recommend me a lens please.

[alexn]

Hi everyone..

I'm chasing a longer lens for landscape work. Sharpness is my key concern, and having a moderate to large wide open aperture is important too as 90% of my compositions are done either before sunrise or in forests where available light is low.

I'm looking for something to match the length of a 200mm on 135mm (so I suppose a 300~360mm might be the go for me)

Let me know what you believe is the best lens to cover 4x5 (and likely will be used on 6x17 also).

Thanks.
Alex.

[Frank Petronio]

Those are more like 85-100s, to match a 200 your more likely looking at one of those longer Nikon or Fuji Teles over 600mm....

[Adrian Pybus]

And you need to check what the max extension of your bellows is. On my 4x5 camera, 360mm is max I can use.

[John Kasaian]

You might consider a 14"f/6.3 Commercial Ektar if it will fit (commonly found in a Universal #5 shutter) Fast---sharp(you'll be using the prime cut of Tessar on your 4x5) But it is---heavy & big!

[Doremus Scudder]

Roughly equivalent to 110mm on 35mm: 450mm Nikkor M f/9 or Fujinon C f/12.5. The latter is smaller and much more portable for 4x5 field work, but at the expense of the smaller maximum aperture. Other lenses in this range are generally larger. FWIW, this is the longest focal length I ever have a desire to shoot on 4x5, and, if the truth be told, don't even use it very much. This long on 4x5 means pretty shallow depth of field. Longer than this for a lens of conventional design means having lots and lots of bellows extension, and are usually impractical on 4x5.

If you can do with shorter, and don't want to go too large, look for a 360mm Fujinon A. It is a plasmat design and smaller and more portable than the "standard" f/5.6 plasmats in that focal length. They are a bit rare though... The hole in my lens kit is between 300mm and 450mm, but I don't find it a problem.

If you really need longer and have the budget, look at the Nikkor T-series lenses. They are telephoto design so need less bellows extension and come in varying focal lengths. You get one shutter and front element and then swap out the rear elements to get different lengths. One set is 360/500/720mm (if you have all three rear elements); another is 600/800/1200mm. Again, although these are telelphoto designs they do need quite a bit of bellows draw (the 600mm needs 409.2mm of bellows) and they are not lightweight, meaning you need a rather sturdy camera. These are no longer made, but come up on the used market occasionally.

There are other telephoto lenses out their too (Fujinon T, etc) that come up once in a while as well.

Good luck,

Doremus

[alexn]

My bellows extend a hell of a long way.. at least 500mm maybe 600. Monorail camera.

I am looking around for a 300 to start with, then will look for longer if I need it.

[Doremus Scudder]

Then, Nikkor M 300mm f/9 or the Fujinon A 300mm f/9. Both lightweight, multi-coated and sharp. There's also a Fujinon C (4-element dialyte) that is also great.

FWIW, there's a Fujinon T 600mm for sale on the notorious auction site now.

Best,

Doremus

[Drew Bedo]

What about one of the telephoto formulations from Schneider or the older Wollensak/Graflex Tels?