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So I loved the concept of LFF and dived in. Bought a Arca-Swiss camera setup on ebay (specifically, this one ) and been having a ton of fun with it. Was curious if its worth it to get a super-angulon 90mm 5.6 lens and how good the one it came with was (ILEX Acutar 215mm f6.3)
edit: link fixed, old one was confusing since it does similar listings...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Arca-Swiss-...orig_cvip=true
If in good condition both are better than good enough.
You are asking two questions. Dan answered the one about the quality of your 215mm Acutar. Your second question is about buying an SA 90mm. Personally, I think adding a wide-angle lens to your options makes sense, you should think about the pictures you made before LF (or the ones you are thinking about now) and see whether you like the wider-angle perspective the 90mm will give you. I find my own 80mm very useful in situations where I physically can't move back from my subject (primarily when shooting interiors or other cramped locations), outdoors my "go-to" focal length is 150mm, followed by my 210mm. I also have a 300mm to cover the other end of the range, but use it rarely. Since I've been doing this for a long time, I have other lenses in-between, but the "standard" LF lens selection is a wide-angle (the 90mm you asked about), a "middle" typically anywhere from 150-215mm, and a long (around 300mm). By the way, welcome aboard!
I use a 215 acutar on my Keith twin lens 4x5 - - it's very sharp.. maybe a bit too sharp for me but it's a matched set with the cam..so what am I gonna do?
The Acutar was also labeled and was sold by Calumet as "Series S" and that series mostly consisted of rebranded Schneider Symmar S lenses but one, the 215 Ilex acutar which Calumet rebranded Series S & they are all Plasmat design. It will do good work if you do your part.
Sinar, not Arca Swiss?
Quote:
Originally Posted by caspalta
I thought I was clear. The 90/5.6 SA is good enough to use too.
If you procrastinate enough you will never make a picture. Get on with what you have first!
It takes more effort to find an inadequate lens in a basket than finding a good one.
I almost made the same mistake because of course eBay opens to a "live auction/sell" of a "Swiss Made" Sinar f camera w/ a Nikkor 120 micro lens. However if you look for the banner at the top of the OP's link you'll find a completed auction for a very lovely Arca-Swiss (older vintage) that the OP won. It is a very capable camera and looks to be in fine condition.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pieter
I don't know where you are coming from, but here's my experience: I was mostly 35mm when I started back into LF after a few decades off. In 35mm I like wide wides, 15mm, 21mm, and 28mm is my "normal" lens. In LF I find myself taking a quite different type of photos. Because I like wide, right off the bat I bought a 90mm/5.6 SA, and I have to say, it's been about six years and I haven't used it once--it's too wide for what I want to do on big film. My favorite 4x5 lens is an old 108mm Wollensak, and in 5x7 a roughly equivalent 150mm.
So you might think about that. For me, a 90 to 215mm jump would be too big, anyway. When I saw the other camera in the link with the 120mm lens, I thought "Why, he's got close to the perfect W/A, already!" I'd probably get something around there, if I were you.