Nikkor SW f8. Exceedingly sharp, light and with good coverage. Its my widest lens!
-Brad
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Nikkor SW f8. Exceedingly sharp, light and with good coverage. Its my widest lens!
-Brad
Depends.
I have a Rodenstock Grandagon-N 90mm f/4.5 that is really very nice. Great for shooting architecture. The f/4.5 max aperture makes it very nice for focusing in dim light. It renders colors nicely with color film. Sharp. Its just a bit big for backpacking, plus it needs 82mm filters.
For backpacking I have a 90mm f/8 Nikkor SW. As Doc Singer said, a very nice lens, with a smaller 67mm filter ring. The image circle is just as big as that of the Rodenstock, but the lens is smaller and lighter. I like it a lot, but I have only used it for black and white, so I cannot comment on the color. I really could sell the Grandagon now that I have this lens, but have not been able to convince myself to pull the trigger yet.
I have a Super Angulon f8. It is multi coated. It is sharp, contrasty and reasonably compact. The 67mm filter matches all my other lenses so I carry only one set of filters. Many years ago I used an old Angulon with my MPP. It performed well but my current lens is visibly superior.
Small for me, since I backpack and hike with my kit a lot.
My 90mm is the Schneider SA f/8, multi-coated. It is the largest lens I carry regularly (I also have a Fujinon 75mm that's about the same size, but don't carry it all the time). The 67mm filter size matches the 75mm and the Nikkor 450mm I have. All my other lenses are adapted or made for 52mm filters
The SA f/8 is really a great lens for me. Mine is one of the sharpest lenses I've ever had and it is still practical to carry. The Nikkor f/8 would be a choice if I were in the market for its slightly larger image circle (I do vignette the SA from time to time...).
The larger f/5.6-f/4.5 versions are just too big for me. If you're doing studio photography, however, they would be a tad easier to focus...
Best,
Doremus Scudder
Nikon 90mm f8. Sharp, lightweight, not too dark.
90mm f/8 Super Angulon. I have owned this lens for about 14 years and it's never let me down. I really like it now because it will cover 4x10 with some movements, which was a surprise.
My favorite 90mm is the one I own, a multicoated 5,6 90mm Schneider Super Angulon. It came with the Technika (and the focussing cam) when I bought that camera.
WOW, this is a great thread, in fact i was asking about which 90mm, my mind was going first for S.SA then for Rodenstock, didn't realize that Nikkor one is as capable and great, so now i really don't know which one to go with.
Used 90/8 Nikon-SW prices are pretty high these days, as they were made in smaller numbers than the Schneider and Rodenstock ones, and compounded perhaps by Kerry Thalmann's Future Classics article. I decided I wanted optically equally excellent, but cheaper and a bit brighter and as I could live with a few mm less image circle (still very good though), I bought a Grandagon-N f6.8 (my first one in Caltar-IIN guise) for a 1/4 of what the Nikon usu. sells for. :)