Advice: upgrade from Rodenstock Geronar MC 210mm f 6.8 to What?

I am looking to upgrade from a Rodenstock Geronar MC 210mm f6.8 lens and need some advice on that you like and why? Shooting 4x5 and 5x7. Love to shoot portraiture and general use. Thanks for teh help.

J

Hello from France!

For the kind of pictures you like to take, you should keep your 210 mm Geronar, in any case.
This lens is an excellent triplet (3/3) lens formula, the only real limitation is coverage, it will cover the 5"x7" [13x18 cm] format with little movements.

So you could consider, for example
- a lens with the same focal length of 210 mm, but with increased performance, e.g. a (6/4) lens formula like the last generation of Rodenstock Apo Sironar S or Schneider Apo Symmar L lenses in 210 mm; those lenses are not cheap;
- a lens with same bellows draw of approx 210 mm but with increased focal length; a telephoto lens like the Schneider 360 mm tele-arton, perfect for portraits, will cover the 5"x7" format, and will only require 210 mm of bellows draw in the infinity->focus setting;
- 210 mm wide-angle lenses existed for the 8"x10" format, but are interesting only if you look for a wide-angle lens for the 8"x10" format!
- if you use the 4"x5" format, a general-purpose 150 mm focal length is easy to find, and cheap to buy as a used item.

Nowadays most view camera lenses are discontinued as new items, but the used market is rich in various lenses in the 150-360 mm range of focal lengths!

Any 210 plasmat will be an improvement at wider apertures than about f/22, but otherwise the Geronar is actually a very decent lens. I don't think you have to go all the way to the Sironar-S that Doremus recommends to get an improvement--a Sironar-N will also show improvement, and they are much less expensive on the used market. I happen to own a 150mm Geronar as well as a 210mm Sinaron (which is a Sironar-N) and the latter is a bit better, and in absolute terms, stunningly good.

210 is generally the "normal" lens for 5x7 so any plasmat (Sironar or Symmar) will offer reasonable movements with that format. 210 is also a very nice focal length for portraiture in 4x5.

Rick "who uses 210 and 121 far more than 150 with 4x5" Denney

I agree the 210 Geronar is a nice lens. I have its Caltar II-E cousin.

I will propose an alternative that you might like if you don't want a large 210 Plasmat. Consider a 210mm f/6.1 Schneider Xenar or the equivalent 210mm f/6.1 Caltar Pro. It is small like the Geronar, but is a Tessar type. It is single coated. Very nice lens. Another alternative is a 210mm f/5.6 Fujinon L. This is also a smaller Tessar type and very nice. Many of the portraitists on this site state that they like Tessar types for portraiture. All of these lenses will cover 5x7.

In the Plasmat world, you should be able to get a good deal on a 210mm Caltar II-N, which, like Rick's Sinaron, is a Rodenstock Sironar-N.

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Originally Posted by durr3

I am looking to upgrade from a Rodenstock Geronar MC 210mm f6.8 lens and need some advice on that you like and why? Shooting 4x5 and 5x7. Love to shoot portraiture and general use. Thanks for teh help.J

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Other than an 8 1/4" Dagor, I'd keep the Geronar. Nothing wrong with that lens!

The 210 Geronar was a "Student lens". It was cheaper, contained less elements and had less coverage than the F/5.6 lens. I used to own the Caltar version and used it on a Crown Graphic. Stopped down it's plenty sharp. It's great for portraits. Unless you are running out of coverage with it then you don't need to replace it. You may with shooting 5x7. Another thing that I really liked about it is that it is so small that it would fold up inside my Crown Graphic. Small and light also makes for a great backpacking lens.

For as little as they sell for now I would keep it and add whatever lens or lenses you want. I've seen Rodenstock Geronar 210 and the Caltar version lenses go for less than $100 on Ebay lately.

I've bought two just for the shutters. In anyone needs lens cells PM me