Wide, wide, wide angle lenses?

[welly]

Hey all,

I love really wide angle lenses on 35mm, 12-14mm is lots of fun. What options are there for large format for ultra-wide angle lenses?

Cheers!

[uhner]

There are some options that may suit your taste for 4x5 and 5x7. Take a look here: http://www.largeformatphotography.info/lenses/

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

really wide angle lenses on 35mm, 12-14mm is lots of fun. What options are there for large format ..

Welcome to the Large Format Club ;-)
Comparison between formats is easier speaking in terms of total angular coverage.
The diagonal of a 35 mm image (24x36mm) is 43 mm
Hence, a 12 mm covers about 120° (2x60°) and a 14mm cover 110° (2x55°)
There are more 110° lenses available in LF than 120° and more 100-105 than 110-120°. Bu there are some excellent modenr 120° lenses.
From Schneider you have the super angulon XL series of wide-angle lenses covering 110 to 120° ; plus the super-symmar Xl aspheric covering 105°
From Rodenstock the Apo grandagon series covers from 110 to 120°.
All 4 manufacturers : Schneider, Rodenstock, Fuji and Nikon (Nikon LF lenses are discontinued but easy to find on the second-hand market) offer classical view camera wide angle lenses covering 100° to 105°
100° in 24x36 is covered by a 18mm
105° : 16.5 mm

[Leonard Evens]

There are certainly some wide very wide angle lenses available, but in my experience, you don't gain as much by using them in a view camera as you might expect from experience with smaller formats.

There may be problems focusing at infinity that close because of mechanical limitations of the camera. In addition, you often find possible movement is limited, either because of a relatively small image circle or because of limitations of the camera , with the small bellows extension. So it may not be possible to use rise/fall or shift to eliminate uninteresting subject matter, such as an empty foreground.

In addition, for some things you would use a very wide angle lens for in other formats, you can accomplish the desired end with a view camera with a longer lens and choosing the plane of focus by a tilt or swing.

[welly]

Thanks for the advice, chaps!

[Lachlan 717]

Have a look at the Schneider 72mm Super Angulon XL. It has the biggest image circle to width of any modern lens.

A classic in Architectural photography.

[percepts]

Have a look at the Schneider 72mm Super Angulon XL. It has the biggest image circle to width of any modern lens.

A classic in Architectural photography.

Covers 5x7 with a tad of shift available at infinity. Plenty shift available on 4x5.

Image circle angle of view 115 degrees so by any standards a very wide angle lens, especially on 5x7 film.

[mikec]

pinholes.

[percepts]

Basically you need to look for as short a focal length as possible which has image circle big enough to cover film format. Then it depends whether you want to be able to use movements, shift, tilt etc. Figures quoted are usually at infinity. If you are focussing closer then useable image circle gets bigger.

On 4x5 the current lenses such as Rodenstock Grandagon 55mm which has image circle angle of 110deg or Schneider Super Angulon XL 47mm which has 120deg image circle angle and just covers 4x5.

[Mike1234]

Modern options:
47 SAXL for 4x5... equal to 13mm on 135
72 SAXL for 5x7... equal to 15mm on 135
110 SSXL barely covers 8x10... equal to 15mm on 135