4x5 Starter Lens

[giganova]

Hi all --

New on this forum, first post, and hi to everyone!

I've been an analogue photographer (35 and 120 film, Leicas and Mamiya RZ67) since the 80s and have always developed my own film. I just realized my life-long dream and purchased a LF camera, a refurbished Linhof Super Technika V that is on its way to me. Now I need a lens or better, lenses! I'd be using the 4x5 mostly for landscapes and occasional portraits.

My favorite 135 lenses are 35mm, which I guess would be similar to a 100-120mm lens at 4x5? I've been searching Ebay but couldn't find many lenses in that medium-wide rage, the few that I found were very expensive (over $1k), and almost all were from Japan.

Do you have any recommendations what I should get? I read Kerry Thalman's "Future Classics" article. Beautiful lenses but not exactly cheap. Any recommendations for a medium-wide lens that doesn't break the bank? Or do you think I'd be better served with a 90mm + 150mm combo? Or maybe get a cheap 150mm to get my feet wet and then start building a lens collection from there?

Sorry for these basic questions, but LF photography is a completely different beast even for someone like me who knows every Leica lens ever built.

Thanks for your help!

[giganova]

Here's a picture a recently took in Argentina. I guess I won't see that much grain in my future 4x5 photos

[Corran]

90 / 150 / 210 is the standard-issue recommendation. Anything from Schneider, Rodenstock, Nikon, or Fuji will be just fine. You don't need the higher-cost lenses with massive image circles until you know you need them.

My first lens was a 150mm f/5.6 Schneider APO Symmar, and I paid $400 for it 10 years ago. I still have it and it's my go-to 150mm lens for most general images. The older Symmar-S model will be just about as good for 1/2 the price. Any lens you find in this category, there will be a corresponding 210mm model, so the same applies.

Any 90mm f/8 lens will serve you well. The Nikkor 90mm f/8 is the "gold-standard" for field use, but there's others that are just about as good and some options for wider-aperture lenses and the like.

The midrange 105mm-135mm is a bit more limited, for whatever reason. There are some standout 120mm lenses, like the Nikkor 120mm f/8, but that's a bigger lens than a 150mm. IMO stick with 150mm or maybe a 135mm if you want a tad bit wider, and then jump straight to 90mm. There's also an expensive 110mm lens from Schneider, but you probably have no reason to start with that lens. Finally, you may want to find a set of lenses that are compatible with whatever filter set(s) you have/use.

In summary, buy a 150mm of any stripe from the "Big 4" and get to shooting, and workout what you need from there. Side-note, check out "Calumet" lenses for lenses often rebranded from those 4 big companies, you might find a deal.

PS: you will have access to Classifieds here in a month.

[Two23]

For you I suggest a 90mm and a 180mm to start. These are very versatile. I have slowly added to where I have 75, 90, 135, 180, 300. I took six photos today of small towns and landscapes. I used the 90mm or 180mm for all of them.


Kent in SD

[Havoc]

Like you my most used lens on 135 film is the 35mm. So I feel most at home with a 125mm on 4x5. This lens always comes out with me. I choose a Fujinon CM-W 125/5.6. Can't say it was that expensive.

[Huub]

In my experience translating your preferences from 35mm and medium format lenses to large format focal lengths is only of limited value, mainly because working with a large format camera asks for quite a different approach. Where as in 35mm the 28mm and 21mm lenses are my most favourite, in 4x5 the 110mm, 150mm and 240mm are those that get most use. It asks for a bit of trial and error to find out what your preferences will be. Luckely you can buy lenses and sell them again mostly at the same price, so there is little risk involved.

The standard set is as Corran already stated 90 / 150 / 210, where there ain't much quality differences by the four lens makers he named. In this set i have always found the distance between the 90mm and then 150mm bigger then between the latter and the 210mm, which resulted in replacing my 210mm with a 240mm. Another option would have been to replace the 150mm by a 135 mm. Eventually i found a good deal on that Schneider 110mm, so i added that one as well.

Another thing to consider is your filter size: the f4.5 and f5.6 90mm's are big lenses that need big and expensive filters, one of the reasons i settled on 67mm as a maximum filter size and thus limiting my choices to the f6.8 and f8 90mm. For landscape photography these work as good as the bigger ones in my experiences.

A third thing to point is multi-coating. It is not really necessary, but i feel it does add a bit when shooting landscapes into the sun and in other situations with difficult light.

And lastly: most of us have good experiences with buying from Japan and the few lenses and other stuff i got from that country all met their description in the add and were in excellent shape.

[mdarnton]

There's a tendency in LF to lust after the most modern, exotic, and expensive lenses possible, Super-Whammy XXXL Mega-Coated Apos, then complain that they are too expensive. I have built several kits around cheaper old lenses and they work just fine, just as they did when they were first made and no one complained. The earliest Fuji-W lenses are great, with very large image circles and very inexpensive. I see that 120/8 Super Angulons are now inexpensive, as is the 125mm Fujinon-W. 120mm Angulons are compact and inexpensive. If you want a solid more modern lens, the 115mm/6.8 Rodenstock/Caltar is a fine lens that offers a lot more than you need, and it may not fit your camera. About the Fuji line in general the most common complaint is that they are "too sharp", whatever that means. We're not even talking about my favorite lenses, which are mainly from the 1940s through 60s!

Your portrait needs could be met by a 210/5.6 lens, and there are many choices for that, any of them good enough, no matter how old they are, even back into the 1950s Symmars, though for portraits my tastes lean even farther back to Tessar-formula lenses, with their cushy background focus characteristics.

I completely agree with Huub above--you may well find that your choice of lenses in LF is very different from 35mm! My favorite 35mm lenses are ultra-wides, mainly around 21mm and shortrer, and I never use anything longer than 50mm, ever, but for larger formats I favor a quite different style, not as wide and also not as varied! When I started, I stocked up on LF ultrawide lenses and have hardly used any of them!

So if I were you, I'd start with one lens, your best guess, which sounds like a 120mm, then see where you want to go from there rather than going all-in and spend all your money at the start on things you may not use. As things stand now, I could probably be happy with just my 108mm wide angle Raptar and a 210mm, nothing else. I have a boat-load of cheaply-bought 90s that I have not used once. On 5x7 virtually the only lenses I ever use are a 150mm Fuji-W and 300mm Ilex Paragon (a Tessar formula) which scale out to about the same. Everything else sits at work in the vault.

[Jim Jones]

Huub gives fine advice. The Technika needs lenses with wide coverage to make the most use of the front movements. For most landscapes and portraits, one usually needs little or no movements, and compact and inexpensive press camera lenses may suffice. Unlike some of the lenses with wide coverage, they usually fit into the camera when it is closed.

Your personal experiences are more valuable to you than our advice. Don't invest heavily in lenses until you recognize the limitations of your first lenses.

[giganova]

Thank you all for your suggestion and advice!

I ended up getting a Schneider 180mm f5.6 Apo-Symmar MC that didn't break the bank and thought it would be a good "all-round" lens to start with portraits and some landscapes where I don't need the wide field of view.

[Luis-F-S]

I’d look at Caltar lenses. Good and reasonably priced and I doubt you’d see any difference between them and the latest greatest apo thingies without a loupe!