Macro Lens for Sinar F

[StudioKroes]

Hello,

New here!

I shoot a lot of digital macro work and recently bought a Sinar F that came with a Schneider 210mm lens. I have been doing some macro work with flowers and have had to extend the bellows about 12 inches to get the type of magnification I desire.

I found some videos about the Nikkor AM ED 120mm Macro lens and then read that the coverage might not be enough for a 4x5 camera?

Are there any other recommended lenses that would allow me to get a 1:1 magnification without racking out the bellows a foot?

Attached a sample image I shot

Thanks!

[Oren Grad]

I found some videos about the Nikkor AM ED 120mm Macro lens and then read that the coverage might not be enough for a 4x5 camera?

The 120 Nikkor-AM has ample coverage for 4x5 at 1:1 magnification. That's what it's designed for.

[Jeff Keller]

Expanding a little on Oren's post: As you focus closer, your lens moves further away from your film. The cone of light coming from your lens towards the film has more time to expand, increasing the coverage. You may come across some posts where the photographer uses hyperfocal focusing to gain a little more coverage even when taking pictures of distant objects.

A macro lens that is designed to focus very close often has pretty minimal image circle specs at infinity because it isn't intended to be used at infinity.

[arri]

I used a Zeiss S-Planar 120mm f/5.6 in 4x5" It is good usable from 1:4
It is an excellent lens.
Now I`am using a Zeiss S-Planar 135mm f/5.6
It were a Hasselblad lens where I removed the lens cells and I mount´em into a shutter size I
For me it were a cheap lens because I made all machining works by my self.

A Nikon AM 120mm will be a good choice as well.

[Tin Can]

1 to 1 on 11X14 X-Ray Film

Shot on 11x14 camera

Normal lens 360mm

Macro 11X14 X-Ray film contact print by TIN CAN COLLEGE, on Flickr

[Tin Can]

Setup used

Upside down 11X14 camera macro shot by TIN CAN COLLEGE, on Flickr

[xkaes]

Most importantly, for macro work, you should get a lens designed for high magnification. The Schneider 210mm isn't. And, as mentioned, shorter focal length MACRO lenses can cover LF film if given enough bellows extension -- but they don't need much extension because of their short focal lengths. You can easily get to 1X with a 70mm/75mm/80mm macro/process lens covering 4x5" film and 6" of extension. These lenses CAN BE very inexpensive.

http://www.subclub.org/fujinon/macrolenses.htm

[StudioKroes]

Most importantly, for macro work, you should get a lens designed for high magnification. The Schneider 210mm isn't. And, as mentioned, shorter focal length MACRO lenses can cover LF film if given enough bellows extension -- but they don't need much extension because of their short focal lengths. You can easily get to 1X with a 70mm/75mm/80mm macro/process lens covering 4x5" film and 6" of extension. These lenses CAN BE very inexpensive.

http://www.subclub.org/fujinon/macrolenses.htm

This makes sense to me, but was confused about the comments in regards to coverage at infinity. This would only be applicable when shooting something like landscape then? Why would someone use a Macro lens for something needing infinity focus?

[StudioKroes]

The 120 Nikkor-AM has ample coverage for 4x5 at 1:1 magnification. That's what it's designed for.

Thank you for the straight-forward answer!

[StudioKroes]

So the Nikkor AM ED 120mm lens as an example, will natively magnify at 1:1, hence the macro designation. Someone said "any lens on LF is a macro because of the capabilities of the bellows extension." In principal, this makes sense, and thusly never understood the need for a dedicated macro lens, besides the lenses being optimized to be sharper at closer magnifications?