You may find that the something like the Fuji W 250/6.7 might be as wide as you want to go with 8x10. it is a different beast!Originally Posted by Steven Ruttenberg
The biggest drop-off around here is standing on Kings Peak (not quite 4100') on the Lost Coast and watching the surfers down below about 3 miles away. Bigfoot country, of course!
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Hello everyone,
I'm considering to buy a light weight wide angle in the range of 160mm / 6.5".
It doesn't have have to be super sharp, actually I prefer it soft since I'd use it on Ortho film and contact printing. It has to cover the film size even if I don't expect sharp edges and I won't bother too much about a certain fall-off.
The Wollensak 159mm would be the obvious choice but it's not so easy to find in EU so I'm thinking on these two old Dagor in Compur shutter:
- Dagor 6.8/168
- Dagor 6.8/180
For what I found so far, it seems that the 168mm Dagor covers the 8x10 area at infinity and even allows for some movement if stopped-down. I couldn't find clear info on the 180mm Dagor.
Does anyone use on of those two lenses on 8x10 and can share his experience?
Thank you
Pressing the shutter is the only easy thing
Before you buy a 180 mm or shorter Dagor to use on 8x10, read this https://www.largeformatphotography.i...09-Lousy-Dagor discussion. All of it.
Hi Roberto,
I have a Goerz DAGOR 7" (180mm, okay, technically 178mm) f6.8 Lens. I shot it on my 8x10 camera at both f45 and f64, and the lens vignetted. The Goerz literature on this lens from 1951 claims that it does cover 8x10. Maybe other versions of this lens cover 8x10: I don't know. The serial number on my DAGOR is 769522.
2 lenses that I have found in that focal length range that will cover 8x10 are the Kodak WIDE FIELD EKTAR 7 1/2" (190mm) f6.3 and the Bausch & Lomb PROTAR V 7 1/4" (183mm) f18 lenses. The Bausch & Lomb lens is tiny, smaller than the Goerz. You can read more about it on Chris Perez's website:
https://web.hevanet.com/cperez/test/NikPro.html
The Bausch & Lomb lens comes in both uncoated and coated versions, as Chris explains in the article linked above.
The Fuji FUJINON-W 180mm f5.6 lens with inside lettering is also supposed to just cover 8x10. I bought 1 of these lenses, and it also vignetted on 8x10 at f45 and f64 for me. Maybe I have bad luck with lenses covering 8x10...
The Kodak, Bausch & Lomb, and Fuji lenses are relatively inexpensive: i got mine for around US$200 each.
Good luck finding a lens that you like and have fun.
Daniel
Thank you Dan, I've just finished reading the tread. It looks like there is a big difference between German made and USA assembled Dagors.
Thank you Daniel, I put my eyes onto two German Dagors 422xxx and 345xxx; I do believe your Dagor is from a non German manufacturer so maybe, as I understood, it performs differently from the genuine CP Goerz Berlin ones. I can tolerate a small amount of vignetting.
I know I can get perfectly sharp images with a modern Symmar 240 but that's not what I'm looking for.
Baush and Lomb is not an easy lens to find in EU as it is the tiny Wollensak 159.
I think I will give a try to one of those Dagors (168 or 180), they come at under 200€, not free but not expensive either.
I will add my experience in the forum later this year.
Pressing the shutter is the only easy thing
They are all the same.
Dan and Daniel are right. Regular 168mm and 180mm Dagor of f/6.8 won't fully cover 8x10 at infinity. The Zeiss Dagor 18cm f/9 covers, but that lens is hard to find and is expensive.
I guess I'm the only one using the 6.5" W.A. f/8 Dagor. It comes up fairly regularly, and though not cheap, it's not astronomical, unless you want to buy it overseas. Mine is an older uncoated (German) one that I took out of an ancient Ilex shutter and had SKG put it in a Copal 1. Don't remember where I got it 30 plus years ago, gave it to a friend and years later he gave it back since he was not using it. Covers 8x10 with room to spare! The shortest f/6.8 Dagor that covers 8x10 I believe is the 8 1/4" and then barely. The 9 1/2" is much better. Don't believe there is much difference between the German and American Dagors as long as you get a good one. L
8 1/4" Dagor, just covers 8x10.. stopped down good past f22 at that. The 6.5" wide angle Dagor does cover 8x10 and it is small.
Brings up again the difficulty with 8x10 and wide angle lenses. IMO, so many jump to 8x10 believing it is the ultimate film image format without considering all the other factors related to using 8x10 often and what is required.
As for 8x10 lenses that work GOOD in the 150mm to 170mm range:
~150mm f5,6 Schneider SSXL (not low cost, not common).
~150mm f8 Nikkor SW (not low cost, not common, not small).
~155mm f6.8 Rodenstock Grandagon (not low cost, not common, not small).
~165mm f8 Schneider super angulon (not low cost, moderate common, not small).
This group remains not small and compact as many 8x10 users today would like to demand-expect.
While there are smallish older lenses that covers 8x10 like the Protar V, IMO their optical performance is ok at best.
Goes back to what you're after.
Then there is the light fall of question or to center filter or not center filter.
Bernice
If you really want a wide lens, and you don't want to pay a lot of money, and you don't want to use a really dim lens in a wonky shutter, then the 120mm f/8 super wide lenses are a good choice. Stopped down to f/45 or more, many of them cover 8x10 enough for practical purpose. Focus closer than infinity, don't put really important image detail in the corners, or crop in just a tiny bit if your really have to have sharp corners. I've used my 120SA on 8x10 a number of times with good results. There are so many more of these lenses than the big 8x10 lenses, that they're much easier to find, and much cheaper to buy. You do have to make sure that your camera can effectively use such a wide lens.
“You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you.”
― Alexander Den Heijer, Nothing You Don't Already Know
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