Long lenses for 8x10?

[scott_atkinson]

Does anyone out there have knowledge/experience of specific

long lenses for 8x10? By LONG, I mean BEYOND the Fuji 600C.

Any first-hand evaluations on the Nikkor-T 800? Schneider

Tele-Xenar 800? Classic lenses like the 30" Red Dot Artar?

Anything remotely compact? Anything else I'm not aware of?

Thanks!

[nathan_congdon]

I have used the longest modern lens available, the Nikon 1200T. When

you get to this much bellows draw, stability is the major limiting

factor. I have an Ebony 8X10, probably about the most rigid camera

that will actually allow you to use a lens this long in the field,

and I find that vibration can be a problem with ANY wind. I now

carry a little Linhof monopod to set under the front standard when I

am using these LOOOONG lenses. This seems to help quite a bit.

Others on this forum have had other suggestions ranging from

umbrellas to 2nd tripods. A wind-beating "kit" is available from

AWB, the guy who also sells the beautiful film holders

(filmholders.com, I think). My general feeling a this point: for

8X10 and up, the real advantage is in WA to long-normal lenses, with

long lenses up the the Fuji 600 12.5C being practical even for closer

subjects, and for face shots in the studio. Anything that involves

much more than 70-80 cm of bellows is the field can get to be quite a

headache. I think the stability of your overall setup (camera/tripod

vs wind) rather than fine differences between lenses will be your

rate-limiting factor.

 

<p>

 

 

Nathan

[john_burnley2]

I use an 800mm Nikkor-T for natural landscapes (with a Deardorff) and

have been able to stabilize the rig even in windy conditions by using

triple supports - tripod mount under lens, main tripod in normal

mounting plate on bottom of camera, and Bogen tele lens support under

film holder. It takes a bit of doing to set up but has gotten me

images of extreme sharpness even in a strong wind where I could

differentiate individual leaves on trees on a nearby mountainside on my

developed chromes (in areas not being hit by the wind, which travels in

waves). A more stable camera, such as the Phillips, might not need

such elaborate attention to multiple support points. My feeling about

the Nikkor 800mm is that although it is very sharp, it does not quite

equal the 600mm T in this regard. And I would expect the 1200mm rear

cell to follow this trend and be less sharp than the 800mm. At some

point around this focal length - for the best possible results - one

should be ready to step down to a smaller image size if still more

enlargement of a subject is desired.

[bill_glickman]

I use the Fuji 600 C, Nikor 800T and 1200T. I agree with the

comments above...except, when there is no wind, the Nikors have

produced some exceptionaly sharp images for me. But many times I

beleive this can vary from lens to lens of the exact same type.