wide angle lenses (again)

[womble]

Hi.

I am a newbie to LF photography and am looking for a wide angle lens for my Horseman LE 5x4. I mainly want to use it for architecture. I did contribute to an earlier threat in case any of you have a feeling of deja vu.

I have been offered:

1) A Schneider Krueznach Super Aungulon 75mm F5.6 which comes with a Schneider center filter Number III

2) A Schneider Super aungulon 65mm f5.6

3) A Schneider Super Aungulon 90mm f8

I only want to buy one lens at this stage, so I was wondering which people would recommend. Is there a website with reviews of these lenses, or an easy way of finding out the image circle, weight, etc?

Many thanks in advance for your help.

Best wishes, Kris.

[Ole Tjugen]

A search for "Super Angulon" should turn up some useful threads. In fact, THIS website is one of the best sources of information about just about anything LF related. Remember to read the articles as well, you will find them by clicking "LF Home Page" at the top of this page.

[Dan Fromm]

Also visit www.schneiderkreuznach.com, click on Fotographie for information on current lenses, hover the cursor over Service and then click on Archiv for older lenses.

Y'know, the three lenses you're contemplating see the world somewhat differently. If you have a 35 mm camera, the 90 sees about the same horizontal angle of view on 4x5 as a 25 mm lens on 35 mm still, the 75 corresponds roughly to 22, and the 65 to 19. Remember that the normal focal length for 35 mm still is 43 mm, not the 50 or longer that most people carry.

If I were you, I'd worry more about how the lenses see the world and less about whether they have adequate coverage etc. Although, now that I think of it, and without consulting any reference, the 65 is very wide for 4x5 and, IIRC, just covers the format, i.e., doesn't allow movements.

Good luck, have fun, keep on asking questions,

Dan

[womble]

Many thanks for the info. I realise that the different lengths equate to different angles of view (thanks for the 35mm comparisons, very helpful). My main concern is being able to have sufficient movements to correct for converging verticals in architectural photographs, my main reason for trying LF photography (too many years of taking bad photos of buildings on 35mm). If the 65 hardly allows for any movements then the choice is down to the 75 or the 90. At present my temptation is to go for the 75 which is (of course!) the most expensive of the trio on offer.

Best wishes, Kris.

[Joanna Carter]

Try Schneider's own site, they have a section for older lenses http://www.schneideroptics.com/info/...nses/index.htm

[Gordon Moat]

If you are photographing tall buildings, or wide buildings, then that 75mm can be very useful. The main downside I would see with that 90mm f8 is the relatively small aperture giving you a dimmer ground glass than an f5.6, though an f8 design is a much smaller lens to pack in your bag. In an ideal situation, you would have a 90mm and a 75mm to allow choosing which one to use when appropriate.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat Photography

[John Kasaian]

The 90mm SA is a "bread and butter" lens for 4x5 architecture. While wider can certainly be useful, if I were playing that game and had one lens to start with it would be a 90 SA

[Eric James]

I can't argue for the 90mm over the 75mm, but a 65mm lens would not be a good choice for a newbie shooting architecture.

[David Karp]

Normally, based on my experience, I would say go for a 90, but I would hesitate to buy the SA 90 f/8. Not that it is a bad lens. It is just that for architecture, this lens will have a smaller image circle than 90mm lenses with either an f/5.6 or f/4.5 max aperture. (The exception to this is the Nikkor 90mm f/8. It has approximately the same image circle as the Nikkor 90mm f/4.5, Rodenstock Grandagon-N 90mm f/4.5, and the Schneider SA 90mm f/5.6.) The other issue with using a 90 f/8 for architecture is the max aperture. In my experience, the f/8 is much tougher to focus in dim architectural interiors.

[Marek Szawdyn]

Welcome,
I am new on this forum and also newbie to large format. I have Graflex Crown Graphic camera and two lenses: Optar 135 and Symmar 210. I am a landscape photographer and I want to buy 90mm lens. I ve been thinking about Super Angulon 90mm f/8. Is it possible to mount SA on normal graflex board and have no problem with focusing, or do I need other lens board? One week ago, I had in my hands very big lens called Komuranon 90mm, a price is 400$. I tried to find something about this lens in internet, but seriously there is nothing. Is this lens familliar to you?
thank you for your help
Mark