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  #1  
Old 23rd February 2012, 05:54 PM
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Default 65 mm or 75 mm large format lens

Hi everyone,
At the moment I own a 90mm, 150mm and a 210mm large format lenses. Sometimes I find that my 90mm is not wide enough for the subject I want to photograph like in a church for example. I am thinking of buying a 75mm or a 65mm but I am not sure which one I should get.

Can you give me some advice. Is a 75mm much wider than a 90mm. What do you think of Fujinon and Nikkor lenses ? Are thoses lenses very good, can they be compare to Rodenstock and Schneider ? I've read somewhere that Fujinon lenses are more contrasty.
Thank you
Jacques
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  #2  
Old 23rd February 2012, 06:19 PM
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I'd go with a 65mm to keep a nice spacing. One thing worth remembering though is a 75mm will have a bit of useful room for movements, but even the best fastest 65mms only have 170mm-ish.

I have a nikon 65mm f4 to go with a 90/159/203/300 kit and its brilliant. Given 65s are quite small I really would go with a fast lens, and ideally a decent fresnel.
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Old 23rd February 2012, 07:34 PM
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I would certainly endorse what DaveP has said and go with the 65mm, but as said you will have very little movement with this lens on 4x5. I have a Rodenstock 65mm Grandagon-N and its a good performer. I have a fair mix of Schneider, Rodenstock, Nikon and Fuji lenses and they are all very capable lenses. However my Nikon SW 120 is amazingly sharp and on the strength of this lens I sometimes wish I had concentrated more on obtaining Nikon lenses when I was setting up my extensive LF kit.

I did have a Rondenstock 75mm Grandagon-N but sold it and bought a Schneider 80mm Super-Symmar XL but this will be too close to your 90 in terms of focal length.
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Old 23rd February 2012, 10:38 PM
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I have a Schneider 65mm but I only use it when I use roll-film backs. I love wide angle but I tend to find it too wide for 4x5 and there is little to no movements especially with filters.

I also own the Nikon 75mm and 90mm and had these put onto Linhof comfort boards especially for the Master Technika. The 90mm is my standard lens and see's much more action but I'm always surprised how much wider the 75mm is and I've never had any issues with image circle at least for landscape. They deliver beautifully sharp and punchy negs and are also very bright for ground glass focussing being f4.5.

You could go for the XL's it may depend on your budget but I would have no trouble recommending these lenses and they're also relatively light and compact.
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Old 24th February 2012, 11:55 AM
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I too have been pondering this question of how wide to go with my next lens from my existing 90mm but realised I already knew how to find the answer.

The question should be better expressed as :-
• How much wider that my existing 90mm do I need my next lens to be ?
To help me, I have been using a 5x4 viewing frame to evaluate how much more would I get in the frame with the various focal lengths on offer when the 90 has been found to be too long

Also - can your Camera cope with the small flange length of a 65mm ?

I am told that operating a Lens mounted to a recessed Lens Board is a complete PITA - particularly when its cold and your fingers are semi-numb.

Some other things to consider are :-

The Japanese lenses have a subtly different bloom to the European Lenses - so if you shoot colour transparencies you probably shouldn't mix Japanese and European lenses.

If you only shoot B&W, then the subtle variation in contrast you get between ALL of your lenses should be well within the range of your normal printing controls.

More modern designs of lenses tend to have larger image circles.

Martin

Last edited by Martin Aislabie; 24th February 2012 at 12:02 PM.
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Old 24th February 2012, 01:32 PM
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Thank you everyone for all your advices and comments. The idea of using a viewing frame sounds very good because I always use one to decide which lens I will use. I will let you know which one I buy after I make my decision. Again thank you.
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Old 24th February 2012, 01:47 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin Aislabie View Post


I am told that operating a Lens mounted to a recessed Lens Board is a complete PITA - particularly when its cold and your fingers are semi-numb.



Martin
Martin, I use a 35mm Apo Grandagon in a Linhof recessed lens panel and I have no problems even with a gloved hand. I simply use the end of the cable release (the plunger end of course) to move the aperture lever. This lever can be moved easily enough but not with a bulky gloved hand. Setting the shutter/focusing level is fine as there is ample room around it.
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Old 24th February 2012, 02:11 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin Aislabie View Post
The Japanese lenses have a subtly different bloom to the European Lenses - so if you shoot colour transparencies you probably shouldn't mix Japanese and European lenses.
Really? I'm tempted to call your bluff on this one. If the above is true then I've never seen any evidence of it.
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Old 24th February 2012, 04:58 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveP View Post
Really? I'm tempted to call your bluff on this one. If the above is true then I've never seen any evidence of it.
I think Martin is right, I recall Joe Cornish talking about it if memory serves me right - personally I never used anything other than B&W with LF so can't say. I imagine it would probably be quite a subtle difference though. As is the case with a lot of these things, it will probably depend on how 'picky' or critical different people are...
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Old 24th February 2012, 06:39 PM
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Hmm, I've got a few Joe Cornish books and in any one book he uses (or used) a combination of Nikon, Fuji, Schneider and Rodenstock glass. Doesn't seem to bother him much!
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