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Sdrubansky
5-Aug-2011, 09:36
Please share what your first LF glass was
and whether you still have it/use it.

Mine was a Schneider f5.6 135mm Componon-S in Copal #0
and it came with the 4x5 monorail camera I bought used.
Still very fond of it for close up work.

Mat

Mark Sampson
5-Aug-2011, 09:53
1946 Kodak 127/4.7 Ektar on a 3x4 Speed Graphic, later on a 4x5 Tachihara. It's long retired but I still have it.

darr
5-Aug-2011, 09:57
My first LF lens was a Schneider 210 that I bought new when I began my product photography studies at Portfolio Center in the '80s. I sold it along with my first rail camera, a Calumet a few years later. I found the 150-180 range fits my personal space better in the studio.

William Whitaker
5-Aug-2011, 09:58
210mm Nikkor-W purchased new from B&H in 1982 and sold in '95. I was in Boston in '82 and someone at Fast Phil Levine's had shown me a 210 Dagor. But I was skeptical of used lenses and didn't feel secure buying an old lens.

Boy, have times changed!!

sanchi heuser
5-Aug-2011, 10:02
My first lens was also a Schneider, bought used, an ex rent item, from Calumet Düsseldorf 2006:
Symmar-S 5.6/150 with Copal 0.
It has a "sinar" engraving on the barrel (not on the glass :D),
maybe a selected lens or sold together with a Sinar camera?

However, it's a really good lens and
I still have it.

vinny
5-Aug-2011, 10:22
schneider 150mm symmar-s bought new just before the L series came out. It was sharp at f16 but not over that so I sold it for nearly what I paid, luckily. I have many other lenses (all used) that I'm very happy with. I'll never buy another new lens.

drew.saunders
5-Aug-2011, 11:05
120 APO-Symmar, bought with my Tachihara from Badger as part of their starter package (normally includes a 150, but they swapped for me). I still have it and still use it, but might replace it with a Fuji 125 for the greater coverage, as I sometimes exceed the APO-Symmar's coverage.

Bill_1856
5-Aug-2011, 11:09
1951. Postwar Steinheil Unifokal 150mm f:4.5 (coated) in a Press-Compur X-sync shutter. I have never seen another for sale anywhere.

ashlee52
5-Aug-2011, 12:53
Already mentioned once... and I'll bet a bunch of other people's first lens too... a 127mm Ektar 4.7 on a Speed Graphic, which I acquired in 1967 or so.

Ole Tjugen
5-Aug-2011, 13:02
A 210mm Schneider Xenar f:4.5, which came with my first camera - a 13x18cm Linhof Technika.

Then I bought a second 13x18 Technika since the first one only had a 4x5" back - and lots of dents - which came with a 150mm f:5.6 Symmar, a 360mm f:5.6 Tele-Xenar, and a 300mm f:4.5 Xenar. Oddly enough the two cameras came from the same place and except the 300mm Xenar, the lenses that came with the second camera would have been more useful with the first camera and the 4x5" back...

Armin Seeholzer
5-Aug-2011, 13:12
My first lens was a Sironar N 135mm which I still use, it came with my first camera an Arca Swiss F-Line Classic.
The camera is gone not the lens!

Cheers Armin

Vaughn
5-Aug-2011, 13:27
Computar Symmetron 210/6.3 in a Copol 1 shutter -- came with the Rajah 4x5 I bought new (a very close, except in quality, knock-off of a Deardorff Special) in about 1980.

Increadible sharp lens.

Jim Galli
5-Aug-2011, 13:29
Caltar SII (Shcneider Multi-Coated) 210mm f5.6 on Cambo 4X5. A very forgiving set-up for a beginner.

It is long gone.

Jay DeFehr
5-Aug-2011, 13:29
6-1/2", f/4.5 Ilex Paragon. It came on a Newton Nu-Vue I found at a yard sale. I still have it, but haven't used it for a while. Occasionally I exercise the shutter, and try to think of a good use for it.

rdenney
5-Aug-2011, 14:02
6-1/2", f/4.5 Ilex Paragon. It came on a Newton Nu-Vue I found at a yard sale. I still have it, but haven't used it for a while. Occasionally I exercise the shutter, and try to think of a good use for it.

Heh. My first was an 8-1/2" Ilex Paragon, and it also came on a Newton Nue-Vue. Those of us who have endured that dreadful camera should form a club. I'm happy to report that the camera is long gone--I think I traded it for a Solar 5x7 diffusion enlarger (a good trade) and then in turn traded that for an Omega D-3. All that is called progress.

But I still have the lens, which is an excellent performer. I have it currently set up for my Speed Graphic project, as yet unfinished. The only picture I have online made with that lens is this one, which I made in 1993.


http://www.rickdenney.com/images/Espada-Aq-032793-13-lores.jpg
Espada Aqueduct, Stream and Algae, 1993.
Ilford FP4, 8-1/2" Ilex Paragon, 8 seconds at f/32


Rick "yes, the image is backwards; don't ask me why" Denney

Barry Kirsten
5-Aug-2011, 14:34
480 Apo-Ronar on 8x10, in 1986; image posted here:

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=54113&d=1302575485

Soon followed by a 10" Commercial Ektar. Both lovely lenses but sadly gone.

Cheers, Barry.

adam satushek
5-Aug-2011, 14:45
1st real lens was a nikkor 135w, love the focal length, but realized I needed a larger image circle, replaced with a rodenstock sironar 150-s and a nikkor and a nikkor 120 sw......but find I use the 150 much more often. Still have the 135, but it just sits there.

Duane Polcou
5-Aug-2011, 14:48
A 210 Caltar (6.3 ??) that came with the Calumet monorail camera as a kit lens, probably around 1986. It exhibited pronounced color fringing. I immediately and ignorantly thought all Caltar lenses were mediocre, until I understood lens re-branding, re-badging, private labelling, whatever term you wish to use to describe the practice of a distributor contracting a lens manufacturer to produce a lens with the distributor's brand. I now use a 90mm f8 Calumet Caltar W II (Schneider Super Angulon) and it's splendid.

Heroique
5-Aug-2011, 14:59
I started expensive, Schneider XL 110mm.

Then I went cheaper: Fuji A 240mm.

Then I went cheaper again: Schneider 150mm g-claron.

I could have started w/ any of these and been happy, and I’m certain I would have ended w/ the same three lenses.

jnantz
5-Aug-2011, 15:01
127 tominon came with a speed graphic ( pacemaker ) ...
it's in a polaroid / copal press shutter .. and i use it from time to time ...

IanG
5-Aug-2011, 15:13
Schneider 150mm f4.5 Xenar bought used in 1976, an excellent lens, I found the reciept the other day. It's not been used since the early 80's when the Compur shutter broke but should be around - may have been stolen however late 1990's in a box of other retired and broken lenses & shutters.

Ian

Jay DeFehr
5-Aug-2011, 15:15
Heh. My first was an 8-1/2" Ilex Paragon, and it also came on a Newton Nue-Vue. Those of us who have endured that dreadful camera should form a club. I'm happy to report that the camera is long gone--I think I traded it for a Solar 5x7 diffusion enlarger (a good trade) and then in turn traded that for an Omega D-3. All that is called progress.

But I still have the lens, which is an excellent performer. I have it currently set up for my Speed Graphic project, as yet unfinished. The only picture I have online made with that lens is this one, which I made in 1993.


http://www.rickdenney.com/images/Espada-Aq-032793-13-lores.jpg
Espada Aqueduct, Stream and Algae, 1993.
Ilford FP4, 8-1/2" Ilex Paragon, 8 seconds at f/32


Rick "yes, the image is backwards; don't ask me why" Denney


Rick,

I'm sure my Nu-Vue is still cluttering a shelf in Idaho. It didn't take me long to upgrade from that abomination to a Crown Graphic, which I also still have, and still use. I recently bought a junk Speed Graphic w/o lens, and I'm thinking the Paragon might find a home there. The lens is very nice, I think. It's sharp, but not unattractively so, and not mushy, either.

The attached shot was made with that lens, though mercifully parted from the Nu-Vue.

DanK
5-Aug-2011, 16:00
First lens for 4x5....Rodenstock Geronar 150/6.3 ....still have, still use...

Cheers,
Dan

chassis
5-Aug-2011, 16:08
First LF lens for me is a 150mm/5.6 Nikkor W, which I just received today, along with a mint condition Toyo 45AII. The lens is spotless and the shutter seems to function as it should.

This is my first entry into 4x5, and I am very keen to see what kind of results I will achieve.

johnielvis
5-Aug-2011, 16:44
WOW..that takes me back...chose a brand spanking new 360 apo symmar to go with my new zone 6 8x10----never used 4x5---straight to 8x10

now I still use that lens with my 11x14 stuff that I have gotten into....I actually bought it with that in mind (just in case I want to go bigger)...HA....see...everything according to plan

it's unbelievable sharp....like real German sharp---like this was designed for Germans

Merg Ross
5-Aug-2011, 17:26
For 4x5, my first lens was a Carl Zeiss Jena, 250mm 6.3 Tessar in a Compur shutter. For 8x10 it was a Turner-Reich Triple Convertible, 12-19-25. I still have the Tessar. Both were acquired in the 1950's.

Professional
5-Aug-2011, 17:43
Graphic/Crown Speed 4x5: Optar 162mm Wollensack
Shen Hao 4x5: Rodenstock 150mm APO Sironar-N f5.6

I started with the Rodenstock one and still didn't use that Optar yet, but soon when i will have time and arrange my chemicals and processing method then i will have more fun with large format or film in general.

Kirk Fry
5-Aug-2011, 21:22
210mm Rodenstock Siranon. I bought it used in the early 70's. I used it a lot on a Calumet CC401 and then the front lens elements separated. I still have it or at least the lenses, the shutter moved on to new glass. KFry

Peter Gomena
5-Aug-2011, 22:23
8-1/4" Ilex Paragon on a Calumet 4x5. Sold it 6 months later and bought a Crown Graphic because my right arm had stretched 4" from carrying the Calumet in the field. Can't really say much about the lens, I didn't use it that much. I did love the 135 f/4.7 Xenar on the Graphic. I no longer have it or the camera. I sigh wistfully every time I see a nice one for sale. Great lens even though the coverage was skimpy.

Peter Gomena

Steve M Hostetter
6-Aug-2011, 01:51
first lens was a schneider 165mm f8 from Ken-Mar .. Got it with a sinar P 8x10" cam in 93
had to send lens back due to fungus and got a 300mm gold ring dagor from B&H which I still have

vitality
6-Aug-2011, 02:35
My first lens was also a Schneider, bought used, an ex rent item, from Calumet Düsseldorf 2006:
Symmar-S 5.6/150 with Copal 0.
It has a "sinar" engraving on the barrel (not on the glass :D),
maybe a selected lens or sold together with a Sinar camera?

However, it's a really good lens and
I still have it.

My 1st one was the same Symmar-S 150mm Copal 0. Got it in Cologne, when visited Photokina. Just mine is marked Linhof.

jwanerman
9-Aug-2011, 14:48
1988 150mm Caltar ( Rodenstock ) IIN, purchased new. I have used it on my Crown Graphic, Wisner Traditional and Sinar Norma, and have no plans to switch at that focal length. It is economical,multicoated, very sharp, and has good coverage for the intended use, mostly landscapes.
jwanerman

mat4226
9-Aug-2011, 15:34
My first was a Goerz 14" Artar that remains the sharpest lens in my kit to date. Love the standard perspective on 8x10, and hoping to someday mount this beauty on something a little larger.

Oren Grad
9-Aug-2011, 16:12
250mm Wide Field Ektar, which I bought in 1996 for use on 8x10. I found it a bit flat and flarey for my taste, and pretty quickly moved on to a 240 Apo-Sironar-S. I still own it, though.

Vaughn
9-Aug-2011, 16:20
1988 150mm Caltar ( Rodenstock ) IIN, purchased new...jwanerman

That was my second lens (about 1984, perhaps '85), bought new to go with my new Gowland 4x5 PocketView. A fine lens!

Vaughn

Brian Ellis
10-Aug-2011, 07:48
210mm Schneider APO Symmar bought from Calumet, the one and only LF lens I've bought new. Used it extensively for about ten years, sold it just recently as I cut back on my LF work.

andreios
10-Aug-2011, 09:01
My first, and still the one almost exclusively used on my 4x5 sinar was a 150mm f6.3 Fujinon - a tiny lens but offers enough space to learn about movements with a monorail.. The next is a 240mm G Claron, waiting for it's 5x7 camera :)

Nigels
11-Aug-2011, 06:08
First lens was a new Schneider 90/8 SA bundled with the Ebony RSW45 I got from Robert White. This was my first venture into LF.
When I added the 150/5.6 I realised the 90 was very dark and so replaced it as part of a part.ex deal for the Schneider 80/4.5 SSXL which I still use today.

CP Goerz
11-Aug-2011, 06:38
A borrowed 4x5 Calumet metal monorail with a 135mm Ilex Paragon in an unreliable shutter, not a great combo but it gave me enough direction to keep going into LF formats :-)

Bob McCarthy
11-Aug-2011, 06:51
When I moved up from medium format i went with the Picker twins

120 Super Angulon (or was it 121???)

210 Symmar S

Fred had a lot of influence over me in the 80's. I'd rush home if the wife (ex actually) called and said the newsletter came in the mail.

bob

tgtaylor
11-Aug-2011, 07:28
My first LF lens was a 150mm Rodenstock Apo Sironar-S which I bought new from B&H at the same time that I purchased my first LF camera - a Toyo 45CF - also new from B&H. At that time the lens cost more than the camera ($715 vs $549.95) and I had to wait 3 months after receiving the lens before the camera arrived as it was on back order. This was when the CF first came out and was selling like hot cakes. Here is my first LF photograph taken with the CF and the above lens on Velvia 50:

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6186/6032479982_ee88ae0b9f.jpg

It took me about 45 minutes to set-up and figure out how to focus the camera!

Thomas

PS: Forgot to mention that I still have this lens and it remains my most used lens for 4x5.

Bill_1856
11-Aug-2011, 08:33
It took me about 45 minutes to set-up and figure out how to focus the camera!


It was well worth the time spent. One of the nicest color landscapes from California (I presume) that I've seen. Thanks for sharing it.

tgtaylor
11-Aug-2011, 18:53
Thanks Bill!

The image was taken at a sacred indian site located at the mid-point of a 7 mile loop in the Round Valley Regional Preserve here in the SF bay area.

"The area that is now Round Valley Regional Preserve was once home to California Indians. It was probably a boundary between several different tribal groups, an area where members of East Bay and San Joaquin Valley groups met periodically to trade and socialize. Evidence of Native American use has been uncovered at several archaeological sites within the valley."

Thomas

Scotty230358
11-Aug-2011, 23:22
My first LF Lens was an aged 90mm Angulon that I used with an MPP Micropress. It was my first LF camera that I sold some 30 years ago to help fund the purchase of a Rolliecord. When I got back into LF in 2008 My first lens was a Symmar 150mm lens which I still own.

polyglot
12-Aug-2011, 00:21
90/6.8 Grandagon-N.

Steve Smith
12-Aug-2011, 00:24
A 13.5cm Zeiss Tessar from an old 9x12cm plate camera. I used it on the first 5x4 camera I built and still use it occasionally. It is one of only three LF lenses I have, the others being a 127mm on a Polaroid 110A currently being modified to 5x4 and a 65mm Super Angulon on my 6x12 camera.


Steve.

engl
12-Aug-2011, 04:43
The first LF lens I had was included with my Crown Graphic, a 135/4.7 Optar. The first lens I chose to buy was a Fujinon NW-125/5.6.

eddie
12-Aug-2011, 05:00
165mm tessar on a 4x5 korona. both have been sold.

ImSoNegative
12-Aug-2011, 05:08
my first lens was the good old 127mm ektar mounted on my first camera toyo 45d, still have them both but use neither.

ImSoNegative
12-Aug-2011, 05:09
My first LF lens was a 150mm Rodenstock Apo Sironar-S which I bought new from B&H at the same time that I purchased my first LF camera - a Toyo 45CF - also new from B&H. At that time the lens cost more than the camera ($715 vs $549.95) and I had to wait 3 months after receiving the lens before the camera arrived as it was on back order. This was when the CF first came out and was selling like hot cakes. Here is my first LF photograph taken with the CF and the above lens on Velvia 50:

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6186/6032479982_ee88ae0b9f.jpg

It took me about 45 minutes to set-up and figure out how to focus the camera!

Thomas

PS: Forgot to mention that I still have this lens and it remains my most used lens for 4x5.

this is very nice!!

eduardtoader
12-Aug-2011, 05:14
Mine was the 210mm Heliar. Bought with the shutter unworking for 70 dollars. Is repaired now athough I can´t unscrew the front element from the shutter. It´s a kind of magie to work with it.

Greg Y
12-Aug-2011, 05:51
My first LF lens was a 210 Apo-Sironar S. I thought I should start at the top of the food chain. I have sold prints, and had my first photo from that lens published several times.
Shortly thereafter, I succumbed to the siren call of old lenses....a 8 1/2" gold rim Dagor.
The character of the old lenses suits my style to a T. While the apo-sironar s lenses are blazingly sharp.....I prefer the look of the Dagors. I later found a 4 3/8" in a Rapax for $100 on the bay, and a good friend gave me a 12" Dagor in a working compound shutter. Love them Dagors!

RoMFOTO
12-Aug-2011, 09:07
My first LF lens was a Schneider-Kreuznach Symmar-S 150/5,6 MC.
I bought it pretty cheap a few years ago - and I'm happy with it!

tgtaylor
12-Aug-2011, 10:03
this is very nice!!

Thank you!

Thomas

Preston
12-Aug-2011, 10:08
Mine was a 210mm Schneider-Xenar f-4.5 in a Copal 3, single coated ( I think). Lovely lens that I used for years on my old Omega view 45E. I still have the camera and lens.

--P

john wood
12-Aug-2011, 10:22
Interesting how many mid/long lenses were folks' first. I wanted to be Rowell in 4x5, so a Nikon SW 90mm f/8 was my first. Quickly realized that a 150 & 300 addition were needed.

neil poulsen
12-Aug-2011, 22:00
The first lens that I really used was a 7" American Optical Co. Dagor in a Rapax shutter.

My first lens was a 180mm Caltar that was the Rodenstock that predated the N and S series. It was too contrasty for my taste, so I sent it back and got a refund. I had it maybe a few days just to test it out.

Robert Opheim
14-Aug-2011, 15:27
My first lens was a 1960's 180mm/315mm Symmar convertible lens that came with a Graflex View II kit that I bought from another photo student - in 1974. It was supplimented a couple of years latter with a 3 5/8" WA Dagor in a compur shutter - from the 1940's that I used a lot more than the 180mm. The Graflex was heavy to move around - and didn't have a bag bellows. It was sold but I still have the 180mm Symmar and the 3 5/8" WA Dagor.

Adamphotoman
19-Aug-2011, 09:30
My first LF lens was a 150mm Componon S in Compur Shutter on a Sinar Alpina.
Then an 120 mm Apo Symmar, and a 305mm G Claron. Those were used in my film days.
After I got the Betterlight I got 25 plus lenses.
Grant

Michael Graves
19-Aug-2011, 09:35
My VERY first lens was the f1.9 Rikenon in my Ricoh 519 35mm rangefinder my parents got me for my 16th birthday. (Still takes better pictures than my Nikkormat). My first large format lens was the 135mm Optar that was on the Speed Graphic I bought while I was stationed in Monterrey California in 1971.

Armin Seeholzer
19-Aug-2011, 10:07
135 Sironar N which is still mounted on my Horseman HF inside!

Cheers Armin

David Karp
19-Aug-2011, 10:16
A 210mm Caltar II-E that is the only LF lens that I ever purchased new.

Dave Gesell
19-Aug-2011, 12:10
My first LF lens was an 8 1/2" Commercial Ektar, made in 1947.

Brian Vuillemenot
19-Aug-2011, 20:33
A 150 mm Apo-Sironar-S; still one of my most widely used lenses after over 10 years of quality service. At the time, it cost about $450 new from B&H; wish I had bought more of them- a much better investment than the @$#@%@ stock market!

richard brown
19-Aug-2011, 21:30
About 25 years ago, I had a chance to buy a lovely toyo 45A camera and funded it by selling my practically new nikon F3.... I was so excited to call my friends in Canmore Alberta to tell them I had finally bought a large format camera. Peter had introduced me to his toyo 45A years before. I was living in downtown Toronto at the time and didn't have any money to quickly buy a lens but colour me surprised when, a week later, the postman dropped a box off ..... inside was a gift. A pristine Schneider Symar S 180mm f5.6 lens. I used it for over 20 years and got some great images and then five years ago I picked up a nikon 180 so I got a CLA on the symar S before returning it to Peter who continues to enjoy it.
What a great and generous friend.....we should all be as kind. Richard

Craig Roberts
20-Aug-2011, 17:13
Knocking the cobwebs from my memory. The first LF camera that I owned was a Graphic II. I bought it with 2 lenses, a 90mm graphic and an 8-1/2 inch Paragon, which I still own. 40-years ago; WOW. This is for LF not 35 or 2-1/4, Craig

Filmnut
20-Aug-2011, 17:21
Well, this is another 127 mm f4,7 Ektar, on a Speed Graphic. I still have the lens, but haven't used it for a while, though the camera still gets used often!
Keith

pdmoylan
20-Aug-2011, 18:27
Chassis,

My first was the Nikkor 150W. Used it for almost 3 years before acquiring 90f8 and 210 f5.6. I have always loved that focal length (about 40mm in 35mm format) and the sharpness is really quite wonderful, with excellent color and beaucoup coverage. Enjoy it. It is quite good for closeup work to about 1/2 life size. I was always thrilled to have that lens on my camera.

Eric Rose
20-Aug-2011, 18:36
Rodenstock Geronar 210mm. Don't have it anymore.

Matus Kalisky
21-Aug-2011, 01:33
Rodenstock Geronar 210mm. Don't have it anymore.

Ditto for me. A good lens, but later I got snobby and got the Fujinon A 240/9. But somehow it did not improve the results ... :cool:

Don Dudenbostel
21-Aug-2011, 07:23
135mm f4.7 Xenar. My dad gave me a Pacemaker Crown 4x5 in 1965 and this was the lens that came with it. Still have it.

Paul Fitzgerald
21-Aug-2011, 07:54
Another 127 mm f4,7 Ektar, on a military OD Green Speed Graphic. Both gone and replaced.

Linhof
23-Aug-2011, 01:12
Schneider Super Angulon 90mm for my 4x5 camera.

Richard Rau
23-Aug-2011, 22:25
6" Gold Ring Dagor in a Rapax Shutter ~ Beautiful lens with an image circle that that was sharp all the way to the edge of the image circle which easily covered 5x7 - stupidly sold it along with my 5x7 Ansco, one of the worst mistakes I ever made.

Raidahl
24-Aug-2011, 04:22
Schneider Symmar-S Multicoating 5.6/150mm for Sinar, nice lens, sharp, but too sharp for my taste today :D

desertrat
24-Aug-2011, 09:24
12" Dagor in a Betax #4, made in the 'teens. This was my first piece of LF gear, as I was still shopping on Ebay for a camera. I won the auction 10 years ago and it was not too expensive at $175 because it was a beater and ugly. Some previous owner either dropped it a whole bunch of times or was using the front cell ring to beat on stuff with. Works fine and I still use it.

TheDeardorffGuy
24-Aug-2011, 20:10
In 1972 a widow whos husband started a Photo studio in 1905 had a sale. She got rid of lots of great items including 6 number 10 Circut cameras. After the sale there was still a whole lot left. This was early in the "camera collecting craze" that did not sweep the nation! So I kept showing up and bought what I could afford. One of the first lenses I bought was a #32 Kodak Anastigmat in a dial set Compur. I shot hundreds of 4x5 negs with it mounted on a top handle speed graphic. The next was a 12in Voigtlander Collinear to go with an 8x10 Seneca. I used them both till the 80s and then started collecting my series of lenses. Before she moved I was offered what was left. I've shot with all of them and have experience with nearly every type ever made.

Scott Davis
25-Aug-2011, 06:50
Sinar Sinaron 210 f5.6. I don't still have that exact lens (I sold it off along with my Sinar A1 outfit when I needed some other gear) but I did purchase another one several years later when I was rebuilding my 4x5 kit with a Shen-Hao HZX AT 2. I still have it for use with that camera. It's one of my favorite focal lengths for use with that format.

Jack Dahlgren
26-Aug-2011, 19:01
6 1/2" Ilex Paragon on an Anniversary Speed Graphic + 4 film holders. The whole thing cost me $35 in the early 80's.