Seeking advice on 120mm lenses

[xkaes]

I personally settled on acquiring a Nikon Wide Angle 120mm f/8 Nikkor-SW Lens with Copal #0 Shutter. For some reason they seemed to be undervalued when compared to a Schneider. I just waited a few months for one to come along at a price I couldn't pass up on. It replaced a 105mm f/8 Fujinon SW which I found to be just a tad bit too wide for the subject matter that I was shooting.

Are you shooting 4x5"?

[Greg]

Are you shooting 4x5"?

Whole Plate mostly.

[xkaes]

Whole Plate mostly.

That explains it. Those f8 lenses are overkill for 4x5".

[Joseph Kashi]

Have you tried a Schneider Angulon, not Super? Small, low cost and sharp enough for me.

The Fujinon 125 NW is a very sharp lens on 4x5 but it's not intended for larger formats than 4x5. It doesn't quite cover 5x7 and therefore definitely will not cover whole plate.

The 120mm Angulon sort of covers 5x7 with soft corners and thus likewise won't be adequate for whole plate while the early model 120/8 Fujninon SW, not multicoated but built on the original f/8 Super Angulon 100-degree design, should cover whole plate with modest movement. The later 125mm Fujinon SW EBC multi-coated lens may be slightly better. I think though that a 120mm/8 Nikkor SW super-wide, if such a lens can be found, would be the best, slightly more coverage than the Fujinon 125 SW and a very sharp design.

[John Layton]

If you could possibly shave off 10mm of FL - you might look for a 110mm 5.6 XL. Significantly smaller/lighter/brighter than the 120mm SA, which is why I made this move about a year ago. But still...for some reason I cannot bring myself to sell my 120 SA - something about its "rendering geometry" which I continue to find compelling, and which does not necessarily relate to the 10mm difference in FL. Hmmm....

[Per Madsen]

What about the Schneider 120/5,6 L Apo-Symmar. Small, very sharp and comparatively recent.

https://www.largeformatphotography.i...e-and-focusing

[Alan9940]

If you could possibly shave off 10mm of FL - you might look for a 110mm 5.6 XL. Significantly smaller/lighter/brighter than the 120mm SA, which is why I made this move about a year ago. But still...for some reason I cannot bring myself to sell my 120 SA - something about its "rendering geometry" which I continue to find compelling, and which does not necessarily relate to the 10mm difference in FL. Hmmm....

I know exactly what you mean, John. I've owned and used the 120mm SA for 40 years and it's a favorite! This lens is a "pry from my dead hands" type thing for sure.

[Alan9940]

What about the Schneider 120/5,6 L Apo-Symmar. Small, very sharp and comparatively recent.

https://www.largeformatphotography.i...e-and-focusing

Yes, I asked about that very lens in my original post hoping to get some feedback specifically about it as well as other suggestions.

Thank you.

[xkaes]

Since OP Alan9940 states "I currently own a Fuji W 125/5.6" (80°), but wants something sharper, I've got to assume that he is using 4x5". If that's the case, anything with a 100° coverage is way too much.

[Daniel Unkefer]

I have a 121mm F8 Sinar Norma lens that covers 18x24 completely. Very satisfied with that one for many decades.

Two GX680 125mm Fujis hacked to Plaubel Makiflex by Nokton48, on Flickr

Shown here are left the Fuji GX680 125mm F3.2, and on the right, the Fuji GX680 125mm F5.6, cells screwed into broken RB67 Seiko Shutters (shutter blades removed) iris only lenses for focal plane Plaubel Makiflexes. I have also hacked GX680 lenses into Seiko Shutters I have purchased cheaply, the WS Fujinons are what match pretty closely.

Here's an excellent writeup about hacking the GX680 lenses. He's a digital guy

https://www.getdpi.com/forum/index.p...-format.72331/

The 125mm F3.2 GX680 is very HOT 90's era glass. Uber sharp on 9x9cm Makiflex. Might work with half plate, it's beeg