8x10 shooters: what's your longest lens?

I've recently made the leap from 4x5 to 8x10, currently using a 110mm

and a 240mm. Soon it will be time to get a longer lens; I was

thinking maybe of the Fujinon 450c or 600c.

 

My question: do people regularly use lenses 600mm or longer, and for

what in particular? Do people use telephotos with 8x10? This is

strictly for contact prints; how badly would a telephoto degrade the

quality of a b&w 8x10 print, and in what way?

 

All recommendations, warnings and pontifications welcomed,

 

CXC

My longest lens is a 480/19". The problem with my camera (Deardorff) is that at extreme extentions, it moves about in the wind a bit. This lens is ok for portraits, but not really that long.

 

For some reason, I really only like my 210 and 300 on that camera -- it seems to have something to do with a combination of size of the negative and perspective. I have seen some landscapes done with a 600 that were nice due to the extremely flat look that the lens brought. I find that in most cases I just move back and forth to change perspective rather than switching lenses.

Yesterday I made my first exposure with a Turner-Reich 12/21/28.

Shot with the front cell removed and orange filter in front. I liked it on the groundglass, I'll know for sure after I process.

The camera (Dorff) does get shakey with all that bellows out there in the wind.

19" red dot artar

I have 480, 600 and 900, and I do not expect to use them with anything bigger tham 6x17cm... which I can easily scan and enlarge.

My longest is also a 19" Apo-Artar. I suppose I'll eventually get a 600mm for use on 11x14", and I'll probably use it occasionally for 8x10". It may be just me, but as I move up in format, my vision tends to get wider, perhaps because a larger piece of film can actually render all the information a wide lens can take in.

 

The degradation of image quality from a telephoto will depend on the particular lenses you're comparing, but bear in mind that, if you plan to use this for landscapes, any gains from the optical design of a non-tele lens may be negated by the wind and stability problems you'll get from all that bellows extension.

I had to jump in on this one because I use my 450 and 600 all the time with my 8x10 camera (and on my 5x7/4x5 for that matter). Although I think I use the 600 more. It is good for isolating specific features of the landscape, buildings or whatever. I'd like to find a good 30" Goerz Artar so that I could go out even farther. The 600 is nice when you find yourself in front of a huge vista and you just want to capture part of it. When I want to capture more of it I use my 210 G claron. I like the Fujinon 450 and 600 because they have great image quality and such a small size.

 

The only problem I have with my 600 (and I'm sure it will be worse if I find a long Artar) is the my Canham's bellows want to sag when they are racked out for focusing that far. Thats one thing I miss about my Deardorff, the bellows were made of a much thicker material so I never had a problem with bellows sag while using longer lenses.

 

Dick - Do you really use an 8x10 camera just to use a 6x17 roll fill back? It seems like you could do this with something much smaller and lighter.

 

Good luck

Christopher, currently my longest using lens is a 14" I have a couple of fairly rough 19" and 24"ers in barrels which I plan on replacing some day with a really mint piece of glass that would justify the cost of having it mounted in a shutter. Cheers!

600 Fuji f11.5C is my favorite long lens for 8X10 and my tried and trusted normal lens for 12X20. I have the Nikon 800 and 1200 Tele ED lenses, but do find that shake and shimmy becomes a problem with these lenses, which limits their usefulness. I have no problem at all with the 600. I'm using an Ebony 810 SVU when I shoot 8X10.

 

So, for practical purposes: 600 is the longest.

 

Regards,

N Congdon

30" Artar. Yes, wind is a problem but not unmanageable. Bellows sag is actually more of a problem at intermediate focal lengths. At 30" the bellows are almost completely racked out and sag shouldn't be too much of an issue - in fact, on many cameras, you may not be able to focus too close etc. If your bellows ar elonger and lack bellows tabs to deal with sag, just tuck the darkcloth under the bellows to prop it up and prevent sag. If your camera racks out primarily only in the front, you might benefit from using a monopod for some extra support under the lens. Unless you have arms like a gorilla, its unlikely you can reach the front standard from under the darkcloth, so you're likley to have to come out, make adjustments (tilts, stopping down etc), go back under and check etc. It's not too hard once you get used to it. In other words, it probably is a little more fiddly than a 12" lens but if you like the look (isolating elements, stacking things up etc etc), you can get it to work quite nicely. Couple long focal lengths with a reducing back and you can get quite a long reach.

 

Telephotos might reduce problems related to wind, vibration etc but the Nikon teles barely cover the format from what I have heard. However, I would be incredibly surprised if anyone could tell the difference in contact prints (given otherwise good technique). Telephotos are horribly expensive though (even with the frugality of interchangeable rear components).

 

The most commonly available focal lengths tend to be 19", 24" and 30" (more rare). Process lenses (artars, ronars, apo-nikkors) are good bets at these focal lengths - their limited coverage is not an issue given the long focal lengths, they are affordable, are very sharp. Artars have the additional benefit of probably being the lightest of the crop - especially at longer focal lengths, the others can make you a beast of burden. Triple convertibles like Protars, Turner Reichs etc are another option and might be a cheaper way to see if you like the longer lens look.

 

Cheers, DJ

480/f1:9 Apo-Ronar.

19" Apo-Ronar in barrel. I use it with both 5x7 and 8x10. With my 5x7 Canham its a wee bit shaky, although nothing like wave effect I used to get with a 5x7 Deardorff I owned previously. With a Calumet C-1 19" is just fine. I keep thinking about a 600mm, but haven't yet found one in my price range.

A Nikkor convertible 600/800. I use it almost exlusively at

800mm when I use it.

 

dgh

47 1/2" F16 Ross Xpress. If you get bellows sag with long lenses try propping a rock of small branch underneath the bellows for a bit of support.

 

 

CP Goerz

being a eBay junkie, I've aquired more barrel lens than I really need, but I picked up a Nikkor Process lens last year and had it mounted in shutter, It's the 760mm and it's a monster, I have the 600mm Nikkor as well, but with regards to weight, I should went the ARTARs (in the longer focal lengths) I use the Calumet C-1, and the front standard doesn't seem to mind the 8 pounds worth of glass when installed

 

take care

Although the subject is 35mm, these words of John Shaw's in his Landscape Photography (1994), p. 66, may be applicable here:

 

"For the cost of a Nikon, Canon, or Minolta 600mm f/4 lens, you could buy a used car and drive up closer to your subject."

 

On 8x10, the longest lens I use is the Nikkor M450mm f/9, and I've been very pleased with the results. The prospect of "shake and shimmy", as Nathan puts it, has always killed any inclination to go longer, plus the optically determined reduced DOF and flattening of the subject don't fit into the way I work. David makes a good point about the trade-off of using a non-tele lens, too, and for that reason the Fuji 600mm is less appealing than it might be otherwise. When I want to go longer, I put on my 5x7 back, which increases the 35mm equivalent focal length from about 66mm to about 95mm. But if I ever acquire a dedicated 5x7 camera, I may give the Nikkor 720mm f/16 ED telephoto a try; it barely covers, and I might get a good shot or two out of it.

Walker Evans often used the 28" component of his trippple convertible Turner-Reich lens. Check his published work to see how it looks, compared to your needs, (especially "Walker Evans at Work"). Many Ansel Adams and Edward Weston images were made with the 19" component of their Protars.

Nicholas

 

I read one of John Shaw�s books and found little that is not common knowledge _ I wish I had not wasted my money.

 

His remark:

 

 

"For the cost of a Nikon, Canon, or Minolta 600mm f/4 lens, you could buy a used car and drive up closer to your subject."

 

 

Is blatant stupidity � sometime I walk backwards some distance to get the main subject in frame, with the distant background at a better scale.

 

 

Anyway, some good, long lenses cost as much as a new car!

 

I might get round to post ing pic sometime.

Dave

 

Where did you get the shutter fitted?

 

Where would anybody get one fitted in the UK?

Dick Roadnight

 

It was mounted in a Acme#5 by Steve Grimes.