NOOB Question About Starter LF Cameras

[gearhed]

120 or 180 Apo Macro Sironar or 210 or 300 Makro Sironar. But no macro for lf will perform optimally at infinity or ranges down to 1:5 or 10.

Thanks for the suggestion. I am still learning here. When you say infinity, what does that mean in the context of using the lenses that you have recommended? Will either of those focus without distortion when the subject is 1-2 feet away? If so, which lens is best suited for this specific application?

[Bob Salomon]

Thanks for the suggestion. I am still learning here. When you say infinity, what does that mean in the context of using the lenses that you have recommended? Will either of those focus without distortion when the subject is 1-2 feet away? If so, which lens is best suited for this specific application?

The Apo Macros are corrected for image ratios of 1/5 to 5/1. The Makro Sironar are for ⅓ to 3/1.

None will have distortion at these ranges and, depending on the shape of your subjects and the length of your bellows would determine which would be best for what you want to do.

[Bernice Loui]

There are few limits to "minimum" focus for a monorail camera like Sinar. This becomes add as much rail and bellows with support as needed. Lens focal length and film format size becomes what determines the overall length requirement of the camera.

More important is size of the object being imaged and what size this object appears on the ground glass of the camera. If the object to be imaged is identical to the image appearing on the ground glass, this would be 1 : 1 or life size. Any view camera lens can focus to these limits by extending the camera and bellows as needed to achieve this. The difficult becomes Depth of Focus-Depth of Field for a 3D object. larger the film format size, the more difficult it becomes to maintain perceived focused (Circle of Confusion) on the given film format size. This is independent of lens type.

Alternatives to Macro lenses would be APO process lenses and reverse mounted enlarger lenses. When applied properly these can work remarkably well. Do a search on LFF as this has been discussed numerous times on LFF in the past.



Bernice

Thanks for the suggestion. I am still learning here. When you say infinity, what does that mean in the context of using the lenses that you have recommended? Will either of those focus without distortion when the subject is 1-2 feet away? If so, which lens is best suited for this specific application?