Perfect Wide Angle

[Enrique Vila]

Hi...

Last couple of month I'm being changing my large format equipment in favor of mo re practical gear (always 4x5)

Now I'm evaluating my lenses... currently I own angulon 90, sironar 150 and tel e-xenar 240.

I was sujested to change to Super Angulon 90 and a 210mm wich are more versatile choices...

I was wondering, which are your lens choices and why?

I work mainly outdoors both in city and nature field.

Cheers...

[Kerry L. Thalmann]

Enrique,

In the three focal lengths you currently own, my personal choice would be: 90mm f8 Nikkor SW, 150mm f5.6 APO Sironar-S and 240mm f9 Fujinon A. These are all relatively small, lightweight lenses that offer superb performance and generous coverage. I think this would make a very versatile combo with reasonable spacing between the focal lengths.

For more on these three (and a few more), see:

http://www.thalmann.com/largeformat/future.htm

Kerry

[Christopher Condit]

Kerry, I note with interest that you recommend 2 lenses with max apertures greater than f/5.6, and in sizes where faster lenses are readily available. Do you feel that the compactness outweighs the slightly greater difficulty in focussing? Or do you find focussing at f/8-f/9 perfectly ok?

TIA,

Christopher

[neil poulsen]

For practicality, I would suggest a 120mm Super-Angulon (or Nikon, Rodenstock equivalent) and a 180mm. These two lenses are different enough to make both worth having, and they are both very usable focal lengths. Both, especially the 120mm, also offer generous movements. After that, it's personal preference.

While a 90mm f5.6 is the most used lens for architecture, I think it's a little too wide for general application.

[Kerry L. Thalmann]

Christopher,

Yes, for field use I generally prefer smaller, lighter (and less expensive) lenses. In general, I find the slower lenses easy enough to focus in the longer focal lengths (say, 200mm and up). For me personally, the problem seems much worse with wide angles. In other words, I find focusing and composing wiht the 240mm Fujinon A at f9 easier than a 75mm at f5.6. In my experience, the 90mm f8 Nikkor SW is a bit dim for focusing, but useable. Faster 90s are much bigger, heavier and more expensive and take larger, more expensive filters. At working stops (f16 - f32), the 90mm f8 Nikkor SW is just as sharp as any of the "fast" 90s and has comparable coverage to all but the SA XL.

So, for field work, if I was considering buying a three lens set in the 90mm, 150mm and 240mm focal lengths - the three lenses I originally mentioned would definitely be my top choices based on my needs. Others, with different needs, would no doubt chose otherwise. In the end, those three lenses would be more versatile, weigh less and cost less than a two lens set consisting of a 110 XL (or 120 SW or 115 Grandagon) and a 210mm f5.6 (W, CM-W, APO Symmar or APO Sironar-N/S) - with no sacrifice in quality. All three have good coverage (235mm, 231mm and 336mm image circles) - and the 240mm Fujinon also makes a great lens for close-ups and detail shots.

Kerry

[Christopher Condit]

Thanks for the good info, Kerry, I will bear it in mind.

CXC

[Eugene]

Enrique, I have been going through the same problem the last few months trying to select a set of lenses for my new Shen-Hao field camera. I decided to go with lenses in Copal 0 shutters for weight and size reduction. My choices are all Fuji lenses. I selected a 75 SWD, a 150CM-W, and a 300T. The 150 and 300 tele work fine with the normal bellows. The 75 required the use of the bag bellows. From wide angle, to long lens, this is a very effective set of lenses for my needs. Contact Jim at Midwest Photo Exchange for the best price and selection of new and used Fuji lenses ( Mpex.com).

[Dick Roadnight]

I thought the best Wide angles were the Schneider Super-Angulon XL super wides (38mm, 45mm) on a Sinar p2.