Lenses for 4x5

[Ari]

Some good advice here, and your decision is one of personal taste.
But for God's sake, keep that 121!

[Jim Becia]

I would think about a 90, 135, 200/210, 300 lineup. The would give you a spacing that is 1.5x up the line. I have used this spacing when backpacking or on long extended hikes and it seems to work well for me. Jim

[rdenney]

Some good advice here, and your decision is one of personal taste.
But for God's sake, keep that 121!

Indeed. It isn't about arithmetic, it's about getting special lenses. The 121 is really a highlight of the excellent Super Angulon line. You'll regret selling it, and it's close enough to 135 and has much greater coverage than most 135s.

240 va. 210 is a matter of taste. But there are a couple of considerations. One is that typical f/5.6 plasmats in 240mm need a No. 3 shutter, which is a lot bulkier than the No. 1 shutter used by f/5.6 lenses at 210mm. Another is that 210 is a normal lens on 5x7 and therefore has been widely produced. That means excellent examples are cheap and plentiful.

I have both pairs--180/240 and 150/210--and Imuse themtwo longer lenses much more often than the 150 or the 180. That takes me back to my previous post's advice.

Rick "who uses 210 as a normal and 240 as something longer" Denney

[Ivan J. Eberle]

The OP doesn't mention what specific camera(s) he uses. Lens choice (or camera choice) can be predicated on what fits-- and what doesn't.

[Accordionist]

I use Horseman 4x5 kardan with folding bank.
And don't be afraid SA 121 is my jewel, I will never sell it.

[Bob McCarthy]

I've always found 50% jumps are about right to show a sensible difference.

My own setup is 90-135-200 for 4x5 and 240-355-480 for 8x10

Closer than that is just overlap unless special purpose ie. macro, SF, or whatever.

Just the opinion sir, no facts....

The 4x5 lenses are all biased towards "smallest, lightest" so 135 is a Fuji W (not CM-W), and the 200 is a M Nikkor.

bob

[SamReeves]

It all depends on how much bellows draw and wiggle room you have.

I"ve been happy with 90mm, 150mm, and 210mm.

[Bruce Watson]

There seem to be two basic schools of thought about lenses for 5x4. There's the 90-135-210 school, and the 110-150-240 school. I haven't done the calculations in ages, but I seem to recall that the first sequence is 20 degree differences in angle of view, and the second sequence is 15 degrees.

Besides the angle-of-view spacing, it seems to come down to whether or not you really like a 90. For you, since you already own and use that 90, I'd say it makes sense to replace your 210 and carry on.

[Sirius Glass]

There seem to be two basic schools of thought about lenses for 5x4. There's the 90-135-210 school, and the 110-150-240 school. I haven't done the calculations in ages, but I seem to recall that the first sequence is 20 degree differences in angle of view, and the second sequence is 15 degrees.

Besides the angle-of-view spacing, it seems to come down to whether or not you really like a 90. For you, since you already own and use that 90, I'd say it makes sense to replace your 210 and carry on.

Oh, oh, I started LF last summer and I am already failing school!
One lens shipped off for mounting and another shipped to me on Monday and I blew it! !!

I had 90-135-190.5 so I was almost on track.
Now I am rounding up the 90-135-190.5-304-380 lens herd!
Is there any hope for me?
Should I circle the wagons?


Busted! Hey, This is Sirius!
Steve

[Leigh]

My 4x5 set: 65-75-90-120-135-150-180-210-240-300-360

A good start. Need to find a Nikkor SW 105.

These were selected to give roughly 4° (i.e. ±2°) coverage steps; not exact, but close enough.

- Leigh