I agree with the rule; pick your favourite focal length in 35mm and go from there. Another poster here uses a Tachihara (Adorama camera is the cheaspest but www.mpex.com are nicer people) with a Nikon 90mm SW, Rodenstock 150mm Sironar S and Fuji 240mm AS. Gary Frost likes the 150mm lens the best and that is what I ended up buying. You may think you need the long and short but I just split the difference myself. You also need and can use a normal lens for EVERYTHING. I can do it all with the Rodenstock. Landscapes, interiors, still life and soon portraits on a Arca Swiss Discovery. I would go for the Rodenstock; its light and smaller than a 35mm normal lens. Its sharp and contrasty. The bokeh is nice. It can give you good results at f/8 to f/22. Buy from Bager Graphics because they sell it for $660 (the last time I checked) compared to $749 from BH photo. Please no cheap lenses because you will regret it. Compared to Schneider 110mm XL Super Symmar this lens is cheap! Checkout the Manfrotto geared heads (both of them) as well as the Gitzo and Ries tripods for nice head & leg combo. Buy as many film holders based on the number of film in one development run or slide drop off at the lab. You can use a black t-shirt as a dark cloth. Remember to buy a lot of film. You will feel "like a hero" when you put that big piece of film on the light box!