would have the older Fuji 210mm and the Fuji 420mm L lens, or their 450mm lens, to go with it.

Mike

Lynn Jones
9-May-2011, 11:12
Christopher, my choice would be the 210 just for the fact that your plan is for landscape in which shorter lenses more often than not are preferable (assuming a 4x5). Then I would look at a 150 wide field (Sironar, Symmar, Fujinon W), and a 65 or 75 super wide. I've done lots of landscapes (in fact I teach the subject in college) over the decades, I've used a 305 a couple of times, a 210 a few times, 150's 75% of the time, and the rest 65's.

My favorite now (at my age) is my Galvin 23, 2.25"X3.25" in a roll holder with 47mm, 65mm, 150mm, 210mm and 305mm. The two longer lenses I use almost exclusively for "details in the landscape". This camera (monorail unscrews), two roll holders, and 2 or 3 lenses will package into a gadget bag smaller than two of my SLR's or DSLR's with a couple of lenses.

Lynn

Shutter
9-May-2011, 15:25
This thread is about a 8x10 lens, for 4x5 I already have a wide-angle lens - a 75mm SA, which I'll be selling asap, it's just collecting dust like most 4x5 stuff and the last remnants of my hasselblad-equipment...
I've analyzed my recent landscape photos and I've been using mainly 35mm with 135, so the 240mm should be perfect :)

John NYC
9-May-2011, 21:07
Those are some great shots, I really enjoyed your recent 6x6 photos as well as those done with the 150mm!



Thank you kindly!