Lens recommendation for 4X5

[crowgraphy]

Hello All,

I am new to large format photography and I have just ordered Tachihara 4X5.
I am looking for few lenses for portraiture and landscape. I would appreciate if someone can recommend few lenses.


Thanks in advance.

[John NYC]

Since you said portraiture and landscape, I would start with a 210mm. Get any one from the big four (Rodenstock, Schneider, Nikon, Fuji) used.

If you had not said portrait, I would have said start with a 150mm... Same advice on what kind.

Check the classifieds here and KEH.com. I would stay away from eBay until you know your way around LF a bit.

[crowgraphy]

Thanks John.

I was also looking for 150mm. So you are suggesting 210 over 150 mm for portraits?


Thanks
Girish

[mdm]

I think a 135mm is nice for landscape and enviromental portraits.

[John NYC]

Thanks John.

I was also looking for 150mm. So you are suggesting 210 over 150 mm for portraits?


Thanks
Girish

Yes, 210 makes a nice portrait length on 4x5. You can use a 150 with good effect for a more environmental style portrait. If your camera has the bellows to handle it, a 300mm will get you closer to a headshot.

But portraiture works a little differently in LF than in smaller formats. The 210 is a nice length.

[crowgraphy]

Thanks John, appreciate it!

[BrianShaw]

What John said.

I use a 150 and 135 nearly interchangably. The 300 is really good for head-and-shoulders.

[Two23]

What kind of lighting are you using for portraits? Makes a difference as to what I'd suggest.
I'm assuming you have two or three monolights.


Kent in SD

[crowgraphy]

I more interested in single light portraits or may be outdoor portraits. The point is I don't use too many lights. Please suggest.

[Ivan J. Eberle]

Common and now relatively cheap 210mm Plasmats have tremendous coverage for 4x5 and will let you exploit camera moves til your heart's content. Affordable 150mm's-- not so much.

[Two23]

I more interested in single light portraits or may be outdoor portraits. The point is I don't use too many lights. Please suggest.


I was trying to determine if you needed a sync connection or not. To use flash, you do. There are some nice lenses from the 1950s that would work for you, such as the Ektars.


Kent in SD

[John NYC]

Regarding 135 versus 150... A lot of that choice depends on if you want a normal, not a slightly side normal as normal in your kit, and how you want to space your kit. I moved to 8x10 shortly after starting 4x5, but the lens kit focal length problems are the same. Assuming you want to keep things to two or three lenses, here are some options...

135 and 210 ... Maybe for portrait and landscape this is all you need?

90 and 150 and 210 ... The classic kit

90 and 135 and 210 ... Variation of the above

120 and 150 and 210 ... Nice kit if you never want to go wide

75 and 110 and 180 ... If you like mainly wide and 180 is your idea of long.

So, you can see that your first lens choice might not matter as you find your way. I started with a 210 on 4x5 and thought I didn't need it and sold it later. But guess what I just bought for my 8x10 now? A 450, which is almost like 210 on that format.

Another solution would be to never sell the lenses you buy because you will probably go back and forth about what you want/like focal length wise for a couple years, at least I have.

[crowgraphy]

Regarding 135 versus 150... A lot of that choice depends on if you want a normal, not a slightly side normal as normal in your kit, and how you want to space your kit. I moved to 8x10 shortly after starting 4x5, but the lens kit focal length problems are the same. Assuming you want to keep things to two or three lenses, here are some options...

135 and 210 ... Maybe for portrait and landscape this is all you need?

90 and 150 and 210 ... The classic kit

90 and 135 and 210 ... Variation of the above

120 and 150 and 210 ... Nice kit if you never want to go wide

75 and 110 and 180 ... If you like mainly wide and 180 is your idea of long.

So, you can see that your first lens choice might not matter as you find your way. I started with a 210 on 4x5 and thought I didn't need it and sold it later. But guess what I just bought for my 8x10 now? A 450, which is almost like 210 on that format.

Another solution would be to never sell the lenses you buy because you will probably go back and forth about what you want/like focal length wise for a couple years, at least I have.

Great info John and thanks!
this option looks more interesting to me
90 and 150 and 210 ... The classic kit I guess I can use 150 for landscape also?


Thanks again
Girish Sharma

[John NYC]

Great info John and thanks!
this option looks more interesting to me
90 and 150 and 210 ... The classic kit I guess I can use 150 for landscape also?


Thanks again
Girish Sharma

Yes. You will find a variety of opinion here on focal lengths, but that kit should cover everything you might want to do on 4x5.

Later you can add an in between where you feel you need more choices and then still only have a very manageable four lens kit.

[John NYC]

Correction, I guess the true classic kit is 90, 150 and 240. That would be focal lengths spread by a factor of 1.5.

If I were you I would start with just a 210 and shoot with that for a box or two of film.

[BrianShaw]

210 vs 240... close enough, but that is my opinion of the difference between 135 and 150.

In addition to the classic kit, I eventually added a 300 and have found it to be extremely useful.

My advise to someone getting into LF (or any format), though, is to get started shooting before investing in a "full kit". I concur with John's recco to get a 210 and burn up some film. I worked for 25+ years before adding the 90 and 300 and by the time I wanted them I really knew why I was spending the money.

[John Kasaian]

You can get a lot of mileage from a convertible Symmar, and 203mm F7.7 Ektars can still be had reasonably if you're patient(and it's cousin, the 203 Wolly is also a good bet, maybe even a bit less costly) I happen to like Velostigmats for portraiture.
The thing about lenses is too many folks get anal about 'em. Prints from ANY quality LF lens will blow the socks off their lesser format bretheren---what matters is the subject and how you use whichever lens you happen to have on hand, IMHO :)

[E. von Hoegh]

Correction, I guess the true classic kit is 90, 150 and 240. That would be focal lengths spread by a factor of 1.5.

If I were you I would start with just a 210 and shoot with that for a box or two of film.

Good advice here. Stick with one lens, one film, and one developer until you KNOW exactly what you are going to get when that negative is dry.

[goodfood]

tThe 240mm shutter is too big and heavy on my Symmar. I like 210mm much better.

[John Berry]

another vote for the 210 only for now.

[paulMD]

What do you like on smaller formats? You won't suddenly start liking any equivalent focal length as your only lens if you don't already. Your kit is totally a personal choice. I like 28mm equivalent focal length for landscapes, 50mm efl for general use, and a 100mm efl for portraits. In 4x5, that's 90, 150, 210/240 (more like ~75mm efl).

All modern lens designs are good, figure out the length you want, how much coverage you'll need for the movements you'll use, and buy something. Multicoating is nice, but don't break the bank, the first coating is the most important. Don't discount older lenses, but don't pay a mint for something exotic either. A Kodak Anastigmat or Ektar 203mm f/7.7 is a great choice for a portrait-ish length. If you're going to go nuts on movements, get a plasmat (something like a Symmar).

[crowgraphy]

What do you like on smaller formats? You won't suddenly start liking any equivalent focal length as your only lens if you don't already. Your kit is totally a personal choice. I like 28mm equivalent focal length for landscapes, 50mm efl for general use, and a 100mm efl for portraits. In 4x5, that's 90, 150, 210/240 (more like ~75mm efl).

All modern lens designs are good, figure out the length you want, how much coverage you'll need for the movements you'll use, and buy something. Multicoating is nice, but don't break the bank, the first coating is the most important. Don't discount older lenses, but don't pay a mint for something exotic either. A Kodak Anastigmat or Ektar 203mm f/7.7 is a great choice for a portrait-ish length. If you're going to go nuts on movements, get a plasmat (something like a Symmar).

Thanks Paul, I mainly used 50mm lens for street photography with 35mm film format. I know 150mm would be the equivalent in LF but I need to do an assignment on portraits first and then later I can get other lenses. Now between 210 and 240 Is hould just go with 210 right? I am also looking at NIKKOR 210 F5.6 (42 Mount lense).



Thanks for the advice
Girish

[E. von Hoegh]

Great info John and thanks!
this option looks more interesting to me
90 and 150 and 210 ... The classic kit I guess I can use 150 for landscape also?


Thanks again
Girish Sharma

You can use anything you want for landscape. Whatever angle of view suits your vision of the scene is the correct lens.

[John NYC]

Thanks Paul, I mainly used 50mm lens for street photography with 35mm film format. I know 150mm would be the equivalent in LF but I need to do an assignment on portraits first and then later I can get other lenses. Now between 210 and 240 Is hould just go with 210 right? I am also looking at NIKKOR 210 F5.6 (42 Mount lense).



Thanks for the advice
Girish

Actually, the formats don't compare exactly since they have different ratios of the sides. That said, a 50mm on 35mm format is actually closer to 180mm on 4x5.

[Alan Gales]

What John said.

I use a 150 and 135 nearly interchangably. The 300 is really good for head-and-shoulders.

I agree that normally a 300mm is great for head and shoulder shots. Unfortunately, a Tachihara has only 12 1/2" of bellows draw so to be about 5-6 feet away you don't have enough bellows to focus a 300mm that close. A 300mm does make a great landscape lens on a Tachihara. I own a Nikkor 300mm f/9 M and I highly recommend it. Very lightweight and sharp as a tack. Unfortunately, it's a bit expensive.

If you really want to do portraits then I suggest buying a cheap monorail to compliment your nice Tachihara field camera.

[jwanerman]

I have used a Caltar IIN 150mm F:5.6 on my Crown Graphic and Wisner Traditional for about 20 years. It is made by Rodenstock and is much cheaper on the used market. This lens gives about 215mm of coverage, which is plenty for the intended purpose. I doubt that a Tachi will handle a 300mm, although I am sure that the Wisner handles my 273mm Artar comfortably.

[Alan Gales]

I have used a Caltar IIN 150mm F:5.6 on my Crown Graphic and Wisner Traditional for about 20 years. It is made by Rodenstock and is much cheaper on the used market. This lens gives about 215mm of coverage, which is plenty for the intended purpose. I doubt that a Tachi will handle a 300mm, although I am sure that the Wisner handles my 273mm Artar comfortably.

I own a Tachihara and a 300mm lens. I read somewhere that you could focus a 300mm down to something like 16'. I never measured it myself. I always focus mine on something a lot further away. So the answer is yes you can use a 300mm on a Tachihara but with the above limitation.

[Matus Kalisky]

Tachihara was my first (and so far only camera). I was starting in a very similar fashion like you are starting today, so let me share some experience.

My first lens was Rodenstock Geronar E 210/6.3. it is a tessar design what limits the coverage a bit (still plenty for most 4x5 work). Advantage is it is smaller and lighter and cheaper than 210/5.6 plasmats. It performs very well too. I do not have the lens anymore (I went with 75, 125, 240, 400/tele setup in the course of the years), but would not hesitate to use it.

Somebody above mention to start with 210 lens. A good idea to my opinion. It is a bit longer than "normal" (which would be around 150 - 180) and that makes composition easier than with wider lenses (simply eliminates more from the scene). But surely 150 lens would be as good to start with. Should your taste later develop in a different way you will have no problem to sell the lens for about the same as you paid for it. But it is a good idea to use just one lens for some time - there are many things to learn and you rather invest the money to film. You will be surprised how much you will spend on little things - I know I was.

Now a few general comments for Tachihara. It is a nice camera, lightweight, but has of course its limitations. It does not really enjoy long and heavy lenses like 240/5.6 or heavier. Small compact lenses are not a problem of course (Nikkor M 300/9 or Fujinon C 300/8.5 or such). I do use the Osaka 400/8 which is a tele/design (requires only 260mm bellows draw), but wuth the weight of 500g it is on the edge. The 240 I use is Fujinon A 240/9 (small and great lens) is no problem at all.

Also Tachihara is not the best choice for lenses wider than 90. It can be done (I do use 75, but on a recessed lens board a bit of PITA), but the compressed bellows limit the movements more than pleasant. In fact I keep telling myself to sell tha Tachi and get some compact monorail, but somehow do not find the time to do that :p

I hope you will enjoy the Tachi post some results once you get there.

[Bill_1856]

Start with a single lens of "normal" focal length -- 150mm for 4x5. Then see if you need something else (wide or longer) before spending a lot of moola on other people's recommendations, most of which are BS.