biggest lens for crown graphic?

[folsombob]

Hello all,

What would be considered the biggest possible lens for a Crown Graphic -- without adding extended bellows?

I have a 210mm, but am looking for possibly a 300mm for portrait work, but don't know if it will focus.

Thanks,
folsombob

[Dan Fromm]

The longest standard issue lens for a 4x5 Graphic -- worked on Crown and Pacemaker Speed -- was the 15"/5.6 Wollensak Telephoto. There are shorter teles that will cover 4x5, these should also work on a 4x5 Graphic.

[DolphinDan]

Hi,

I use a Nikon Nikkor-M 300mm f9 lens on my CG; I really have to rack out the bellows all the way until the front standard almost falls off of the rails. However, it does work. I would recommend getting an extension tube to use with it, which is what I am doing.

I have not tried telephoto lenses with my CG; so, no opinion on them.

So 300mm lenses can be tricky on a CG, anything <300mm should be fine.

Namaste
Daniel

Hello all,

What would be considered the biggest possible lens for a Crown Graphic -- without adding extended bellows?

I have a 210mm, but am looking for possibly a 300mm for portrait work, but don't know if it will focus.

Thanks,
folsombob

[Michael Graves]

If you can find one, there was a 360mm Tele-Xenar made just for graphics. I have the 270 and it's quite nice. I think you can use a Fuji 400 on it, but it will be a big chunk of glass and shutter on the front of the camera, and eat up most of the lensboard. It might be to bulky to work with.

[Glenn Thoreson]

Go for a telephoto design. A regular 300mm lens on that camera won't focus very much less than infinity. A 240mm Sironar would make a nice portrait lens, but a Copal 3 is a pretty big thing for that lens board. There are lots of choices out there in Copal 1 shutters that would work nicely.

[Bill_1856]

The longest lens for 4x5 Speed/Crown Graphic which will focus close enough for portraits is probably the 10" Tele-Raptar (an excellent optic).

[folsombob]

Hey everyone, thanks for the speedy replies.

I will be looking into this, but the telephoto design would appear to be the way to go.

As mentioned above with the 300mm, my 210 comes close to the end of the rails, so I assumed the 300-400mm would come close, if not, topple off.

I hadn't considered a telephoto version -- still new to things beyond the basics. Thus far, I have the Rodenstock 210mm, a Xenar 135, Ektar 127, and Graphlex 90. Obviously, my glass assortment speaks to my experience.

What is considered a good portrait focal length in the 4x5 world?

I like 85mm to 105mm in the 35mm world, which (I think) equates roughly to 240 and 300mm... ???

folsombob

[Paul Fitzgerald]

folsombob,

you're already there, 210mm is a nice focal length for portratis on 4x5. Your Crown Graphic could mount a 241mm or 254mm Wollensak Raptar but they will need to pull the bellows tight to focus that close, beating-up the equipment with no real gain. Tele-photo lens are available for 4x5, the 15"/5.6 Tele-Raptar is a bit overkill for portraits with 4x5, works well with 5x7.

[folsombob]

Thanks Paul,

I like using the 210, and find it is rather versatile for distant landscapes, as well.

Do you happen to know the 35mm equivalence? I've seen a range from 50 to 70mm from various sources.

Same question for other lenses: what is the 35mm equivalence for a 90, 127, and 135?
Is there a consistent conversion factor?

folsombob

[Lachlan 717]

Do you happen to know the 35mm equivalence? I've seen a range from 50 to 70mm from various sources.

Same question for other lenses: what is the 35mm equivalence for a 90, 127, and 135?
Is there a consistent conversion factor?

folsombob

Have a quick look here. It has a column for what you're after...

Lachlan.