Another 210mm lens for 8x10 thread

[Ari]

A recent conversation with another LF shooter has prompted me to ask the forum about a 210mm lens that covers 8x10 very well and provides good image quality.
My opinions are subjective wrt image quality, take them with a grain of salt.

The 210, when I had one, was my go-to lens for many 8x10 shots; environmental portraits, urban/industrial scenes.
I like the field of view, comparable to a 35mm lens on 35mm format.

So far, I've owned/tried:

Fujinon-W (IC of ~350mm) - image quality not good enough on 8x10, but great 4x5/5x7 lens
Sironar-W (IC of ~350mm) - excellent image quality, but quickly ran out of room
Kowa Graphic (IC of ~380mm) - image quality ok, some room for movements, a decent compromise; very small, which is a plus.

Barring the large, heavy and very expensive 210 XL, Grandagon 200, or Super-Angulon 210, is there anything else you would recommend trying out?

Thanks in advance.

[John Kasaian]

G Claron. When stopped down, there's not a whole lot of wiggle room, but I think you'll find them sharp, light weight, and affordable.

[Ari]

Thanks, John. Not much wiggle room, you're right.

[karl french]

I always go back to the 21cm f6.8 Angulon. I have an example from the 1950's. Coated and in a Compound shutter. It's always in my pack with the Cooke XVa.

[MAubrey]

If you could find one, a regular Angulon 6.8 210 would also do the trick, IC rated at 382, but that's quite conservative. Of course, the issue with angulons is going to be IQ. If the Fujinon isn't good enough, then that may not help you at all...

Maybe a Taylor Hobson Cooke Wide Angle Anastigmat? IC of 350
A Zeiss Protar? IC of 467

[Keith Pitman]

I always go back to the 21cm f6.8 Angulon. I have an example from the 1950's. Coated and in a Compound shutter.

Ditto the Angulon 210. Mine is in a Copal, circa 1965.

[ruilourosa]

hello

i got the older fujinon 210 and its one of the best i own, owed a 210 super symmar hm and it was enormous, quality is on a par (in black and white)

[Ari]

Thanks, everyone; I'd give the Angulon 210 a try, but I'd be quite curious about IQ.
My other two 8x10 lenses are the aforementioned Cooke XVa and 150XL, so the older Angulon would stand out.m Worth a shot, though.
I really like the Fuji 210 on smaller formats, but on 8x10 it seems to lose its qualities; maybe it has a more defined "sweet spot", I don't know.

[Corran]

Kowa Graphic (IC of ~380mm) - image quality ok, some room for movements, a decent compromise; very small, which is a plus.

Just curious, but who said the GK was just "okay" in terms of image quality? I've found mine to be very sharp, especially at typical working apertures (that is to say, I've never shot it wide-open). And yes it's a tiny little lens - the smallest I think I've used on my 8x10.

It's a great lens and compared to a lot of 210mm lenses with large IC can be found very cheaply. I don't think you could go wrong.

I would say though that for me a 210mm is a bit wider than your perceived 35mm on 35mm format. I'd be more inclined to go 240-270 for that in my opinion - I've found recently that I really like the 240/250 focal length. The obvious selection there is a 240mm G-Claron. I've used mine a couple of times and it's very good.

[MAubrey]

Just curious, but who said the GK was just "okay" in terms of image quality? I've found mine to be very sharp, especially at typical working apertures (that is to say, I've never shot it wide-open). And yes it's a tiny little lens - the smallest I think I've used on my 8x10.

It's a great lens and compared to a lot of 210mm lenses with large IC can be found very cheaply. I don't think you could go wrong.

I would say though that for me a 210mm is a bit wider than your perceived 35mm on 35mm format. I'd be more inclined to go 240-270 for that in my opinion - I've found recently that I really like the 240/250 focal length. The obvious selection here is a G-Claron.

35mm is something like a .14 crop of 8x10, yes? That'd put 210 at around similar to 29mm in AoV.

The Fujinon W 250 6.7 might be another nice one with its 400mm IC.