Two basic flavors to condition.
*Exterior beauty, looks fabulous, optically-mechanically not so fabulous.
*Exterior covered with scars of many expressive images made, optically-mechanically Fabulous.
-There there are the premium ones that offer both. Only way to really know any given lens, make LOTs of images and burn LOTS of film with a given lens then compare with all other lenses available. Eventually, an individual preference for specific lenses will happen.
Bernice
Have a 115mm f6.8 Grandagon purchase at the bargain price of $175 due to a tiny peck mark in the center of the front element, lens barrel is mostly OK.
Produces GOOD images...
After decades of optics trading, ability to perform creating expressive images is more important than winning the G-A-S "Beauty Contest"?
Bernice
Don't overlook the Caltar lenses. They usually sell for less than their Rodenstock cousins. My Caltar II-N 75/4.5 is my got to wide angle.
+1 for the 75mm f6.8 Grandagon, and that good ones can be had for very reasonable money on eBay if you're patient and have good timing. I scored one in VG condition, seemingly little used, and mounted in a real Linhof recessed board in equally fine condition (that itself would cost north of US$300 if purchased new), for about $300 Canadian a couple of years ago. Since then I've appreciated my results with it on 2-3 compositions in the field. 187mm IC is enough for 4x5in, and at 340grs with 58mm front element ring-size it's fairly light and compact among the others mentioned.
... JMOwens (Mt. Pleasant, Wisc. USA)
"If people only knew how hard I work to gain my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all." ...Michelangelo
I managed to get a 90's model 75mm Super Angulon in the latest black copal shutter for £249 from a dealer. So you should be able to get most lenses with your budget.
I have a slightly weirder question. I just bought two 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 Speed Graphics (one for parts), and I seem to like lenses slightly shorter than the long dimension of the format. (My favorite lens in 35mm is 28).
So has anyone tried using 2 1/4 square lenses for the 6x9 format? The ones for the Mamiya TLR seem to be going ridiculously cheap. (I just saw two 80mm/2.8 lenses for the camera on eBay -- one currently going for $28 and one for $12.62!) The taking lens is mounted on the lensboard with a retaining ring, and once you get it off, I don't see why it wouldn't work normally on a press or small view camera. If it would cover.
miket, it's unlikely that the Mamiya lenses will cover 2x3- but at those prices it's worth a chance. The Kodak 80/6.3 Wide Field Ektar was designed for your Graphics and should do very well. A clean one will be far more expensive than the Mamiya lenses- but will be worth the money.
Mike, look here http://www.largeformatphotography.in...mainly)-lenses for a link to the so-far definitive list of lenses no longer than 65 mm that cover at least 2x3.
If you do the arithmetic, you'll find that the focal length on 2x3 that's equivalent to 28mm on 24x36 is 65 mm.
If you want to play and throw a little money away, try using a 65mm lens from a Mamiya TLR. There's no evidence that anyone uses these lenses on 2x3, and there's a hint.
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