I've got my eye on a Rodenstock Apo-Grandagon 55mm, but am unwilling to shell out for it right now due to my conflicting goal of saving for a house (I guess that pegs me as something other than a truely dedicated artiste....) However, I was thinking today that perhaps I might find an affordable equivalent focal length amongst the universe of older lenses. Any thoughts? I'm pretty much only a 4x5 b&w shooter.
Matthew, When it comes to wide and veri-wide lenses there aren't any good classic choices. Classic wide angles tend to have tiny circles and weak corners. It's one area where new is not only better, it's the only good choice. A 65mm f6.8 Angulon won't even cover 4X5. 75mm f6.8 Grandagon / Caltar's are the only decent entry level 4X5 wide angle, and their circle is small.
As close as you'll come is a 65mm f8 Super Angulon, which I aspire toward one of, next time i stumble over ~$300. And it won't give you any movements.
What about the 58mm Grandagon? I have one and it works great. It can't be as expensive as the 55 can it?
And Jim's sugestion is better, but for a couple of bills more.
And Jay may have a point, as well. Certainly the least expensive route would be a 58 Grandi from a Graflex XL. I don't know anything about the focusing mount, but I do understand that they don't have a cable release socket.
And I'll withdraw the "certainly least expensive" part too.
The only classic alternative that I know of is the 6cm Goertz Hypergon. But that's likely to cost at least twice as much!
Another alternative is the 65mm Ilex wide-field acugon, a super angulon clone. I have one of these and while it is very sharp, there is substantial viginetting in the corners. These are rather hard to find, though.
A 65mm Super Angulon is probably the way to go. They can be found regularly on ebay and probably have the best balance of coverage/sharpness/cost of any extreme wide angle lens. If anyone uses this lens, does it require the use of a center filter or is the light fairly even?
One more alternative.. I think wollensak made an extreme-wide-angle lens with a max aperture of like f12.5 -I have no idea of the coverage on one of these though. I think one or two other classic lens manufacturers made similar designs but they are rare.
I have the 65/8.0 Super Angulon, and it's not a bad lens, is pretty reasonably priced (around $300-400), and it covers 4x5".
Periodically one sees the 58mm Grandagon for around $400-500, sometimes as the Technikon for Linhof, and my impression was that it was a 6x9 lens. Can anyone confirm whether it covers 4x5?
Among classic lenses--I'm not sure whether there's a 60mm Berthiot Perigraphe (it probably exists, but can you find one?!). I use the 120mm/f:14 Perigraphe on 8x10", and it's certainly sharp enough for contact prints. I don't know if it would be satisfactory for enlargements.
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