My advice would be to get the camera and use it before you get the 90mm. Learn the process first, then decide which lens to buy next. Your thoughts may change.
Dave
My advice would be to get the camera and use it before you get the 90mm. Learn the process first, then decide which lens to buy next. Your thoughts may change.
Dave
Hello David, I'm glad that I could help. We all need a little push now and then.
Check out post #41 for David Schaller's excellent advice on an additional lens.
Alan
Hello David,Originally Posted by David Schaller
and thanks to you too Alan - I will be taking your advice. I'm sure initially the whole process will confuse, frustrate and dishearten me somewhat and best to keep it as simple as possible.
No doubt a 'normal' length lens will make for a less complicated entrée - leave the big wide stuff for you gurus for now! In time, my soon to arrive Chamonix will tempt me on that score no doubt, capable of taking 65mm and even shorter lenses I'm told (with the standard bellows). Wow!!
Many thanks and cheers,
David
Trust David and I. You really don't know what focal length lenses you want yet until you shoot 4x5 for a little while.
I made that mistake of buying lenses first and then learning the camera.
By the way, a Chamonix is a great choice!
My comment above comes from finding that it's frustrating to quickly run out of coverage with shorter lenses in large format. Whereas in 35 mm or medium format a wide angle can seem easier to use than the normal focal lengths, in that you can often just preset to hyperfocal distance and blast away, when you are using large format in the field, often you plant your tripod in one place and then use camera movements to get the image you want. Most of my photography is landscape, and often where I set up cannot be other than where my tripod will be secure -- the same also occurs in architectural situations, where you can't move. That's when more coverage is more better, just using simple movements like rise and fall or shifts.
On a normal or longer lens it will also be easier to learn how to use the movements of a view camera to achieve the depth of focus that you want. Some of the great images on this forum, I'm thinking now of portraiture and still life, are taken with very wide apertures, and would not be as successful if they had been taken with a fixed lens on a smaller format. In many situations, skillful use of movements allows you considerable latitude in choosing aperture/shutter speed combinations to achieve your envisioned image.
Dave
My experience came with buying a 75mm lens expecting it to be like my 25mm Zeiss on my 35mm Contax. After using it the lens felt too wide (it felt like a 20mm on a 35mm camera) so I ended up selling it and buying a 90mm which feels right to me. Of course that is my opinion about these lenses. Some people agree and others don't.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks