210mm for 8x10"

[robshepherd]

The 210 G Claron covers 8x10. Not a lot of wiggle room though it is small and lightweight compared to a Super Angulon.

I like my 210 G Claron on the 8x10. I also use it on a 4x5 Crown Graphic AND it's small enough to leave on the camera when it's folded. Great little lens.

[Joshua Dunn]

I have a Schneider 210mm Super Angulon f/8. The lens has amazing performance in every way to include an image circle of 500mm. It's a favorite when I shoot 8x10. The only real downside is its size and weight. It is simply a huge lens. The front element is 135mm, about 5 1/8 inches in diameter. The rear element is almost as large. It weights 3 kg or 6.5 lbs. So you need a camera with a really robust front standard. This usually isn't a problem with most 8x10 cameras but it's worth mentioning. It also makes using filters difficult without spending a lot of extra money. To me that's the real advantage of the 210mm Super-Symmar XL, the image circles listed listed for both lenses are the same. However the 210mm Super-Symmar XL is much smaller and lighter, by 1kg or 2.2lbs.

-Joshua

[neil poulsen]

Wide-angles are not for fine-art photography??? Huh?

I'm not at all suggesting that super-wides can't be used for fine art. However, to avoid distortion effects, a lot of fine art is indeed done with longer lenses, and I think that, some of this work is well suited to 8x10.

How much of Edward Weston's work was done with super-wide lenses? (I'll leave this as a rhetorical question.)

With that said, I've since purchased both a Graphic Kowa 210mm and a Computar f9 in the same focal length. After comparing them, the latter has the greater image circle, and is probably also multi-coated.

[Corran]

I am just going to assume what you are trying to say is fine-art reproduction.

[neil poulsen]

Wide-angles are not for fine-art photography??? Huh?

No, of course not; I'm not suggesting that one can't do fine art with wide-angle lenses. But, one won't be doing a lot of general architecture without wide-angles, either.

I think that longer focal lengths that avoid distortion, combined with the 8x10 format, can work rather well for fine-art photography. My realization was that 8x10 work could be in this direction, and that I would always have 4x5 at hand for images that lean towards wide-angle lenses.

With that said, I've since purchased both a Graphic Kowa 210mm and a Computar f9 in the same focal length to help fill a wide-angel gap. After comparing them, the latter has the greater image circle, and is probably also multi-coated. That's the one that I'll keep.

[Corran]

Meandering off-topic here, but Neil, the idea that a certain focal length lends itself to whatever you define as "fine-art" is ludicrous. It might be your preference for how you make images...but certainly not any kind of rule or defining characteristic of a "fine-art" photograph. It's like saying that only certain brushes lend themselves to fine-art painting. There are of course certain brushes a painter may like, but a tool doesn't define the art it creates.

Since I was just at his gallery, I'll use Clyde Butcher as an example. He mostly uses extreme wide-angle lenses and techniques. You are suggesting he is not a fine-art* photographer because of...his lens selection?

*Setting aside the semantics of what qualifies as "fine-art" obviously.

[neil poulsen]

. . . You are suggesting he is not a fine-art* photographer because of...his lens selection? . . .

Perhaps it's the double-negative that's causing a misunderstanding. Filtering it, I'm suggesting that one can do fine-art photography with wide-angle lenses.

[mdarnton]

One thing of interest that I noticed is LF photographers' dislike for what they self-defiine as "distortion". Of course every lens distorts in some regard, and extreme wide angles are simply delivering what your eyes actually see, IF you were paying attention, so this seems very arbitrary. The other thing I don't get is how an entire wing of photograph has branded one particular aspect of vision as distasteful and illegitimate. It doesn't make much sense.

[Bernice Loui]

Sticky film holders have other issues. Want flat, glass plates in a high precision imaging system.

Bernice

Film flatness is a non-issue if you have adhesive holders.

[Bernice Loui]

What is "Fine Art" ?


Bernice

Perhaps it's the double-negative that's causing a misunderstanding. Filtering it, I'm suggesting that one can do fine-art photography with wide-angle lenses.